Mumbai all but through to quarters after Jaffer 171

Mumbai 323 for 5 (Jaffer 171, Shah 82) lead Gujarat 244 (Parthiv 101, Chavan 3-54) by 79 runs
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Wasim Jaffer has been Mumbai's go-to man for the better part of his 17 seasons with the domestic giants. As a result, it was unusual for the prolific batsman to go into the last game of the league stage of a Ranji Trophy season without a century under his belt. But when Mumbai required Jaffer to deliver, the opening batsman came good with a big hundred to help the hosts attain the first-innings lead against Gujarat in a Group A match at the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

Thanks to Jaffer's 171 and his 213-run partnership with Hiken Shah for the third wicket, Mumbai ended day two at 323 for five, 79 runs ahead of Gujarat's first-innings total of 244. And the three points that they have in all likelihood ensured for the first-innings lead mean that the 39-times champions are all but assured of a place in the quarter-finals.

Gujarat, on the other hand, will hope for Madhya Pradesh to register a come-from-behind victory against Saurashtra in Rajkot in order to progress to the last eight.

The day belonged to one man, who is reputed for his stylish batting. With Mumbai starting the day at 24 for 1, they had to avoid early damage. And the manner in which Jaffer started the day would have rung alarm bells for Gujarat's bowlers. In the second over of the day, Jaffer first flicked left-arm seamer Rush Kalaria through midwicket and then drove him on the on-side for boundaries. In the next over, he dispatched Ishwar Choudhary's short ball to the midwicket fence with an elegant pull. And then drove Kalaria straight down the ground for his fourth boundary of the morning.

Jaffer, who had missed the first three games of the season since he was on pilgrimage, and then missed the Punjab tie due to a close relative's death, continued his onslaught, despite Kushang Patel getting rid of Aditya Tare. And after completing his fifty off left-arm spinner Rakesh Dhurv, the most successful spinner this season, Jaffer cut loose.

Jaffer plundered 15 runs in a Dhurv over, hitting a six and a boundary over mid-on and then pulling the bowler through midwicket. This gave ample time to left-hand Shah to get into his groove. As a result, with Jaffer scoring at will, Shah could afford to play out a lot of dot balls before starting to rotate the strike regularly.

Jaffer ended the century drought by steering Kushang Patel to the third-man boundary after lunch. His 30th Ranji hundred came after a year, the first since his twin hundreds against Saurashtra while batting in the middle order last year. The century also brought him within one ton of Ajay Sharma's record of 31 Ranji centuries.

Jaffer was all set to carry on into the third day's play. But soon after Shah fell short of his fourth century of the season, Jaffer had a lapse in concentration. With Gujarat opting for the second new ball after Mumbai had gained the lead, Jaffer first played an uppish drive off Kalaria straight to Chirag Gandhi, who made a mess of it. The next ball, another lazy drive took the edge of his willow and flew into the slips, where Samit Gohel took an excellent diving catch. It ended Jaffer's commendable effort, which included 21 boundaries and a six.

But by then, Jaffer, who termed the knock as "satisfying, especially since it was important for me to be around till we ensured the lead", had taken Mumbai to a virtual safety. And the former Mumbai captain had also relieved his team-mates of being under pressure over New Year's Eve and the New Year's Day, since the last two days' play is largely going to be an inconsequential for them.

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Four-wicket over not enough for South Zone

South Zone 343 (Rahman 152*, Mosharraf 5-52) and 216 (Imran 65, Mosharraf 4-68) drew with Central Zone 433 for 9 dec (Ayub 125, Gazi 4-162) and 93 for 6 (Mahmudullah 50*, Islam 5-17)
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The match that began with Ziaur Rahman hammering an unbeaten 152 in South Zone's first innings ended with Robiul Islam's four wickets in one over. But the two slow days in the middle, which were also hampered by fog, took too much time out of the game. The match ended in a draw but Central Zone earned two points more than South zone on account of their first innings lead.

Islam removed Asif Ahmed off the second ball of Central Zone's first over, before he clean bowled Mohammad Ashraful, Marshall Ayub and Mehrab Hossain jnr off consecutive deliveries, though he bowled a no-ball before taking the last wicket in the over, depriving him of the hat-trick.

Shamsur Rahman also fell to Islam and immediately Central Zone's chase of 127 runs looked too big. Captain Mahmudullah and Mosharraf Hossain battled for an hour to secure their position. The final day had begun with South Zone's second innings moving towards safety before they collapsed from 71 for 2 to 112 for 7. Tushar Imran and Rubel Hossain added 87 for the eighth wicket to give Central Zone a modest target.

South Zone's first innings was also rescued by their lower-order as they recovered from 192 for 8 to end up on 343 runs. Ziaur's 15 sixes helped him reach a career-best unbeaten 152, with tailenders Rubel and Murad Khan supporting him in valuable partnerships. Central Zone replied well as they took a 90-run lead. Marshall Ayub struck a patient 125, his third first-class century of the season.

North Zone 499 for 6 dec (N Hossain 93, N Islam 82, Baisya 3-63) drew with East Zone 419 for 8 (Ghosh 107*, F Hossain 91)
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While there was a lot of excitement in Mirpur, the Bogra game between East Zone and North Zone stuttered all along due to heavy fog in the country's northern parts. Only 244 overs were played after delayed starts on three of the four days. North Zone batted first to make 499 for 6 in two days. They batted only 44.5 overs on the second day before declaring overnight.

Jahurul Islam, Farhad Hossain, Naeem Islam, Nasir Hossain and Farhad Reza all made half-centuries with Nasir getting out in the 90s for the third time this season.

East Zone made 419 for 8 with Dhiman Ghosh scoring an unbeaten hundred. Faisal Hossain, Mominul Haque and captain Alok Kapali also made half-centuries, but it was a game that never had any pace to it and ended in a tame draw due to the weather conditions.

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Misbah keen on a more clinical showing

While captain Misbah-ul-Haq was happy Pakistan managed to get off to a winning start in the three-match ODI series against India, he believes the team still has a lot to work on, especially in the field. Pakistan, he said, were fortunate to walk away with the six-wicket win in Chennai.

"Today we were lucky, India gave us a tough time in this situation. They lost five wickets early but still went on to make 227," Misbah was quoted as saying by PTI. "To win the next match, we will have to work hard and improve a fair bit. We have to really improve our fielding, and our death-over and Powerplay bowling. After these [changes to the] ODI rules especially, we have to improve the bowling.

"Also, we have to improve our batting performances; we couldn't chase the target down easily."

While Pakistan's victory-margin was ultimately comfortable, they lost a wicket off the first ball of their innings when Mohammad Hafeez shouldered arms to a Bhuvneshwar Kumar inswinger. From there on, it was slow and edgy progress for Pakistan, who were 21 for 2 in the 11th over when Azhar Ali lobbed a catch to midwicket. Opener Nasir Jamshed was firm though, batting through the innings for 101 not out, and Younis Khan was relatively positive for his 58, ensuring victory.

The hosts' top order too had struggled in this, one of the rare day ODIs in India. Junaid Khan had India reeling with a remarkable spell of swing bowling, in which he bowled Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh in the space of eight balls.

Both Misbah and India captain MS Dhoni said that while it was outstanding bowling, the toss too was important. "It was a good toss to win, but it was an excellent spell by Junaid. There was something for the bowlers but of you don't bowl in the right areas when the ball is seaming, you don't get results," Misbah said. Dhoni agreed: "I think it was the toss to start with. After that they bowled well. When the ball is seaming or swinging, if you pitch it in the right areas it works.

"If you see their bowlers, they bowled up which was good. Generally on these kind of wickets there will be temptation to bowl short because there will be bounce and carry, but they made sure they bowled up and left the batsmen in trouble."

With India tottering at 29 for 5 in the 10th, Suresh Raina and Dhoni began the rebuilding, adding 73 runs. Raina was out short of a half-century but Dhoni, in extremely humid conditions, paced his innings and finished unbeaten. He was 34 off 78 balls without a boundary, got to 50 off 86 and was battling dehydration when he launched, finishing with 113 off 125. The innings won him the Man of the Match award ahead of Jamshed.

Misbah had high praise for Dhoni: "At one stage, it looked as if India would be getting out for 125 but Dhoni's was a brilliant innings. It was more difficult to play in the first half. There was lot of moisture but very well played by Dhoni. He single-handedly took the game away from us, but in the end Nasir too played an extremely good knock."

Dhoni said he would have preferred to have India's top order clicking: "Overall quite happy that I got a century. But going down the order, batting at six or seven, and if you get a 100 ... actually you don't want an opportunity like that because you want your top order to perform."

One of the big concerns for India was the fitness of Kohli, whose ankle gave way under him while he was bowling, resulting in him over-extending his knee. Dhoni said the team would know the details of the injury in "some time". Later, a BCCI release confirmed that while an MRI scan revealed no serious damage, whether Kohli will play the next ODI - on January 3 in Kolkata - is yet to be determined. "All his major ligaments are fine. There is minimal injury fluid in his knee," the release said. "His condition will be monitored, and a decision on whether he will play the second ODI will be taken over the next couple of days."

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Cheema leads Shalimar to big win

Lahore Shalimar 254 (Salahuddin 63, Sami 5-77) and 59 for 0 beat Karachi Whites 170 (Alam 53, Cheema 6-62) and 142 (Saad Ali 58, Cheema 4-36) by 10 wickets
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Aizaz Cheema's ten-wicket match haul set up a crushing win for Lahore Shalimar against Karachi Whites. Shalimar bowled out Whites for well under 200 twice in the game, ensuring the comfortable win.

Whites had chosen to bat, but could manage only 170 in their first innings, with only Fawad Alam making any contribution of note. He made 53, as Cheema ran through the middle and lower order to claim 6 for 62. Then, Shalimar's top order all got into double digits to make sure they took charge. They finished with a lead of 84, which was amplified when their bowlers knocked over both Whites' openers for ducks in their second gig.

Whites were still trailing by 30 runs when they started the third day, with four wickets already lost. As soon as they took a lead, wickets started tumbling again and they lost their last six wickets for 47 runs, finishing all out for 142. Zia-ul-Haq got rid of both the set batsmen - Saad Ali and Saeed Bin Nasir - and only three of them reached double figures.

Lahore Shalimar achieved their target of 59 without losing a wicket and took nine points from the match.

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Bowlers give Mumbai fine start

Mumbai 24 for 1 trail Gujarat 244 (Parthiv 101, Chavan 3-54) by 220 runs
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Zaheer Khan had a fruitful first day as captain of a first-class side, as Mumbai bowled out Gujarat for 244 in what is a virtual pre-quarter-final. Had hosts Mumbai not lost opener Kaustubh Pawar in the last over of the day, the smile on Zaheer's face at stumps would have been even wider.

It didn't come as a surprise when Zaheer, leading the team in the absence of regular captain Ajit Agarkar who was ruled out with a groin injury, opted to bowl on a sporting track with a sprinkling of live grass at the Dr DY Patil Sports Stadium. And when Zaheer trapped Smit Patel, one of the stars of India's victorious Under-19 World Cup campaign, in front of wickets, Mumbai would have hoped to run through the Gujarat top order.

However, rookies Samit Gohel and Bhargav Merai frustrated them for more than an hour. Not only did both the right-hand batsmen scored freely at the start of their innings, but they defended well, leaving balls outside off stump with relative ease. As a result, by the time Dhawal Kulkarni forced Gohel into a false shot, Mumbai had used as five bowlers.

At 89 for 2, captain Parthiv Patel took guard. And by the time he was dismissed as the penultimate Gujarat wicket, the seasoned batsman had scored 101 off the 154 runs that Gujarat added since his arrival at the crease. Had Merai not attempted a risky single and fallen short of the crease at the non-striker's end when Kulkarni's direct hit shattered the woodwork in the last over before lunch, Gujarat would have had the advantage going into the break.

However, once Mumbai had got an opening, they lived up to their tag of domestic powerhouse by breaking through at regular intervals. As a result, the 64-run association for the second wicket between Gohel and Merai turned out to be the only noteworthy partnership of the innings.

While wickets were tumbling at the other end, Parthiv appeared to be playing a completely different match. En route his third century of the season, and the top of this season's run charts, the left-hand batsman displayed his cutting and driving abilities in abundance. His standout stroke was a straight driven boundary off Kulkarni soon after his arrival at the crease.

Once Mumbai had broken into the longish tail of Gujarat batting, Parthiv switched gears and targeted left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan, who was flighting the ball on the opening day for the first time in the season. He first charged down the pitch to hit him for a boundary over mid-off, and in his next over, drove him through the covers for the same result.

The only blemish during Parthiv's knock came when he was on 64. Having surpassed Ravindra Jadeja's tally of 794 runs to emerge as the leading run-getter, Parthiv nicked Kulkarni but Hiken Shah dropped a regulation catch at first slip. Nevertheless, with little support from the other end, it was a commendable effort from the Gujarat captain.

"Obviously the additional motivation is to return to the Indian team, so I try and score big. Thankfully, it has been paying off all through the season," Parthiv said after stumps. "It is a challenging wicket but I think we were about 100 runs short of what would have been an ideal first-innings score here."

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Young batsmen make New Zealanders work hard

South African Invitation XI 274 for 6 (Petersen 47*, Liebisch 4*, Boult 2-46) trail New Zealanders 311 for 6 declared (McCullum 65, Ackermann 3-46) by 37 runs
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Two potential future stars announced themselves in Paarl as the South African Invitational XI made the New Zealanders work hard on the second day of their warm-up match. Rassie van der Dussen and Matthew Kleinveldt scored seventies before Trent Boult ensured the day was not a complete waste with two wickets in an aggressive spell in the final session.

The New Zealanders declared overnight to give their bowlers a decent run but soon found the going tough on a pitch that only got flatter under sunny skies. Van der Dussen, who has played for the North West amateur team and Kleinveldt, cousin of Rory, were untroubled by all three seamers who bowled within themselves and in short spells throughout the morning.

Both batsmen were strong off the front foot with Kleinveldt showing slightly more intent. They wore down the New Zealanders, who eventually had the spinners, Jeetan Patel and Bruce Martin operating from either end. The hosts went to lunch at 81 without loss before Kleinveldt brought out his more flamboyant side in the afternoon session.

He half-century came in the second over after lunch while van der Dussen continued to play conservatively, although he also reached his milestone. With both set to record hundreds the New Zealanders appeared to be on a futile mission but Martin tempted Kleinveldt with flight, drew him forward and BJ Watling completed the stumping.

The tourists' most profitable period came after tea. Colin Ackermann was caught by Martin Guptill at slip off Neil Wagner. The umpires had to confer about the legitimacy of the catch after Shaun George, who was at the bowler's end, thought it was taken off a bump ball.

Boult got his first wicket when van der Dussen played an aerial shot into the covers and Dean Brownlie took the catch. Brownlie was on the field substituting for Peter Fulton, who will take no part in the Tests after injuring tendons in his knee while batting.

Having suffered a severe stomach bug, Brownlie appeared to have returned to health and may even ask for special permission for bat on the third day. He was not named in the original 12 because of his illness but has progressed well since then and because the match does not have first-class status his request may be granted.

In his next over, Boult produced a beauty that swung into Pite van Biljoen and upset the stumps. The New Zealanders caused a mini-collapse when Uwe Birkenstock was given what could have been seen as a harsh lbw dismissal against Martin. The ball looked to be missing leg but Birkenstock left without complaint.

All the New Zealanders' quick men returned for a final burst in the last hour and Chris Martin was the only one to have some reward. He picked up the scalp of promising wicketkeeper-batsman Bradley Barnes to an lbw that few could have argued with.

The inability to bowl out an inexperienced, composite side made up of players from the amateur and under-19 competitions may see the New Zealanders cop some criticism but they should not be vilified just yet. The attack on display is unlikely to be their Test arsenal with Doug Bracewell sitting out and the pitch at Newlands should offer a little more bounce and carry than the unresponsive Boland Park strip.

Luckily, it was the only lifeless part of the ground. A healthy crowd sat under the oaks to watch the match and a sponsored event, which involved some cricket and much music, took place on the lawns at the back of the stadium. In attendance were acting CSA chief executive Jacques Faul, former national assistance coach Vincent Barnes, who now works on the High Performance Programme, current bowling coach Allan Donald and many former players from the area including Henry Williams and Johnny Kleinveldt, Matthew's father.

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Madhya Pradesh's Rajput called for suspect action

After a day on which they dominated beyond expectations, the mood in the Madhya Pradesh camp was quite sombre and centred around one issue: the no-balling of debutant offspinner Ajay Rajput for a suspect action, once each by the on-field umpires K Srinath and R Subramanium. The no-balls came in the 56th and 69th overs of the Saurashtra innings. Rajput did not bowl after completing the latter over, his 12th, and ended with 1 for 21.

Starting with the previous three seasons, the BCCI has been very strict about this matter in domestic cricket and has instructed umpires to no-ball bowlers, who in their opinion have suspect actions, and report them to the board. The BCCI then sends such bowlers for rehabilitation to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

In Rajput's case, the umpires had a problem with his quicker delivery, according to MP coach Mukesh Sahni. Rajput, who has a front-on action, used the delivery liberally during the earlier part of his spell. He then cut down its frequency, and started tossing the ball up more. Sahni also said that Rajput has a natural bend in his arm - a medical certificate to this effect will have to be submitted to the board.

According to the match referee Sanjay Raul, Rajput cannot bowl any more in the innings if he is called once more by the umpires but, till then, it is up to MP captain Devendra Bundela whether to use him or not. Bundela, Rajput and Sahni had a meeting with the umpires and the match referee after the day's play.

The ICC's approach in international cricket to suspect actions differs from that of the BCCI in Indian domestic cricket; international umpires can report a bowler for a dodgy action but, even though they have not been barred from doing so, do not no-ball him on the field. The tolerance limit is 15 degrees of flex, and whether a bowler is transgressing that limit requires sophisticated tests and is extremely difficult to be accurately assessed by the naked eye.

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Pitch makes life hard for Saurashtra, MP

Saurashtra 212 for 9 (Vasavada 54, Jackson 53, Pandey 3-37) v Madhya Pradesh
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Going by day one, the Rajkot pitch confounded both sides, who were expecting it to turn early, and turn big. In the end, the innate slow nature of the pitch didn't allow that. The lack of watering and rolling of the pitch over the last two days, in the presence of a BCCI curator, somehow added variable, largely low, bounce to the mix. Slow and mostly low made batting difficult for Saurashtra, who conceded whatever advantage winning the toss had given them by losing nine wickets.

Devendra Bundela, the MP captain, had walked back after the toss with a wry smile on, fearing the worst, especially given the presence of Cheteshwar Pujara in the Saurashtra line-up. At that time, MP would have grabbed an opposition scoreline of 212 for 9 with both hands. Ultimately, despite abandoning their favoured three-quicks policy for another specialist spinner - a debutant who was to be called twice for a suspect action - it was the crack fast-bowling pair of Ishwar Pandey and Anand Rajan who delivered the early blows for MP. Saurashtra never quite made up for that initial damage of 37 for 3, and despite fifties from Sheldon Jackson and Aarpit Vasavada, the day easily belonged to the visitors.

Rajan struck as early as the last ball of his first over, the day's second, when he had the veteran Shitanshu Kotak lbw on the forward defensive. Kotak had already been put down by the wicketkeeper Naman Ojha, diving in front of first slip, in Pandey's opening over.

Pujara batted with the supreme confidence an in-form Test batsman takes into first-class cricket, but he was a bit too positive, and in trying to on-drive Pandey, he gave a tame catch to midwicket when on 10. The ball had stopped on Pujara; the stroke was not on given the nature of the pitch. Pandey earned the next wicket through sheer pace, zipping a good length delivery through the captain Jaydev Shah's defences. Both Pujara and Jaydev departed with quizzical glances at the pitch.

Spin had already been introduced in the seventh over, and was to account for 65 of the day's 90 overs. However, it was to play largely a holding role, though the spinners did take five wickets. The turn was slow, and even if batsmen were beaten in the flight, they could play off the back foot. Pitched-up deliveries were patted away from the crease. Bundela attacked throughout with two to three close-in fielders, but the one takeable chance that came their way was put down at short leg off Jackson, Jalaj Saxena the bowler to suffer.

Jackson went for his shots, and rode his luck to make 53. Consecutive thick edges flew to gully off Ankit Sharma, but could not be held on. He steered Rajan dangerously through the slip cordon. But he probably also showed the way to score on this pitch, hitting several boundaries behind point. He chose to cut the part-time left-arm spinner Rameez Khan's second delivery in the last over before lunch, and was bowled. Saurashtra ended the first session on 94 for 5, and from that position to go past 200 was in itself an achievement.

Vasavada, and later Kamlesh Makvana, were responsible for that, with sensible, defensive knocks that were in stark contrast to the way Chirag Jani lost his head, charging out to Ankit, and getting stumped. Despite Saurashtra's resistance, MP were never far away from striking, as seven partnerships worth between 22 and 38 showed. Vasavada eventually went on his 181st ball, bowled by an Ankit delivery that spun in sharply from outside off, one of the very few that did.

The second new ball did nothing for MP, but before that Pandey displayed his versatility by trapping Vishal Joshi in front with a full delivery. Saurashtra ended a disappointing day on a disappointing note as No. 11 as debutant Dharmendra Jadeja stepped out and holed out to mid-off, the second time in the day Saurashra had given a wicket to the part-timer Rameez, off what turned out to be the last deliveries of the respective sessions.

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League president protests against USACA AGM

Leighton Greenidge, the president of the Southern Connecticut Cricket Association and regional director of the currently suspended North East Region, has spoken out against the USA Cricket Association (USACA) for the way the Annual General Meeting was handled on December 15 in New York. According to sources, only two league presidents belonging to member leagues in good standing attended the meeting, which took place inside the Hilton Hotel at JFK Airport.

Despite the small crowd, several people including Greenidge were denied access at the conference room door to prevent participation at the AGM. USACA has not issued any meeting minutes regarding the AGM and attempts to contact USACA president Gladstone Dainty by phone to discuss the meeting were unsuccessful.

According to sources, one of the documents presented at the AGM by Dainty was titled, "A Vision For USACA" and dated September 9, 2008. In the document, Dainty blamed USACA's lack of a business office as the singular fact that "has stymied the development of the organisation."

USACA had originally announced that the AGM was to take place at the April 14 board meeting in Florida, when general elections were held. Just days ahead of that meeting, the ICC had confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that USACA's funding grants were temporarily suspended because of its failure to hold an AGM in 2011, one of the core administrative requirements for all Associate members. Dainty was re-elected in a landslide after 32 of the 47 USACA member leagues were barred from voting.

Sources claim that internal doubts were raised recently as to whether or not the April meeting constituted an AGM. As a result, USACA announced that the AGM would be held in New York on December 15. However, it is unclear if the meeting can be considered a legitimate AGM if only two presidents from member leagues in good standing were present. Consequently, the Associate funding grants that USACA receives from the ICC could once again be in danger of being suspended.

"It is public knowledge that I am not a supporter of Gladstone Dainty's failed policies and initiatives as it relates to management of cricket in the United States," Greenidge told ESPNcricinfo. "Having said that, I still have a fiduciary obligation and responsibility to my constituents as president of my league, the Southern Connecticut Cricket Association, and as a Regional Director of the North East Region to represent them and report to them what transpired at that and every AGM."

According to Greenidge, he arrived shortly before the 10 am start time and approached the entrance to the meeting room with USACA board member Krish Prasad. In a scene reminiscent of two previous board meetings from 2011 and 2010, when board members were prevented from entering USACA meetings by off duty policemen or security guards, Greenidge had his name on a list held by a security guard stationed outside the door with instructions to refuse him entry. Prasad was allowed to enter.

"On approaching the door to the meeting room, we were approached by a gentleman who asked both of us to sign in on the sign-in sheet provided and to produce some form of photo ID for verification," Greenidge said. "Upon examination of my credentials, the gentleman, who identified himself as chief of security of that Hilton Hotel, informed me that he had a list of individuals in hand who were not allowed in the meeting and that furthermore my name was on that list. He insisted that I leave the establishment immediately or he would take further action."

Greenidge's league is currently a member league that was declared one of the 32 member leagues not in good standing after the results of a USACA compliance audit were announced at the start of the year. As a result, his league was ineligible to vote in April's general elections. However, Greenidge said he didn't think that attending the AGM in New York would cause any problems because of statements made by Dainty and USACA treasurer John Thickett to ESPNcricinfo on November 22 regarding April's elections and that all members would be welcome at the AGM.

"I would like to state it's not true the board targeted certain regions," Dainty told ESPNcricinfo. "The constitution is quite clear about the compliance procedures and the rules are there in the constitution and in the laws of the United States."

"No league was sanctioned in any way and USACA has provided a large amount of material to non-compliant leagues to help them to become compliant and offered the services of its staff to also assist them," Thickett said. "All USACA members are welcome to attend the AGM. On voting matters, all members in good standing are eligible to vote."

While USACA had 47 member leagues under its umbrella in 2011, Dainty stated in a December 13 affidavit that there are currently only 12 member leagues in good standing with USACA. The affidavit was filed in response to a lawsuit filed by former USACA executive secretary Kenwyn Williams.

"The cricketing world needs to have a full understanding of the state of cricket in the USA under the current administration," Greenidge said. "This administration has reduced its membership to 12 leagues while still expecting to receive the same level of ICC funding that they enjoyed when there were 45+ leagues in the association."

"This administration claims to be transparent and honest, but the actions of this group are anything but honest. One has to wonder if USACA is really about cricket or something else. No real tournaments, no cricket development or anything that even approaches the mission statement of the organisation. If an organisation is unable to develop simple local and national tournaments, it is unreasonable to expect it to run a tournament with international implications that approaches the standard of the IPL and what would amount to be a $1 billion venture."

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Williamson, McCullum make it NZ's day

New Zealanders 311 for 6 (McCullum 65, Ackermann 3-46) v South African Invitation XI
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The New Zealanders could not have asked for a more hospitable welcome as the one they got in the Winelands to begin their Test preparation. Temperatures hovered around the upper 20 degrees at Boland Park and the South African Invitation XI provided a tame attack to help the tourists get their eyes in ahead of the two-Test series starting next week.

Their top four batsman all had time at the crease, with the pair of whom most is expected of - Kane Williamson and Brendon McCullum - cashing in. They put on 108 for the third wicket with both making half-centuries.

Peter Fulton, who was testing out his knee injury as much as his batting, and Martin Guptill started well against the unusual action of Gino Vries. The 25-year-old from the Free State has a double hop and jump at the start of his run-up but that did not distract the opening pair, who also enjoyed the pace of under-19 bowler Travis Muller. Guptill's drives to long-on and Fulton's controlled pull shots were the highlights of their pairing.

They looked to be having a productive morning, having reached drinks on 78 without loss. But Fulton appeared to lose concentration when he lobbed the ball to the cover fielder to depart for 39. Guptill was joined by Kane Williamson, fresh from the century he scored against South Africa in Wellington. His got off the mark with an authoritative pull.

Instead of building a stand, Guptill looked in a hurry to bring up his half-century and carelessly played the ball to short midwicket off local lad Petrus Jeftha. Colin Ackermann split the chance. In Jeftha's next over, Guptill tried the same thing and Ackermann held on.

Williamson and McCullum played like men taking part in a practice match. They gave themselves time to get used to conditions before showing off some of their trademark shots. Williamson's high-elbowed drive was the treat of the middle session while McCullum scored the only six of the innings, a slog sweep off Siya Simetu.

The invitation side's bowlers lacked impetus as the tea break approached and runs were freely available. But after the interval, offspinner Colin Ackermann claimed New Zealand's marquee pair to ignite the contest. Williamson offered a catch off the bottom of his glove, which Bradley Barnes accepted.

Flynn's 34 balls were the least faced by any of the visiting batsmen. He was fairly aggressive in approach and caught at midwicket. In Ackermann's next over, McCullum was given lbw, hit in front of middle and leg.

BJ Watling and James Franklin batted untroubled as the shadows grew longer. Both seemed certain to bring up half-centuries but it is a milestone only Watling could celebrate up on the second day. Franklin was bowled by a full delivery from occasional bowler Matthew Kleinveldt (cousin of Rory, and primarily a batsman). It is also possible that the New Zealanders will declare overnight as Franklin and Watling were their last recognised batting pair -- they would want to give their bowlers a first run on a South African strip rather than have the tail spend too much time in the middle.

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