India A to tour Australia in July

India A will play two four-day games against Australia A and a limited-overs quadrangular series on its tour to Australia which begins on July 6, the BCCI has said. The quadrangular series will also feature South Africa A and Cricket Australia's National Performance Squad.

The India A side will begin their tour with the four-day games in Queensland, scheduled to start on July 6 and July 13 respectively. The team will then play two round-robin stages in the quadrangular, scheduled to start on July 20, before the final on August 2.

"This tour is a part of the exchange programme that has been initiated by BCCI along with Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa to provide increased exposure to our upcoming players and an opportunity to familiarise and compete in overseas conditions," Sanjay Patel, the BCCI secretary said.

The tour will be the first major series for India A in 2014. In 2013, the team had toured South Africa in August and, apart from the four-day games, also participated in a tri-series between South Africa A and Australia A. The side that participated in the A tour, which took place soon after India's tour to Zimbabwe, included Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma, among others. India A then hosted New Zealand A and West Indies A for first-class and limited-overs matches in September.

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PCB agrees conditionally to ICC revamp

The PCB has agreed to the proposed ICC revamp on the condition that it will be a part of bilateral series against all Full Members, including India, over the next eight years. The PCB's chairman justified his move, reasoning that Pakistan can't afford to be isolated from the rest of cricketing world, most of which had agreed to the wide-ranging changes suggested.

The PCB, according to its chairman, will gain estimated Rs 30 billion (around $310m) in next eight years from the bilateral agreements.

"Decision was made after sensing an isolation," Sethi told a media conference at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. "If we don't play big teams we could be bankrupt in the next two years so we have to stay in line and play our home series with India. Because our infrastructure is mainly run with the money generated playing international cricket, it's very important to play India because it generate major chunk of money. We have to run our cricket and we can't sit out being isolated. Hence we had to go with them but we signed with all legal binding documents and the details of all fixtures will be released soon."

Sethi has also revealed that the world governing board have asked PCB to nominate a candidate from Pakistan for the ceremonial role of ICC president next year.

The PCB is the last Full Member to have extended its support to the governance, finance and FTP changes in the ICC, which were proposed by the BCCI, the ECB and Cricket Australia in February. When the changes, which increase the power of those three boards within the ICC, were first proposed, four Full Members had come out against them: the PCB, the Bangladesh Cricket Board, Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). The proposals have since been revised and were approved by eight of the Full Members on February 8. SLC and the PCB were the only two to refrain from voting at that meeting, and SLC extended its support to the revamp 10 days later.

The PCB had been opposing the position paper right from the start, citing that the revamp is against the principle of "equality" and had been objecting the proposal as whole. "Since January we understand that various factors have been toned down but we lost the ground and our position was weak enough to crumble but PCB stood hard and we managed to get more than enough. I am happy that we are back in business otherwise nobody was ready to talk to Pakistan and they were chalking their own bilateral tour with the exception of Pakistan cricket."

Since July 2013, Pakistan have been without a long-term broadcasting deal, one of the major sources of income for the PCB. With no series scheduled against India until 2020, there could be testing times for the board ahead which is already dealing with a long-standing budget-deficit. In August 2013, the deficit was nearly 500 million Pakistani rupees.

"Now PCB is in a position to go with a long-term deal next year and we have estimated an amount of Rs. 30 billions with our home series after every board have assured a slot in next eight-year cycle. Apart from the broadcasting rights we will be getting a share of ICC tournament, which has been increased from 0.3 to 1.3 per cent. So at the end of the day we have good news for our cricket."

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Uncertain times as Canada looks to move on

Reeling after the loss of ODI status, and with no prospect of big-stage international cricket to come, Canada is looking to get its administrative house in order

Canadian cricket has entered a post-apocalyptic phase. After participating in four World Cups, including the last three, there is no berth for the team in the next edition. ODI status has been meekly surrendered, reducing Canada to the ranks of the also-rans. A place in the World T20 remains as elusive as ever. Canada's cricket team is now not only beaten and bruised but broken.

While some in the board who presided over the decline are now gone, others have gone on to bigger and better things at Cricket Canada. A new board rises, as a president and CEO leave. And nobody seems to know what the next Canadian team that takes the field will look like, and which players are gone for good. (Translation: who the board has had enough of, and more worryingly, who has had enough of Cricket Canada.)

Raza-ur-Rehman, one of the few players in the mix with a definite Canadian cricket career ahead of him, reckons that the coming season will see a depletion in cricketers seriously challenging for a national spot, given that a trip to the World Cup is not on offer. Rehman makes no bones about the fact that those who play for Canada now are the ones who will have to earn the team's place in the cricketing world back, rather than coasting on the hard work of an earlier generation of cricketers.

Ravin Moorthy did not have the votes to retain the presidency and exits while he was still growing in his role. "I regret that we didn't have more time, that we couldn't finish all of what we started," he said. "To not conclude commercial deals that are still under negotiation is disappointing."

Moorthy says he was slowed down by having to do repair work on Cricket Canada's reputation with the ICC, Sport Canada, and existing and potential sponsors. "Our history was of over-promising and under-delivering. Nobody took us seriously and it was hard work to get people to give us a second chance."

Moorthy cites governance reform as his greatest accomplishment. He tackled the thorny issue of Canada's poor team selection practices (long a bugbear for the ICC), revamping the qualifications for being on the selection panel, and making experience of having played first-class or international cricket a central criterion.

Quite literally the most visible of Moorthy's accomplishments was to get Canadian domestic cricket, as well as home series against USA and UAE on local television, raising the profile of the sport substantially during the season.

Moorthy, who hails from the smaller cricketing province of Alberta, opened the door wider for administrators from other provinces to have more of a stake in Canadian cricket. "We got Cricket Canada away from being Toronto-centric. But at the same time you need a strong team in Toronto to manage cricket affairs, and we maintained that."

	"The two most important things for me will be to leave the organisation in healthy financial shape and to have programmes that are well-guided and self-ruling" Vimal Hardat, Cricket Canada's new president

The inclusiveness that Moorthy sought to bring to Canadian cricket was laudable in terms of its intent, but it ultimately proved to be a double-edged sword. Cricket Canada's voting structure means that Ontario, where an estimated 80% of the country's cricket is played, has the same number of votes as the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. It is a system that naturally breeds deal-making among the smaller players in the boardroom, and there has been a steady marginalisation of Ontario, which was already reeling from having two rival administrative bodies that can be played off against each other. The new board's president, vice-president and head of selection are all from outside Ontario, and it was little different under Moorthy.

"We're very disappointed," Mohammad Sheikh, president of the Toronto and District Cricket Association (TDCA), the largest league in the country, says. "All the cricket is played here and the best players come from here. There is no prominent person from Ontario in Cricket Canada, and the one that they do have did not go through the protocol of being nominated by his provincial body".

That person is the former coach of the Indian domestic side Baroda, Mukesh Narula, whose involvement with Canadian cricket is relatively recent, but who is already carving out a worthy resume on the local scene. He is spoken of as being a contender for the post of the national team coach.

Sheikh is of the view that Ontario has been knocked out of cricket administration through backroom deals. "They [the members of the board] don't really understand the magnitude of cricket in Ontario, where we have a number of leagues and divisions, and a credible juniors programme and women's cricket."

Another issue is of Cricket Canada seeming to assume that they can play at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club (MLCC). "We're being approached about the use of the ground for the coming season," Sheikh says, "and our response is, 'Pay us for use of the facility from last year', whereas in the past we took a different tone. TDCA members are the ones funding it and with the ICC complaining about the ground, what can we do to improve it if Cricket Canada doesn't pay?"

Enter new Cricket Canada president Vimal Hardat. His tasks are monumental and include overseeing the rejuvenation of Canada's cricket team, and showing leadership by helping to forge a meaningful role for Canada's most important - and some might argue only - cricket province.

For all of that, Hardat cites restoring the financial health of Cricket Canada as his first priority: "We're in the red. We're not generating funds. Somehow we need to get out of that, and the first step is to reduce expenditures."

Less than a week into his presidency, Hardat has no specific plans for rebuilding the team, but he does say that regaining ODI status and qualifying for the next World T20 are ultimate goals for the board.

"I'll leave it to the high performance committee to sort out how to get the team back on track", he says. With that, there is already a sense that Hardat will take the macro view as Cricket Canada president, and to that end, he does not see being away from Ontario's cricket scene as a bad thing. "As a leader it's my job to appoint experts to do business in their areas of expertise. I do not need to physically be there. There is no point in micro-managing."

It is early days and Hardat is cautious about saying what he hopes he can accomplish in his term as president. "The two most important things for me will be to leave the organisation in healthy financial shape and to have programmes that are well-guided and self-ruling."

What about the World Cup, World T20, ODI status, the Intercontinental Cup?

"Of course", says Hardat. "The goal is to get ODI status back and qualify for World Cups, but there is no quick fix. I don't want to promise something I can't deliver."

At least some lessons seem to have been learned.

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Klinger signed by Warriors

Michael Klinger will move to Western Australia for next summer, as the man to plug the gap left in the Warriors' squad by the retirement of Marcus North. A two-year contract with WA lured 33-year-old Klinger westward, though he still had a season of his existing deal with South Australia left to run.

The news of Klinger's signature will be a relief for the Warriors coach Justin Langer, who has been working to find a senior pro following North's surprising decision to finish his Australian first-class career after a summer's renaissance as an opening batsman. Having moved to SA from Victoria in 2008 in an effort to supercharge his fortunes, Klinger has developed a reputation as a solid citizen and capable leader, also guiding Gloucestershire in England.

"I am very grateful for the opportunity the Western Warriors have given me," Klinger said. "I am looking forward to working with Justin and the coaching staff as well as joining the senior players in helping to guide this very exciting young group of talented cricketers to achieve success.

"It's sad to leave my teammates in South Australia, many of whom I have forged life long friendships with, but I am excited for what the future holds in WA. My wife and two young children along with myself are looking forward to calling Perth home."

In his time with the Redbacks, Klinger twice won the state player of the year award on Allan Border Medal night, while also taking home a trio of Neil Dansie medals as SA's most outstanding player. His captaincy garlands included the 2011 Big Bash and 2012 domestic limited overs titles, the first silverware won by SA since their last Sheffield Shield in 1996.

In all, Klinger has tallied 4,243 first-class runs for SA at 42.86 while also collecting 10 centuries. His record in limited overs matches has been similarly handsome. The Redbacks' loss will now be the Warriors' gain, not only in terms of runs but also the diligent example Klinger will set for the younger players he trains and performs alongside.

"It is obviously sad to lose someone of Michael Klinger's quality, and a player who has given a great deal to South Australian cricket," SA high performance manager Jamie Cox said. "Michael had a one-year deal remaining here in South Australia, but the Warriors were able to offer him a longer-term contract.

"We understand Michael's desire for contract security, and we wish him nothing but the best moving forward."

Klinger's move to the Warriors will make him part of Langer's plans to build a dynasty of success with WA, a goal the team took a first step towards by making this year's Shield final where they were thwarted by New South Wales. SA have meanwhile secured the return home of Mark Cosgrove, who had departed to Tasmania four years ago.

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Saracens into next SL Premier League Tournament

A first-innings lead in the drawn relegation match sent Saracens Sports Club to next year's first-class tournament, while Panadura Sports Club finished a dispiriting season by moving down into the Emerging Trophy. Panadura won only one match from 11 in the season and lost nine matches outright.

Having chosen to bat, Saracens had been in strife at 103 for 6, but a lower-order resurgence headed by Mohomad Aslam's 55 prolonged to innings to reach 240. Left-arm spinner Amila Perera was the major threat, taking 5 for 47.

Saracens captain Chanaka Ruwansiri then put his team on the brink of promotion, as his legspin claimed 5 for 32 in Panadura's reply, which brought only 157 runs. No Panadura batsman crossed 40, though an opening partnership of 64 had promised much.

Having gained the upper-hand, another lower-order rally for Saracens put the result out of reach. Panadura offspinner Rajeeva Weerasinghe had laid waste to Saracens' top order, eventually taking 6 for 96, but recovery from a scoreline reading 115 for 7 was possible with Amila Mendis slamming a 111-ball 108 to effectively ensure his side moved into the Premier League. His 125-run eighth-wicket stand with Tharushan Iddamalgoda formed the core of Saracens' 299 in the second innings.

Panadura, who only faced two overs in their own second innings, are now resigned to the second division.

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Tsotsobe out of Sri Lanka tour

Lonwabo Tsotsobe, the South Africa left-arm seamer, has been ruled out of the tour to Sri Lanka in July to facilitate his recovery from ankle surgery scheduled on April 16. He will be sidelined for up to three months.

South Africa's team manager and doctor Mohammad Moosajee said Tsotsobe had been struggling for some time and a gap in the calender had finally emerged for treatment.

"Lonwabo has been suffering from this ankle problem for the last year and a half," Moosajee said. "This is the first gap we have had which minimises his time out of the game. It's a fairly common injury among fast bowlers and will be conducted by a renowned ankle specialist in Pretoria.

"The recovery time is quite extensive so Lonwabo will probably be unavailable for selection for the tour to Sri Lanka. But we will be working hard to have him ready for the tour to Zimbabwe in August."

His right ankle posterior talar impingement syndrome had made him miss the T20 series against New Zealand in December 2012 and has been a problem since.

He had not been part of the squad bound for Sri Lanka for a limited-overs series last July, but was drafted into the XI despite a recurrence of the injury. Apart from one match-winning 4 for 22, he was largely unimpressive and attracted criticism from the coach Russell Domingo regarding his fitness and commitment.

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'A privilege to work with Kirsten' - Pietersen

'Still hopeful of playing for England' - Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen, the new captain of Delhi Daredevils, has rated Gary Kirsten as the No.1 coach at the moment, and said the franchise is lucky to have the South African in its coaching staff, as it looks to rebuild after a poor 2013 season. Pietersen was speaking to ESPNcricinfo during a live video chat on Thursday where he took questions from fans via Twitter.

Kirsten, who had earlier coached India and his native South Africa, was appointed Daredevils' head coach for 2014 last September. Pietersen, who had represented Daredevils in previous seasons, was named captain last month. Pietersen said his interactions with Kirsten over the last few days, with the squad assembling ahead of the start of IPL 2014, have been "fantastic."

"Gary and I sing off a similar hymn sheet. It's an absolute privilege to work with Gary," Pietersen said. "He is probably rated the No.1 coach at the moment. Delhi are very fortunate to have Gary. He's got the personality that makes you want to really be successful for him and the franchise. He makes you feel happy about yourself.

"When he talks he means it and everything that comes out of his mouth makes sense. It has been fantastic working with him so far. We will do whatever we can to prepare ourselves the right way so we can have a fun competition."

Pietersen had had a shortlived stint as England captain and also had a brief period at the helm of Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2009. Now in his second time leading an IPL franchise, Pietersen said his outlook towards the job has changed since his early days, by drawing on his experiences in dealing with different people.

"I think my mindset has changed a hell of a lot. When I was thrust into the England captaincy, it was very difficult at that stage as I hadn't been through a load of processes and I've had a load of ups and downs since then," Pietersen said. "Only when you reach good heights and reasonably low lows do you understand everybody and everything. When you have a family you understand families, when you have kids you understand kids.

"When I took over the England captaincy I hadn't experienced a lot of those things. For me, understanding people, managing people and getting to grips with how everybody's feeling over a 6-8 week period is vitally important in making sure we are all happy and everyone's fighting for one result. The last 24-48 hours with these guys has been fascinating, in terms of achieving the goal. We can all learn from each other."

With the IPL's credibility hit by last year's spot-fixing scandal, Pietersen said it was important for players to remember why they took to the game in the first place and not worry about off-field issues.

"I hope I can speak for all players that we play this game because we love this game. It gives incredible highs, and lows too. You have to expect that. You go out there and play to the best of your ability and you just hope that people aren't putting a black line through days that you spend enjoying and having fun. Anything that happens in terms of the nonsense away from the field, we can't go in to that. We just have to be honest with ourselves and each other."

Pietersen, whose international career was put to an abrupt end by the ECB, however, hasn't given up hope on playing for England again. "I thought my time was up when things happened in January," he said. "But I love playing cricket and I am still hopeful of playing cricket for England again one day so I'm going to do everything I can to play to the best of my ability."

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Shanan Stewart retires from cricket

Shanan Stewart, who represented New Zealand in four ODIs in 2010, has called time on his career in top-flight cricket. The 31-year old hard-hitting batsman made his first-class debut in 2001 for Canterbury and had since played 244 matches for the side in all formats, second to former Test cricketer Chris Harris.

"It was still a very tough call," Stewart told Fairfax NZ News. "I've made some really good mates in this sport and it was a pretty tough decision to retire. But I've got a young family now and other things on my plate and, really, at the end of the day I probably wasn't having as much success as I wanted."

Stewart made 5693 runs in four-day cricket at 36.72, with seven centuries and 35 fifties. His farewell innings was a blistering and unbeaten 96 off 65 balls to sink Auckland in February. He struck 3521 List A runs including four centuries and 17 fifties and in the shortest format he had 679 runs, with five fifties and a strike rate of 124.35.

Peter Fulton, the Canterbury captain, praised Stewart's method that sustained a domestic career spanning over a decade. "He's a bit of an old-school cricketer," Fulton said. "He played the game hard, always gave 100 per cent and he had fun."

Stewart's greatest highlight remains his 485 runs in seven matches during Canterbury's successful Plunket Shield campaign in 2010-11, an achievement made all the more significant having come under difficult times.

"Winning the four-day championship after the earthquake [2010-11 season] when we were all down and out a bit, that was special," he said. "The way Fults (Fulton) and Bobby [assistant coach Bob Carter] pulled us through, that was brilliant and winning that title really was the highlight for me. I owe a lot to Bobby, he was the coach who really seemed to get the most out of me."

A first-class highest of 227 proved the stepping stone into the national side but the promotion did not last too long after he could muster only 26 runs in four ODIs in 2010. He had skirted around the edges of a T20I debut having made the 30-man preliminary squad for that year's World T20, but missed out.

"Obviously I would have loved more success with New Zealand but I have no regrets," he said.

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Siddle 'glad' to see back of Pietersen

Peter Siddle, in England to take up a season-long overseas contract with Nottinghamshire, has admitted he is "pretty glad" England have dropped Kevin Pietersen from their side.

Siddle, the Australia seamer, has claimed Pietersen's wicket 10 times in Test cricket, but he still regards him as "a challenging player" to bowl against.

"Personally, I'm pretty glad he's not playing any more," Siddle said. "I always loved bowling against him. He is a challenging player to play against."

But while Siddle remains respectful of Pietersen's talent, he conceded he had enjoyed success against the batsman by playing to his ego in the most recent Ashes series in Australia.

"I did [play to his ego]," Siddle said. "I just bored him. It is the most boring way I've bowled to any player. I knew where he wanted to score and knew how he would do it, so I tried boring him as much as I could and had a lot of success doing it."

Siddle might logically expect to have seen the last of Pietersen in an England shirt, but he does expect Jonathan Trott to return to the international side. Trott left the Ashes tour after the Brisbane Test suffering from burnout but, Siddle backed the batsman to return before too long.

"I wouldn't be surprised at all if Trott came back," Siddle said. "He's a very good player and he has had a lot of success against us. It has always been hard work. I wish him all the best."

While it has become rare for established Test seamers to appear for long stints in county cricket, Siddle is keen to experience life on the county circuit and has been given no restriction on his workload by Cricket Australia.

"It's great opportunity," he said. "I love the country and, after talking to guys like David Hussey and Simon Katich about their experiences of playing county cricket, I knew it was something I wanted to experience.

"I had a chat with David Saker, the England bowling coach, during last summer's Ashes series and he put in a word for me. I didn't talk to any clubs other than Nottinghamshire.

"The IPL has never been a big thing for me and India, sometimes, isn't a place you want to be. My goal has always been to play as many Tests as I could and I bowl at my best when I play continuous cricket. By playing for Nottinghamshire, I'll stay match fit."

And with another Ashes series to be played in England in 2015, the experience Siddle will gain of English conditions will also do him no harm.

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BCB to appeal against corruption tribunal's clean chit

The BCB has decided not to involve in the National Cricket League Dhaka Gladiators' Mosharraf Hossain and Mahbubul Alam as it plans to appeal against the Bangladesh Premier League corruption tribunal's decision to hand the two a clean chit. The duo were among the nine cricketers accused of match-fixing in the second edition of the BPL.

"The board is planning to appeal," Jalal Yunus, the BCB media committee chairman, told Dhaka Tribune. "It might happen in a day or two. They won't be able to play the national league for that."

The players' lawyer, Nawroz MR Chowdhury told the same newspaper that the BCB can appeal but it won't affect the judgment. "Here they (BCB) don't have the option to appeal. Even if the tribunal had made the full judgment, the appeal couldn't have stayed the order. According to the tribunal bylaws, an appeal can be made but it will have no affect on the judgment," Nawroz said.

The sixth and seventh rounds of the NCL begin on April 12.

The incident of alleged match and spot-fixing came to light in May 2013 when BCB president Nazmul Hassan confirmed that a Bangladesh player had been questioned by the ICC. Mohammad Ashraful was the first player to admit to being involved in corruption, after which formal charges were laid against nine individuals, including six players from the Dhaka Gladiators franchise.

The BCB decided "not to involve" Ashraful in any kind of cricket until investigations into the matter were complete, and appointed a disciplinary panel, from which an anti-corruption tribunal was formed to probe the issue. The tribunal held a preliminary hearing in November last year and the full hearing of the tribunal began in January.

One of the owners of Dhaka Gladiators, Shihab Jishan Chowdury, was found guilty of "being party to an effort to fix" a match in the BPL 2013. Six others were discharged as not guilty by the tribunal, but both the ICC and the BCB had said in February they were "disappointed" by the outcome and may yet consider an appeal.

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