Radio Sport pulls out of SL Tests over high costs

New Zealand's Radio Sport will not be broadcasting live commentary from the ground for New Zealand's two Tests in Sri Lanka after the radio station failed to come to an agreement over the cost of broadcasting rights with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). Terming the deal as "expensive," Dallas Gurney, the radio's general manager of talk, said the price SLC asked wasn't cost-effective for the network.

NZC chief executive David White said the money being asked was "way above anything they'd [Radio Sport] done before."

"My understanding is what they were being requested to pay was significantly more than they've ever had to pay before. It was very challenging for them commercially," White was quoted as saying in Fairfax NZ News. "Our tour just recently to India was reasonable and not an issue, and it was covered. I don't know why in this instance it's so expensive and, hopefully, it's just a one-off."

The episode, which has parallels to the recent standoff between the BCCI and the BBC over the cost of radio broadcast rights, will not affect the stations' plans to broadcast live from New Zealand's tour of South Africa that starts in December and the tour of England next year.

"We've still got South Africa to come [in December-January] and Bryan Waddle [the radio's commentator] will be going to South Africa. We've pretty much got the rights sorted for that. And England after that, we'll have ball-by-ball coverage of that tour as well."

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Batting spot 'totally open' - Cook

Alastair Cook has welcomed the competition for places in the England team ahead of selection for the first Test against India on November 15. England have question marks in several areas, the most pressing of those being who will open the batting with Cook in Ahmedabad.

By being picked for the opening tour match, it was felt Nick Compton was the preferred choice but his two single figure scores have eroded his advantage. Joe Root, although making only 28 in the first innings of the second tour match, at least spent time at the crease and demonstrated patience and solidity.

Cook said there is no possibility of Jonathan Trott moving up to open the batting, therefore the three tour matches have become a shoot-out between Compton and Root.

"It's a cut-throat business and they both have an opportunity to score runs and push their claim," Cook said. "They're at different stages of their career. One's far more experienced and has got more runs behind him. The other one's a lot younger and has impressed everyone at every stage of his career. We're still waiting to see so these are important days.

"It was totally open when we picked the squad. Andy Flower and I haven't seen a huge amount of either. I've played against Nick a couple of times, and I played in Joe Root's first ever game in 2009. It was important we came here with a clear mind and I think we've done that."

Cook's debut came as a 21-year-old on England's 2006 tour of India; he therefore knows the value of giving youth an opportunity. "Joe wouldn't be in the squad if we didn't think he was ready to play," Cook said. "My own situation was helped by the fact I'd been in Pakistan the tour before with the team as cover for somebody and got to know the England system better. Without that I'd have felt very uncomfortable turning up in Nagpur where I made my debut. But Joe's been here since the start of the tour and has got to know the lads."

With England choosing to add a debutant opener, they will retain their experienced middle order for the first Test of Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen, whose reintegration into the England squad was described by Graeme Swann as a "seamless progress".

"It needed to happen," Swann said. "Everyone was wondering how it would go and whether it would be as easy as it has been, but a lot of credit has to be given to Kevin for the way he has come in. It's just business as usual and the dressing room is a very happy place this week."

Pietersen was rested for the second tour match after making 23 against India A before falling to the left-arm spin of Yuvraj Singh. But his place in the Test side is assured and Swann said Pietersen's place among the team jokes has also returned. "In the changing room, no one is safe," Swann said. "KP's the butt of as many jokes as anyone else. He takes it fine, so it's great."

Pietersen's return leaves one batting spot available at No. 6 if England maintain their favoured four-man bowling attack. Samit Patel's form with the bat, a century against India A and an unbeaten 59 on day one at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, has all but cemented that spot.

Day two against Mumbai A will see the battle for a place in the bowling attack for the first Test take centre stage. An opening could be created if Steven Finn does not recover. Graeme Onions will look to stake his claim and Monty Panesar will hope to convince the selectors to revert to two specialist spinners, a policy England last employed in the UAE against Pakistan in January.

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Lee offers to help injured Cummins

Brett Lee has volunteered to help the teenage fast bowler Pat Cummins rework his action after he was ruled out for the season with a stress fracture of the back. Cummins, 19, missed most of last summer with a foot injury and suffered a side strain during this year's tour of England, and his latest injury is not the first back problem he has encountered during his short career.

After scans revealed the extent of his injury, Cummins wondered whether he had fallen into bad habits with his action while playing so much short-form cricket, instead of bowling in the same manner he would when trying to swing a red ball. Lee had a number of injury troubles early in his career and he said he would be happy to pass on some advice to Cummins regarding the best way to bowl at express pace without damaging the back.

"I'm not saying in any way, shape or form that Pat needs to change his action," Lee told the Sun-Herald. "But there are some things I reckon I could help him with [such as how] to clean his action up to make it a little bit easier on his back.

"The one thing you don't want as a fast bowler is hyper-extension and counter-rotation [like] he has [and] as I did when I was at the same age ... I had that same set-up where there was a lot of twisting and turning in my action, which is where you get your pace from, but it does come at a cost."

Lee shrugged off injuries throughout his career to finish with 310 Test wickets and 380 one-day international victims, but unlike Cummins he did not make his Test debut until he was 23. Cummins was 18 when he wore the baggy green for the first - and so far, only - time against South Africa at the Wanderers last November, where he was Man of the Match for his seven wickets in Australia's win.

Cummins was especially impressive in the way he worked over the veteran Jacques Kallis, who struggled with a few short deliveries before edging to slip. The back injury means Australian fans will be denied the chance to see Cummins take on Kallis and the rest of the South Africans again this summer, and Lee said it was disappointing given what Cummins could have achieved on the Australian pitches.

"This is a real blow. He's a great fellow and I just want to see him out on the field and playing," Lee said. "I'm shattered for Pat because someone like him bowling 155kph to 160kph at the Gabba would be exciting to see. It would be great to see him match what the South Africans have. It's disappointing and frustrating to think we haven't got that now, though it's not the poor bugger's fault. I'm 100% confident he'll be back, but I would've loved to have seen him bowl to Jacques Kallis who, in my opinion, is the world's best cricketer."

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Khawaja fifty sets up Bulls win

Queensland 256 and 4 for 106 (Khawaja 54) beat New South Wales 184 and 175 (Warner 39, Gannon 4-61, Feldman 3-58) by 6 wickets
Scorecard

Usman Khawaja's second half-century of the match helped steer Queensland to a comfortable six-wicket victory over New South Wales at Allan Border Field. The New South Wales line-up was heavy on Test players but in their second innings it was the unheralded Queensland fast-bowling pair of Cameron Gannon and Luke Feldman who restricted them to 175.

The Blues resumed on 5 for 121, which was effectively 6 for 121 given that Shane Watson would not bat due to his calf problem, and they added 54 to their overnight total. Mitchell Starc made a brisk 25 from 17 balls before he was bowled by Feldman, who finished with seven wickets for the match, and Peter Nevill (28) was the other major contributor on Sunday before he was caught behind off Gannon, who took 4 for 61.

That left the Bulls chasing 104 and although Doug Bollinger removed the opener Wade Townsend for a duck, Khawaja and Peter Forrest ensured there would be no disaster for Queensland. Khawaja made 54, the same score he had made in the first innings, before he became one of two wickets for Trent Copeland, who also had Joe Burns caught behind for a duck. Forrest and Nathan Reardon knocked off the remaining runs as the Bulls cruised to 4 for 106.

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Chari, Moeen succeed in testing chase

Tuskers 317 for 8 dec. (Williams 88) and 307 for 5 (Chari 98, Moeen 95) beat Mountaineers 264 (Querl 5-56) and 357 for 7 dec. (Masakadza 178) by five wickets
Scorecard

Brian Chari and Moeen Ali both fell short of hundreds but their contributions went a long way to helping Tuskers to victory in their opening match. Set 305 to win, Chari and Moeen took the chase to 219 for 2 after an opening stand of 72. First-change bowler Natsai M'shangwe trapped Chari two short of a century after 10 fours and a six, with Moeen playing a more enterprising knock, striking 12 fours and two sixes in 95 in just 87 balls before falling to Shingirai Masakadza.

Mushangwe kept Mountaineers in the game with additional wickets of Craig Ervine and Charles Coventry, but their knocks of 22 and 20 respectively, at nearly a run-a-ball, kept the chase ticking along and it was left to captain Keegan Meth to score the winning boundary.

It was an excellent competitive match with Tuskers taking a 53-run first innings lead after Glen Querl took 5 for 56 to bowl Mountaineers out for 264 having chosen to bat first. It was Querl's sixth five-for in first-class cricket and took him past 50 career wickets. But he only picked up the solitary success in Mountaineers' second innings as Hamilton Masakadza, playing his 100th first-class match, hauled his side back into the match with 178 in 279 balls. That allowed Mountaineers to declare and set up a testing, if ultimately reachable, chase.

Southern Rocks 459 for 8 dec. (Mutumbami 141, Burgoyne 102*) and forfeit beat Eagles 159 for 1 dec. (Chibhabha 102*) and 159 (Panyangara 4-43) by 141 runs
Scorecard

Southern Rocks capitalised on the opportunity to force a result on the final afternoon in Harare, bowling Eagles out for 159 for an easy victory. The captains came together to set up a chase for Southern Rocks of 301 but they were blown away by Tinashe Panyangara, whose 4 for 43 sent his side to an opening match victory.

After just 13.1 overs on day three, the game was destined for a draw but the match came alive as Eagles were fed 72 runs in 21 balls, allowing Chamu Chibhabha to make a century, and Southern Rocks forfeited their second innings. But Eagles were quickly reduced to 17 for 3 and the chance of victory was over inside 10 overs of the final innings. Panyangara did the early damage, having Sikandar Raza lbw for 4 and then five balls later removing captain Stuart Matsikenyeri for a duck. That after opener Chibhabha fell caught behind to Brian Vitori for 5.

Regis Chakabva hung around for 112 balls, making 28 but he was eventually bowled by Panyangara as the last of Eagles' resistance was removed. Vitori went on to pick up Mark Mbofana and Innocent Chinyoka to finish with 3 for 49 but neither he nor Panyangara could ruin Nathan Waller's day. He launched seven fours in an entertaining 53 minutes which saw him make an unbeaten 42 and provide at least some cheer for pointless Eagles.

Southern Rocks took seven points from their win which was set up from a big first innings total having won the toss. Richmond Mutumbami top-scored with 141 including two sixes and 21 fours. He and Derbyshire's Peter Burgoyne put on 153 for the fifth wicket, Burgoyne making an unbeaten 102. Another Derbyshire player, Ben Slater, made 89 opening the batting.

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WICB signs seven-year TV rights deal

Taj TV has acquired television rights from the WICB for a period of seven years, beginning from January 2013. Taj TV, which operates five sports channels including Ten Sports and has previously telecast West Indies cricket, bought the terrestrial broadcast rights for the Caribbean as well as the production rights, the West Indies board said in a release.

In all, the release said, Taj TV will broadcast 253 days of international cricket as part of the deal, and provide television production for free-to-air stations throughout the Caribbean. However, the numbers behind the deal were not revealed.

"We are extremely delighted to continue our long standing association with Taj TV Limited who has been our media rights partner previously and with whom we have had a solid and mutually beneficial relationship," the president of the WICB, Julian Hunte, said.

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Lions roar silences Titans

The Lions recovered from their Champions League T20 final defeat in blazing fashion when they beat the Titans by 269 runs in the first match of the domestic one-day competition at Centurion.

For the Titans, it was more heartache. After they lost to the Sydney Sixers off the last ball of their CLT20 semi-final, they slumped to the lowest total in a domestic limited-overs competition in South African history. They were bowled out for 60 in response to the Lions massive 329 for 6 and that, after they put the Lions in to bat on a belter.

Stephen Cook, who did not take part in the CLT20 but has been in training throughout, led the way with a 122-ball 125. He shared in an opening stand with 161-run opening partnership with Gulam Bodi, who was the second top run-scorer of the CLT20. The pair out on their runs in 28 overs before Bodi top-edged a sweep shot to square leg off Paul Harris.

Quinton de Kock, Grant Mokoena and Neil McKenzie were all dismissed cheaply and the Lions had been reined in to 255 for 5 in the 44th over. Jean Symes, who had a good CLT20 campaign, provided another late burst. His 43 off 27 balls included five fours and two sixes to take the Lions over the 300-run mark.

Surprisingly, Harris, Ethy Mbhalati and Roelof van der Merwe conceded at under six runs to the over but Rowan Richards and CJ de Villiers took punishment. Richards was a victim of Cook's onslaught and conceded 78 while De Villiers bowled his 10 overs for 70.

The pitch would have not made the Lions' bowlers think they would get away with an easy outing and they would have been surprised to see that they did. The Titans were 34 for 9 in the 16th over and all out inside 19 overs. The Titans scorecard included four ducks and only two batsmen got inot double figures.

Hardus Viljoen, who used to open the bowling with Marchant de Lange at Easterns, bowled a blistering spell upfront. With fiery pace in the upper 140 kphs, he took six for 19 and showed off seam movement. Chris Morris and Ethan O'Reilly didn't have much to share between them but picked up one and three wickets respectively. David Wiese managed 24 of 26 balls but it will be little consolation for the Titans who now lost their three of their last four matches against the Lions.

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Watson injury scare ahead of Tests

Shane Watson has sent another shudder through Australia's camp ahead of the first South Africa Test by complaining of calf soreness while bowling for New South Wales against Queensland in the Sheffield Shield match in Brisbane.

In his first appearance at the bowling crease in a first-class match since the tour of the West Indies in April, Watson delivered only one over before speaking with his state and national captain Michael Clarke and leaving the field.

It soon emerged that he was bothered by a sore left calf, the same muscle he strained during this year's ODI tour of England. A calf ailment had also contributed to Watson missing all of the 2011-12 home Test matches.

Medical staff are assessing the problem, and it is unlikely that Watson will return to the field for the rest of day two.

Watson's exit from Allan Border Field continued a fraught round of domestic matches for Australia's Test batsmen, as only Michael Hussey has made any substantial runs while Ricky Ponting was withdrawn from Tasmania's match against South Australia with hamstring tightness.

More to come...

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BBC agrees deal to cover England tour

The BBC has resolved its stand-off with the BCCI and come to an agreement that will see Test Match Special broadcast from the grounds during England's tour of India. The BCCI had reportedly demanded a fee of £50,000, in addition to the sum paid for radio rights, to allow the BBC access to facilities, although it has not been confirmed whether this has now been paid or not.

"We are pleased to confirm that Test Match Special will broadcast England's cricket tour of India from the grounds after agreement was reached with all parties," a BBC spokesman said.

Sky Sports has already indicated that it will not be sending its commentary team to India, after being asked for an extra payment of £500,000. The impasse had arisen because the BCCI retains production rights for the series and wanted to cover "realistic costs". Both Sky and the BBC have agreements as sub-licencees with Star TV.

There had been a suggestion that the BBC, which counts Jonathan Agnew, Geoffrey Boycott and Michael Vaughan among its Test Match Special team, could choose not to cover the series at all rather than follow Sky's lead and do so from the UK. However, two weeks before the start of the first Test in Ahmedabad, that situation has been averted.

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'BCB made written commitment to touring Pak'

The Bangladesh Cricket Board recently made a written commitment to its Pakistan counterpart to touring that country at the end of the year, its new president Nazmul Hassan revealed today. Hassan didn't say who sent the letter on behalf of the BCB, but said since it had been sent, the necessary steps would have to be taken.

It was later revealed that it had been sent before he took over on October 18.

"Jalal [Yunus, the BCB's media committee chairman] said in the last press conference that we haven't contacted the PCB regarding a tour [but] we have found out that a letter was sent from the BCB about playing there," Hassan said at the end of a five-hour meeting in Mirpur on Thursday. "The Pakistan media started saying that Bangladesh would tour because such a correspondence had indeed taken place."

The letter, Hassan said, was brief and made no mention of security or any logistical factors. "Since we have found out about the letter, we are considering whether it is mandatory to tour Pakistan or if there are any other options. If we go to Pakistan, we need to be assured of adequate security for our team.

"Actually there are a lot of gaps in that letter, so we have to take all this into account and decide if we want to go or not and if we do [decide positively], then we will go. I would call it a commitment, although it is just a one-line letter, but it is clear the BCB has decided."

Asked if it was mentioned to him at his first meeting, Hassan said, "This wasn't on the agenda at the meeting. I wasn't told about it. I know for a fact that Jalal bhai didn't know too; maybe the others [directors] did."

Yunus said that despite the letter being sent earlier this month, the PCB's stand was that it was still Bangladesh who would decide when to tour. "The letter was sent just before the new president was appointed. He [Hassan] wasn't informed during the transition period. [PCB general manager of media] Nadeem Sarwar has denied that PCB president Zaka Ashraf said Bangladesh will tour Pakistan in December. They have left it to Bangladesh to decide."

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