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Kanwar Naved Jameel, Hyderabad district Nazim (mayor), said the management of the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad would be handed over to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) completely after the completion of some official formalities.An MoU between the District Government Hyderabad and the PCB has already been signed, he said. He was speaking after inaugurating an exhibition cricket match between Journalists-XI and Photo Journalists-I in connection with the golden jubilee celebration of Hyderabad Press Club at the Niaz Stadium.Kanwar said the District Government has taken all possible measures within its available resources for the renovation of the Niaz\ stadium. He added that the local administration is in contact with the PCB constantly for accelerating cricket activities in Hyderabad at the national level. Kanwar stated that efforts are underway to have a five-star hotel in Hyderabad to ensure international sports events can be staged here in future.

Darrell Hair has dropped his racial discrimination case against the ICC.The surprise announcement came on the seventh day of the tribunal at the London Central Employment Tribunal. An ICC spokesman confirmed to Cricinfo that there had been no agreement made with Hair and that the decision was “unconditional”.”Darrell Hair withdraws his allegation of racial discrimination against the ICC board, members and staff,” Robert Griffiths QC, Hair’s barrister, told the media. “Mr Hair has undertaken to work with ICC management in accordance with the rehabilitation programme over the next six months.”Hair is contracted to the ICC until March 2008 but Cricinfo has learned that he then has to be given 12 months notice, so in effect he remains an employee until March 2009. He will continue to umpire international matches, but not those involving Test-playing countries. The ICC board will meet in March to discuss the results of Hair’s rehabilitation and decide whether he can return to elite umpiring, and if so, on what terms.”This is really about getting back to umpiring top cricket matches,” said Mr Hair’s solicitor, Paul Gilbert. “Darrell feels relieved and glad it’s all over, and he does feel this is in the best interests of all parties. What we have now is a future for Darrell that leads to the possibility of his return to top-level umpiring.””We are pleased the issue has been resolved,” Ray Mali, the ICC’s interim president, said. “We had no option but to defend these serious allegations.””I’m very pleased that this claim has been unconditionally withdrawn,” Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, told the BBC. “I think in six months we’ll have a better idea [about his future as an umpire], it’s a matter for the board, which is a very diverse group generally with strong and differing groups, so a lot will depend on the rehabilitation programme and his attitude towards it.”For the next six months he will umpire matches at Associate level. I can’t speculate as to whether he will return to umpiring Full-Member matches or not”

A hurt Stuart Clark believes the Australians will usethe pain of defeat as a spur for the series-decidingTest in Adelaide on Thursday. Clark experienced hisfirst loss in whites with the national team in Perthon Saturday, which ended the winning run at 16.After the game the players spoke about the streak anda few of them got together over a beer to discuss theonly time they had worn the baggy green and notexperienced success. “This loss hurts as much as anyother loss,” Clark said. “It would have been a nicerecord, but losing is losing. It doesn’t matter how orwhere, whether it’s a one-dayer, a Twenty20 or a Test,it’s not a great feeling, and it drives a lot of us.”Clark had a fine match, picking up six wickets,including 4 for 61 in the second innings, and strikingan entertaining 32 as Australia fought to the finish.While Clark performed strongly, there were seriousconcerns over Shaun Tait’s inability to fire in thepace quartet.Tait, who was playing his third Test, delivered only21 overs for the game and did not capture a wicket.Brad Hogg is likely to return in Adelaide as Australiause a more traditional attack of three fast bowlersand a spinner.”Shaun hasn’t had much bowling,” Clark said. “He’s hada little bit in the one-dayers and Twenty20 and thereis a difference for Tests. He didn’t have the bestgame of his life, but he’s a quality player.”On the first day Tait started operating above 150kph,but his accuracy became an issue in subsequent spellsand his desire for a long bowl in the second inningswas ended by Australia’s slow over-rate. DespiteTait’s problems, Ricky Ponting was not overlyconcerned.”It’s pretty hard for someone coming in who has notplayed a Test for a while, trying to impress and dothe right thing,” he said. “He bowled 20 overs andprobably didn’t get the bowling right. The conditionscaught us off guard and the pace in the pitch wasn’tthere. Shaun’s pace through the game levelled out at145kph and above, that’s pretty good.”Clark and Brett Lee were impressive during the matchand Mitchell Johnson provided capable support, but thehome team was out-bowled by India’s swing men, whoupset Australia’s batting rhythm and exposed theirproblems when the ball moves around. Aiming for seammovement is more of an Australian trait than weavingit through the air, although they have been trying toimprove their methods since 2005.”It’s something we’ve worked on with [the bowlingcoach] Troy Cooley,” Clark said. “It’s important forsome places and one of the things to do to make usbetter cricketers.”Adelaide is a ground where reverse-swing is morelikely – Tait is particularly dangerous there in PuraCup games – and the pitch also helps the spinners,giving India a chance to level the series. “LikeMelbourne and Sydney, I suppose the conditions willsuit them,” Clark, who has complained previously aboutsurfaces not helping the home team, said. “Hopefullywe can play well and put them back on the back foot.”

The Indian Cricket League (ICL) has received support from an unexpected quarter with West Bengal sports minister Subhash Chakraborty saying the ICL would be allowed to use the Eden Gardens and other grounds in the state.”Whatever facilities we have, we will make available to the boys who have been punished, particularly by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB),” Chakraborty told , an Indian television channel. “I have no objection. All the fields will be available for them as all the fields are available for CAB. The owner of the fields is the state government not any other body. The Eden Gardens was looked after by CAB. Now the lease period is over and it is state government’s property. If Kapil and others like to play in Eden Gardens, I would allow it. What is the harm in it?”The minister’s public support for the Subhash Chandra-owned Essel Group’s venture has come as a surprise as the current CAB president Prasun Mukherjee has the backing of the Sharad Pawar-led BCCI regime.The BCCI decided not to recognise the league and barred the defecting players from playing for India or at the domestic level, besides withdrawing all financial benefits.The ICL has managed to lure as many as 44 Indian first-class cricketers and seven overseas players, including Brian Lara and former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq, in the initial list for its proposed Twenty20 tournament expected to be held in October.

David Harrison, the Glamorgan seamer, has been ruled out for the whole season with a bulging disc in his back leaving the county desperately short of pace bowling options. They are now considering signing an overseas player as cover with Simon Jones still not ready for a return to four-day cricket.Harrison will undergo surgery on his lower back in the next two weeks and Adrian Shaw, Glamorgan’s coach, told : “It’s a huge disappointment because Dave was going to spearhead the attack and we were looking for him to get 50 or 60 wickets.”Jones isn’t considered quite up to four-day fitness yet and is expected to play for Glamorgan’s second eleven, against Lancashire, at Swansea. His return from the knee injuries which have plagued him for the past 18 months has been carefully managed with two Friends Provident outings in the early stages of the season.If Glamorgan do opt for a second overseas player, it will signal a complete turnaround after they were facing a season without any due to financial constraints. However, contributions from supporters allowed them to recruit Jimmy Maher, the Queensland opener, who is due to arrive shortly. Matthew Elliott is currently acting as short-term cover before Maher joins.

Scorecard

Hong Kong booked their place in the semi-final of the ACC women’s tournament with a six-wicket victory over Thailand at Johor.Thailand put up a gutsy performance, but Hong Kong’s class and composure saw them through.Winning the toss, Hong Kong captain Neisha Pratt put Thailand in under cloudy conditions. The Thai top order confidently negotiated the new ball and scored runs against one of the best attacks in the competition. Hong Kong were guilty of bowling short on the rather slow ‘moonchong clay’ surface.Pratt got an early breakthrough for Hong Kong, after which Chan Sau Har picked up the critical second wicket in the 14th over, of opener Arissa. From then on, the Hong Kong bowlers dominated, with the last eight Thai wickets accounting for only 12 runs. Fifteen-year old Godiva Li bagged three wickets in her second spell, all three deliveries being yorkers.In reply, Hong Kong had a jittery start, losing an early wicket. The Thailand team, marshalled by captain Sornnarin Tippoch, were enthusiastic in the field as they defended their total of 40. The shuffled Hong Kong batting line-up looked wobbly against the Thai attack, and wickets tumbled.At the fall of the fourth wicket came Pratt – who had to change in a hurry after opting not to open – and she steadied the chase with Keenu Gill to eventually take them home.Lal Jayasinghe, the Hong Kong coach, said after the win: “All of our bowlers with the exception of Neisha Pratt are under 18 and their lack of experience of bowling on turf showed at the beginning but once they worked things out, they made things happen.”

Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain and batsman has been named ICC Player of the Year at the ICC Awards in Mumbai. It capped a prolific evening for Ponting who was also earlier named Test Player of the Year and was included in both the ODI and Test Teams of the Year.”It has been a satisfying year personally and also for the rest of the team,” Ponting said. “For me to be a part of that success has been great for me. To see Mike [Hussey] win an award and so many other Australians to be nominated indicates that the team is doing well at the moment. It’s a great night for Australian cricket.”To captain Australia is something I love and never take for granted. We had to show a lot of character immediately after [losing] the Ashes,” Ponting admitted. “And since then we have managed to do that. We have set a new standard for ourselves, we’ve worked hard and thankfully it’s paying off for us at the moment… I think we learned a lot from that Ashes series and we are a better team for that so I think we will be a very difficult side to beat this summer.”The challenge for us now is to try to win the ICC Champions Trophy final on Sunday and then head back to Australia and try to win the Ashes back. It’s going to be a busy time but we are really looking forward to it.”During the voting period of August 1 2005 to August 8 2006, Ponting played 16 Tests and 20 one-dayers. In Tests he scored a phenomenal 1,791 runs at an average of 68.88, including two centuries in his 100th Test match, against South Africa in Durban.”It’s a great thrill, even to be nominated on the short-list but to walk away with two awards is something out of this world, something very special,” he said. “It’s the sort of thing that is very satisfying when you look back on your career in years to come. I’ll be able to spend more time enjoying it then.””On behalf of the ICC I would like to pass on my congratulations to Ricky for winning this award,” Percy Sonn, the ICC president said. “He has shown over the last year that he is the best and it is great that we have this opportunity to recognise that. He is a credit to his team and his country and through his talent and hard work, he is a role model for all aspiring cricketers and sportspeople of all descriptions.”Ponting beat off competition from his team-mate Michael Hussey, and Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan) and Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka). Last year, the award was shared by Andrew Flintoff and Jacques Kallis while in 2004 the award went to Rahul Dravid.

In the past few weeks, Cricinfo has been receiving many comments and queries on the USA Council of League Presidents (CLP), and its apparent failure to capitalize on the overwhelming mandate it received from USA Cricket Association (USACA) on June 4 to carry out a top-to-bottom reform of the organization. Here is our attempt to answer the question, with what information is available to us The CLP has existed on paper for at least as long as the USACA constitution. Ironically, it owes its existence to a political battle within the USACA. The drafters of the original constitution had wanted to add a member to the board of directors to represent the unaffiliated cricket clubs who were not members of any leagues, in order to make the USACA fully representative of US cricket. This was strongly opposed by the established leagues, which instead voted that the extra seat should represent them instead.For good measure, the USACA constitution was also amended to require US leagues to have a minimum of eight member-clubs in order to qualify as a recognized league. Taken together, these changes deprived many independent cricket clubs in the USA – estimated to be between 50 to 100 – of any voice in US cricket affairs, and consolidated power in the hands of the US cricket leagues.By all accounts, the CLP did not do anything of consequence for the past decade, except vote for a representative to sit on the USACA board every two years. In their turn, the CLP representatives seem to have done very little for the US cricket leagues other than to pass through paperwork that emanated from the USACA executive.Things changed after the 2005 USACA elections when, for perhaps the first time in its history, the CLP was actually called to a meeting in Dallas. Gladstone Dainty, president of the USACA, denounced the meeting as illegal. But a substantial majority of USACA member leagues attended anyway, and voted to re-instate Veman Reddy as CLP chairman (he had secured the most votes in the USACA elections but had been disqualified on a technicality). They also passed a series of resolutions and called for an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of the USACA in New York on June 4.The June 4 EGM was the largest-ever meeting of USACA member clubs and appeared to be a ringing endorsement for radical reform of USACA governance. But, behind the scenes, the CLP was already beginning to run into trouble. Its lawyers suggested that the specific resolutions might not hold up under court challenge, since it could not be proved that every single member club had received written notification for the EGM containing the texts of the proposed resolutions. So the resolutions were shelved, and general resolutions on reforming USACA and asking for new elections were adopted instead.The CLP also appointed a seven-member interim committee to run its affairs. In retrospect, this seems to have been a strategic mistake. The USACA’s attorneys immediately pounced on the list, and added them to the dissidents they had already been suing. They justified their action by saying that the CLP was illegally using USACA’s logo and name on its own web site — a curious argument, since CLP is a part of USACA under its constitution. The dissidents’ attorney, who now also became the CLP’s by default, advised that no further use be made of the CLP website until all legal issues were resolved. The interim council, in its own view, was dead in the water within hours of coming into existence.The CLP’s posture did not sit well with its critics, who accused it of everything from betrayal of its original mandate to knuckling under to legal broadsides. The truth, it now appears, was more complicated. First, there were differences within the interim council, which had been convened hastily and on an ad hoc basis — there were those who wanted to move ahead, and others who wanted to wait to see how the legal issues would play out.Secondly, there were some who wanted to negotiate with Dainty, and others who were adamantly opposed to such moves; the USACA took advantage of these differences, offering incentives to some while negotiating with the others.Thirdly, resentment developed between the CLP and the USACA dissidents who had spearheaded the opposition to Dainty’s USACA, but who now saw themselves being ostracized as part of the old regime who had to be excluded from any future role in USACA.And finally, whatever possibilities might have existed for independent action on the part of CLP were crushed by their own attorney, who warned of dire consequences if they did anything to give Dainty’s attorneys another excuse for legal action. The result was that the CLP ended up playing a zero-sum game with themselves, with nothing to show for their efforts.There are those who equate CLP with USACA, and claim there is little to choose between the two. This would not be an accurate comparison. The USACA, as presently run by Dainty, appears to be an autocratic organization, with decisions made at the top. The CLP, on the other hand, is ultra-democratic, with too may contending opinions and no mechanism or resolving them into action. Neither, it seems, is a good model for US cricket as they stand Each would have to undergo drastic revision before it can compete for attention in US cricket.

John Bracewell, New Zealand’s coach, has hinted that the fast bowler Tim Southee, who starred in the recent Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, could be in line for a Test debut against England in Napier this week, as New Zealand look to bounce back from Monday’s 126-run defeat in the second Test at Wellington.Southee took 17 wickets at 6.64 to take his New Zealand team to the semi-finals in Malaysia, a performance that earned him the Man-of-the-Tournament award. Prior to that, he had impressed with his pace, control and temperament during his Twenty20 debut against England at Auckland, where he finished with 1 for 38 from four overs.Though he is still nine months short of his 20th birthday, Southee was added to New Zealand’s third Test squad as cover for Kyle Mills, who reported soreness behind the left knee after the Wellington defeat. Bracewell, however, suggested he was not simply there to make up the numbers.”He’s a class bowler and the selectors have been watching him for some time,” said Bracewell. “They believe he’s ready for the job. If the surface is as predicted at Napier, there will be something in it in the first session, then after that it will be reasonably flat. The defining factor will probably be swing bowling, and at the moment England have the edge on us in that department.”All of England’s bowlers, apart from [Steve] Harmison, swing it, and swing it reasonably late,” he added. “We really have only got Kyle Mills who swings it on a consistent basis. Therefore, having that extra option of genuine swing might put the balance back on an even keel.”After their exertions on a flat track in Hamilton, New Zealand’s senior bowlers were visibly off the pace at Wellington, in particular Chris Martin, whose three wickets came at more than 50 apiece. “We are happy with our bowling depth but we are looking for an extra day in terms of recovery,” said Bracewell. “There’s a bit of wear and tear, from the consistent cricket that Chris and Kyle have had over last season. We’ve got options around the squad, but there’s time to get these two close for the next Test.”Bracewell’s temptation to tinker with his attack was no doubt prompted by the success of England’s revamped line-up. Out went the two stalwarts, Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison, and into the fray came James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Both suffered at the hands of New Zealand’s strokeplayers during the one-day internationals, but bounced back to play major roles in England’s victory.Peter Moores, England’s coach, was delighted with the impact his new attack had made, and gave a clear signal that Anderson, Broad and Ryan Sidebottom would take some shifting now that they’d earned their places in the starting eleven. “The lads who have got possession, that’s always a strong place to be,” he said. “If they keep playing well they’re going to give themselves a great chance of carrying on.”It was quite a tough decision to make that change, especially on Matthew Hoggard,” said Moores. “He’s at an age where he’s still got a lot of bowling left in him, which is good for us because we’ve got to make a squad which is very competitive. I don’t think there was any complacency in the squad before the changes, but the thing about competitiveness in any job is that it’s good because it keeps everyone pushing forward.”Bracewell was also impressed with what he saw from England, and claimed he hadn’t been surprised by the impact of the new incumbents. “I felt that Anderson is a class bowler, a genuine swing bowler, and this was a ground for swing bowling. He got taken to in the last two one-dayers, but that’s the nature of one-day cricket. Broad has bowled a heavy length throughout the one-dayers, and once again he went a little square in the last one. But both of them are good bowlers. They bowled well as a unit.”New Zealand’s captain, Daniel Vettori, had been openly critical of the Wellington pitch prior to the second Test, feeling that the extra pace and bounce it provided would play into the hands of England’s bowlers. But Bracewell took a slightly different stance. “To tip the balance in our favour, we would have liked to play two spinners, but it was an excellent pitch,” he said. “The defining moment in the match was we didn’t bowl well to Tim Ambrose.”Ambrose is England’s only centurion in the series to date, while New Zealand have only Ross Taylor’s 120 at Hamilton to look back on. “Both sides would have liked to have seen more hundreds in the matches,” said Bracewell. “But that’s a testament to the bowlers on both sides, not necessarily the wickets. They bowled magnificently throughout the series. It’s not all about going out there and getting double hundreds. The intriguing cricket comes when a bowler scalps the opposition and probes their weaknesses.”One player who has been unexpectedly well probed is Kevin Pietersen, who is in the midst of the worst run of form of his career. He hasn’t reached fifty for 10 consecutive innings, and Bracewell believed that England were suffering as a result. “He’s a class player, and a point of difference player. He scores at a rate that generates results, and every Test team needs one of those players. We’re really pleased with how we’ve bowled to him, and cut him down in terms of strike-rate and put pressure on him.”Even so, Bracewell accepted that, following the Wellington defeat, the pressure had now shifted to New Zealand ahead of the Napier decider. “England didn’t come over to draw against New Zealand, they expected to win,” he said. “They were odds-on favourites, heavily so, and if we can knock them over, we’ll be delighted.”

One of cricket’s most famous paintings – Albert Chevallier Tayler’s picture of the Kent v Lancashire match at Canterbury in 1906 – has been sold at auction for £600,000.I was purchased by Andrew Brownsword, whose Charitable Foundation buys selected works of art in order that they can be retained for public viewing.The painting, which was commissioned by the county to commemorate their first Championship in 1906, hung in the pavilion at Canterbury until 1999 when it became too expensive to insure. It was then loaned to MCC and displayed at Lord’s.”The decision to sell the painting was a difficult one, but the finances of county cricket clubs are becoming increasingly fragile and, since it was no longer possible to display it at Canterbury, we took the view that the proceeds should be used to help to ensure the longer-term future of the club,” Carl Openshaw, Kent’s chairman explained. “From Kent’s point of view, this is the ideal outcome, since I understand that this unique painting will in the short-term at least continue to hang at Lord’s where it can be seen by future generations of cricket lovers.”Click here for the story of the painting’s origins.