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 “We had no option but to defend these serious allegations.””I’m very pleased that this claim has been unconditionally withdrawn,” Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, told the BBC.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”

Shane Warne believes that England need to show more respect to county cricket, but feels that the new coach, Peter Moores, is taking the country in the right direction.”Under Duncan Fletcher England didn’t pay enough respect to county cricket and I hope that changes under Peter Moores,” Warne, the Hampshire captain, told the London-based Sport magazine. “I think this last season with Hampshire has been the strongest one I’ve ever seen for county cricket and it’s seen young bowlers like Chris Tremlett, Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson come through to the national team.”Fletcher’s approach as England coach wasn’t overly sympathetic to releasing centrally-contracted players for their counties. His successor, Moores – a big advocate of the county system which nurtured him – has been more sympathetic. He has also revived the international careers of players who had impressed for their county such as Graeme Swann and Ryan Sidebottom, both of Nottinghamshire.It’s generally agreed that the county game is improving, particularly since the introduction of two tiers for the Championship. At last, the talent appears to be concentrating into the top of the first division, which the system was designed for.Warne also had strong views on the decision to cut the number of overseas players allowed from two to one per county from next year. “I also think it’s important to have two overseas players per county,” he said. “It helps these young guys to play against the best and they definitely improve for it.”It’s not just the English players who have benefitted from playing against the overseas players. Several Australian players who had county stints this summer have made a thumping start to their domestic season.Cameron White, who played at Somerset, has continued his excellent batting form for Victoria. His team-mate David Hussey has eased from a successful season at Nottinghamshire straight into the runs for Victoria, via a useful Australia A tour in Pakistan.White also praised county cricket recently – especially the effect it has had on Hussey. “I’ve no doubt county cricket has definitely helped his game,” he said. “Over the last four winters he’s been [playing county cricket] he’s probably facing a couple of thousand balls out in the middle while everyone else who’s not playing cricket is hitting indoor bowling machine balls. There’s no doubt I think that makes you a better player over there, batting all that time.”Doug Bollinger and Phil Jaques may not have had the best of times at Worcestershire but, following the A tour, they are back on the money for New South Wales.

ScorecardRicky Ponting continued to enjoy his return to the Pura Cup, striking a century to drive Tasmania to a six-wicket victory against South Australia on the final day at Bellerive Oval. The home side chased down 349 inside 70 overs, with 4.1 overs to spare for the day after South Australia declared just before lunch on 7 for 229.Ponting was helped in his efforts – his purple patch continued following his first-innings 96 – by Michael Dighton, who made 77, and George Bailey’s unbeaten 69. Ponting finally fell in sight of the win, for 126, bowled by Darren Lehmann.South Australia’s pace pairing of Shaun Tait and Jason Gillespie remained wicketless, while no other bowler grabbed more than one wicket.Michael di Venuto was put down by Matthew Elliott at slip, but he fell finally on 33 to Nathan Adcock’s tidy slip catch off Mark Cosgrove, the first wicket for the visitors. By this stage Tasmania had a great platform, with 83 on the dial. Enter Ponting, who continued imperiously to help both his state and the mindest of his country leading up to the first Test next week.Dan Cullen struck next, bowling Dighton, but the momentum was firmly with the hosts and so it continued, as Ponting then combined with Travis Birt (28) and Bailey. His dismissal brought in Daniel Marsh to finish off the job.The Redbacks added 51 in the morning session, with Cosgrove moving to 76, while debutant Andy Delmont reached his maiden first-class fifty, after the top order had once again proved brittle on the third day.With a win and a draw, Tasmania are now in third place, while South Australia’s two defeats in two leave them at the bottom.

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It took all of three days for Mumbai, led by Ramesh Powar’s second five-wicket haul in as many matches, to seal their first win of the Ranji Trophy this season by beating Tamil Nadu by eight wickets at the Gurunanak College Ground in Chennai.After a steady fall of wickets in the morning, R Ashwin’s fighting half-century and a composed 47 by K Vasudevadas kept Mumbai at bay, but the home side’s inability to string together sufficient partnerships ultimately led to their undoing, leaving Mumbai just 104 to win with an entire session to score the runs.Aavishkar Salvi and Ajit Agarkar, lent support to Powar and scuttled out Tamil Nadu for 214 by just sticking to the basics of line and length. Some alert fielding within the circle also contributed to the home side’s downfall.The slide began off the second ball of the day when Agarkar got one to swerve in with the angle and take Dinesh Karthik’s middle stump. Agarkar charged in with intent, exerted himself and looked a different bowler from the first innings, firing in the occasional yorker.With the luxury of time at hand to play themselves in, nightwatchman Vijay Kumar Yomahesh and captain S Badrinath put their heads down and strung together a stand of 45. Yomahesh was solid in defence and that allowed Badrinath to play with more freedom at the other end. He made his intentions clear with a big six off Powar, over the sight screen, and also took Salvi to task with an imperious hook, followed by a flick past midwicket.However, Tamil Nadu’s hard work was undone by Powar yet again as he plugged away with the wickets of Yomahesh and R Prasanna without the addition of a run. Yomahesh edged one on to his stumps, failing to cover the turn, while Prasanna padded up in front of the stumps. It was déjà vu for Badrinath as he edged one on to his stumps, identical to his first-innings dismissal, this time off Salvi, leaving half the side back in the pavilion with another 16 required to make Mumbai bat again. R Srinivasan was beaten for swing and had his off stumped shaved by Salvi, who looked in good rhythm, coming back after a back injury.Ashwin and Vasudevadas then crafted Tamil Nadu’s most impressive passage of play in the entire match. With the low bounce continuing to test the concentration of the batsmen, both made it a point to get behind the line and rotate the strike without getting bogged down. The positive vibes lifted the spirits of the Tamil Nadu camp, as Vasudevadas drove Agarkar past point, and swept Powar to the square-leg boundary As he gained in confidence, he used his feet to the left-arm spin of Iqbal Abdulla and fetched a straight six.Ashwin, regarded as a promising allrounder, was at ease against pace and spin, getting to the pitch of the ball and getting the placement right on many occasions. The pair added 50 in 120 balls, wiped off the deficit and Ashwin brought up his own half-century with a flashy cut past point.

However, Vasudevadas’ error in judgement, shouldering arms to one that came straight through from Salvi, broke the partnership and an excellent piece of fielding by the same bowler – effecting a direct hit from the region of square leg – sent Ashwin packing. Powar wrapped up the tail and Tamil Nadu’s total of 214 was a disappointment.Mumbai, led by Prashant Naik’s scintillating unbeaten 57, raced to the target with little fuss. The spinners, Ashwin and R Ramkumar were in for a pounding as he launched Ashwin for three identical sixes over deep midwicket. He ended the match with a flourish, launching Ramkumar for three consecutive sixes, finishing on an unbeaten 57.

Cricket Australia has told 11 Australian players including Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist it is disappointed with them for signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that would allow them to play in the Indian Premier League. The IPL Twenty20 tournament is officially sanctioned by the ICC and in October it was announced that Ponting, Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey and Matthew Hayden were among an extensive list of Australian players to have signed up.But according to a report in the James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, has written to the players to express his frustration at their actions. The paper obtained a copy of the letter in which Sutherland said he was disappointed Cricket Australia had not been consulted prior to the signing of the MOUs.”A number of significant issues remain unresolved, particularly regarding Australian players’ participation in the proposed events and the terms of participation,” Sutherland wrote. “Until CA is satisfied with the various terms and conditions associated with the IPL and CT20 [Champions Twenty20], CA will not consent to you or any other contracted player’s participation in the aforementioned tournaments.”You will no doubt be aware that this MOU sees you providing undertakings that will put you in conflict with your obligations to CA and/or your state association. In this context, I am disappointed that you have chosen not to discuss or advise CA of your decision.”Nathan Bracken, Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin, Jason Gillespie and the New South Wales-contracted Simon Katich were reported to have joined the league in October along with the other players. Sutherland said while Cricket Australia was generally supportive of the BCCI’s plans to develop the ICL, several issues remained would need to be resolved before Australian-contracted cricketers could become involved.The IPL season might clash with Australia’s scheduled Test tour of Pakistan early next year, although the Pakistan trip has not yet been confirmed due to the political situation in the country. However Paul Marsh, the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers’ Association, said the players knew that their national commitments should come first. “I had a discussion with the players before the Hobart Test and their commitment is to play for Australia,” Marsh told .”As the calendar stands none of them will be able to play in the IPL for the next two years. The players have signed an MOU with the BCCI with the understanding there is a longer-term contract. This is currently being worked on to come later.”Cricket Australia’s spokesman Peter Young said the players were unlikely to go against the wishes of Cricket Australia. “It would be a breach of contract to play without our permission,” Young said.”The status of the baggy green is more powerful than cash for any red-blooded Australian and cricketers will tell you that themselves. I don’t think anyone is going to turn their back on a baggy green to play a short domestic competition somewhere else in the world.”

Arjuna Ranatunga, recently appointed chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), has said one of his prime concerns is to improve the standard of junior cricket in the country and to prepare a team to win the 2011 World Cup, which will be hosted in Asia.The last time Asia hosted the World Cup was in 1996, and Sri Lanka won it under Ranatunga’s captaincy. “If we address the few problems that we have at present and pick the right team and create the right environment, winning another World Cup is within our reach,” Ranatunga said while addressing the media after taking over the chairmanship of SLC. “Today we can draw a lot of strength having the world’s greatest wicket-taker in the history of the game [Muttiah Muralitharan] and also the best batsman in the world [Kumar Sangakkara],” he said, “but for some reason our team is not occupying the place it should be at present.”I was lucky to win a World Cup, but the important thing is was from there onwards I don’t know whether we have gone on the right track,” he said. “I personally feel that we are second to none. We are one of the best sides in international cricket today, one of the most talented cricketing nations in the world. It’s very important to get it right.Ranatunga said he was keen on working for the betterment of the game and that the help of former cricketers would be a plus. “Something that I’ve always wanted to do to was to try and give something back from the administration side after retiring from cricket,” he said. “I am not really concerned about what people say. I came here to do a proper job and address the issues facing Sri Lanka cricket today. We have lot of past cricketers and captains who are keen and willing to help. It’s a huge advantage for me.”Ranatunga said he was confident of achieving his goals within a certain timeframe, just as he did when he led Sri Lanka to a World Cup win. “This position is not a new thing for me. I’ve worked in the cricket committee for a short period,” said Ranatunga, after being appointed chairman following the resignation of Jayantha Dharmadasa on Monday. “The important thing is that I am a straightforward person. I will do the right thing. I have got the blessings of the President of the country and the two Sports Ministers. It is very important for me to get the backing from the Sri Lanka Cricket staff, coaches and even the media.”In the past a lot of good things have taken place but we have to put right areas where we have gone wrong. Cricket is something that belongs to everyone in the country. I think I have a great responsibility and there were a lot of people who wanted me to take over this post. Now that I have accepted it, it is my responsibility to do the right thing for cricket.”Ranatunga said his parliamentary experience would be also aid him in improving the game. He expressed his desire to take cricket to the villages. “I think in the recent past it has not gone the way it should. Cricketers in the provinces and districts should be given the same facilities and employment as in Colombo so that the game develops in those areas,” he said. “What we have here today is that because of the lack of such facilities we have all of them coming down to Colombo which is not good for the game.”When my team won the World Cup there was about 60-70 percent cricketers from the outstations [places other than Colombo]. Even today the majority of our national team comprises outstation cricketers.Junior cricket is high on Ranatunga’s priority. “Something has gone wrong somewhere in our junior cricket and we have to address that immediately. School cricket is the foundation of our cricket,” he said. “I believe that if you can get the junior and Under-19 cricket going properly the problems that exist in the national team will cease and we’ll have quality cricketers coming through.”

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A six-wicket haul by seamer Jason Bennett helped bundle out Barbados for 139 and gain a first-innings lead of 63 on the second day at the Three Ws Oval. Barbados fought back to reduce the opposition to 138 for 7 in the second innings, leaving CCC with an overall lead of 201. Barbados never recovered sufficiently from their overnight wobble at 15 for 4, as Bennett returned to claim the wickets of Ryan Hinds and Dwayne Smith for 35 each. The last-wicket pair of Sulieman Benn and Corey Collymore added 30 in an hour to frustrate the bowlers before Shirley Clarke wrapped up the innings. In reply, CCC got off to a brisk start as their openers Romel Currency and Simon Jackson added 60 in just over 10 overs. Tino Best then struck back with three quick wickets for the addition of just one run and CCC were in further trouble as Benn later took three middle-order wickets to leave the match evenly poised. Best ended the day with figures of 4 for 39.
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Half-centuries by Wavell Hinds and Brendan Nash, who remained unbeaten on 91, helped Jamaica gain a valuable first-innings lead of 69 against Guyana at Sabina Park. Nash faced 254 balls in his dogged knock, which included six fours and a six, before Jamaica were bowled out for 240 at tea. Hinds made 53 while Nikita Miller chipped in with 34, during which he added 81 for the seventh wicket with Nash to frustrate Guyana. Trevon Garraway and Veerasammy Permaul were the leading wicket-takers for Guyana, picking up four each. In reply, Guyana lost Gajanand Singh early for 2, but Assad Fudadin and Leon Johnson and remained unbeaten to end the day at 59 for 1.
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The second day’s play in St Maarten was hampered by poor weather where only six overs were possible. Rain forced the players off the field 23 minutes into the morning session, during which T&T added 12 to their overnight score with captain Rayad Emrit going on to score a half-century. Rain intervened again early in the afternoon and the umpires decided to abandon play for the day after a 4 pm inspection.

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.”

England 244 and 4 for 144 (SC Taylor 64) beat Australia 154 and 9 for 231 dec (Sthalekar 98) by six wickets
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England retained the Ashes in style thanks to Claire Taylor, whose second fifty of the match drove them home to a stylish six-wicket win in the final session after Karen Rolton’s daring declaration backfired. When the embers of the sole match are raked over Australia may rightfully rue being given only one chance to recapture the prize but England deserve credit for playing to win, and succeeding, when a draw would have been enough.They owe much to Isa Guha who finished with match figures of 9 for 100 and was on for her second five-for when Rolton called her batting troops in at 9 for 231, leaving England needing a mere 142 but gambling big with her side having only one throw. They made some inroads with a few wickets but Taylor played a mature hand which trumped everything the Australians – with two of the world’s fastest bowlers in Emma Sampson and Ellyse Perry – had to throw at them.In actual fact it was Lisa Sthalekar who troubled them the most for the second time with the ball having failed just short of her second Test hundred. Resuming on 95 not out, she had a licence to drill the ball anywhere she liked, having promised that the nineties would not be nervous but bold.Her Warne-like contributions of cunning spin and handy Ashes runs in a losing cause must not go unrecognised, and she and Shelley Nitschke made sure the match went into the final session by getting the ball to spin back a long way and troubling the England batsmen.The final session began with England seven wickets remaining needing 45 runs which was hardly tense and although they lost Sarah Taylor and Lydia Greenway, Claire Taylor and the captain Charlotte Edwards fittingly brought home the Ashes with Taylor striking the final four.The win may not be as widely reported in England as the men’s 5-0 defeat was but that won’t stop the women celebrating long into the night.”We really gave it our all throughout the match,” Rolton said. “We had a disappointing first day but there were several stages with both the bat and ball where we were able to get ourselves back into the match. There was a lot of positive cricket played.”A glowing Edwards said: “I’m delighted, almost lost for words. To beat Australia in Australia is a fantastic feeling. We had always said we would come out here and aim to win this match in order to retain the Ashes and that’s what we did today.”I’m so proud of all my players. We have played some fantastic cricket over these past four days to continually have the upper hand over Australia and to pull through and secure victory today was a great effort.”

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.”