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South African players are unlikely to participate in the Indian Premier League tillApril 25th, as they will be involved in the Standard Bank Pro20 matches in SouthAfrica. The franchises were informed of the development by the IPL governing councilin a meeting held in Mumbai, where a host of administrative issues surrounding the league were discussed.Ten South African players have been signed on by the eight IPL franchises, and a few of them, depending on how their domestic teams fare in the Pro20, might join their IPL teams after the tournament ends on 25th.However, a franchise representative was confident the players would beavailable for the full duration. “The decision is not final as yet. We are in the process of talking to the players, their teams and the board and we will work something out.”In among other things that were discussed in the meeting, each franchise has been allotted a liason officer from a South African agency, which was involved with the ICC World Twenty20 held in South Africa, who will travel with the teams and oversee the security preparations.The meeting saw a host of experts from the consulting firm IMG counselling the franchises on the issues ranging from security, accredition, ticketing, and movement of officials across grounds, and entertainment guidelines. “Not many of us [franchises] have prior experience in organising games and this meeting was very helpful in that regard,” a franchise representative said.

Bangladeshis 309 for 7 dec (Rahim 115*, Rafique 54) drew with Northamptonshire 230 for 6 dec (Shafayat 76, Afzaal 47*, Hossain 4-113)
ScorecardMushfiqur Rahim gave the Bangladeshis a much-needed boost ahead of the first Test, with an unbeaten century on the third and final day of their rain-affected match against Northamptonshire. The match petered out into a predictable draw, but Rahim’s innings enlivened proceedings and gave Dav Whatmore, Bangladesh’s coach, some unexpected selection dilemmas.Rahim, who is only 16, was originally picked on the tour as understudy to Khaled Masud, the established wicketkeeper, but he has shown the best form of all the batsmen in the last two warm-up matches. Following his gutsy 63 against Sussex he struck 15 fours and a six here, adding 91 with Masud and 87 with Mohammad Rafique, who made a quickfire 54 from 52 balls.Rahim has put his name in the frame for Lord’s as a specialist batsman, after the Bangladesh top order suffered another slump. The Northants attack did not feature any first-team players, but still caused plenty of problems. Charl Pietersen disposed of Javed Omar (6 for 1), while Matthew Friedlander removed Mohammad Ashraful, Rajin Saleh and Mashud as the Bangladeshis slumped to 105 for 5.Northants had earlier taken their first-innings total from 149 for 5 to 230 for 6. Usman Afzaal made a run-a-ball 47 and Andrew White struck an unbeaten 30. Anwar Hossain Monir picked up his fourth wicket, but conceded nearly six an over throughout his 20 overs. He is unlikely to feature at Lord’s and, although Rahim’s innings is a boost for the Bangladeshis, the XI who take the field on Thursday know that that will be the true test.

Andre Adams, the New Zealand allrounder, has signed a one-year contract with Essex for the 2005 summer as an overseas player, subject to the approval of the New Zealand board. He played for them in the second half of 2004, first replacing Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan legspinner, and later the Zimbabwean Scott Brant.This year Kaneria and Adams fill the two overseas berths, though Grant and Andy Flower, who have together played more than 500 internationals for Zimbabwe, are in Essex’s squad as Kolpak players. The Kolpak ruling, which has been in force since 2003, allows anyone with a work permit from a country with an associate trading agreement with the European Union to have the same rights as a European worker.Adams, 29, plays for Auckland in New Zealand, has a highest first-class score of 124, and has taken five five-wicket hauls. “I am looking forward to coming back to Essex after a thoroughly enjoyable few months with the county last year,” he said. “Hopefully I can make a full contribution to turning the club’s fortunes around in 2005.”Ronnie Irani, the Essex captain, was also happy with the signing: “I am absolutely delighted about the re-signing of Andre Adams. He is a player who contributes in every department. He put in some great performances for us last season with both ball and bat as well as consistently awesome fielding displays. His attitude as a senior and overseas player was first class, while always willing to put himself out for others. We look forward to his contributions for a whole season this time.”

Seamer Alfonso Thomas and allrounder Pierre de Bruyn have been released from their contracts with the Titans and both will represent the Dolphins for the rest of the season.The pair were acquired by the Dolphins to cover for the loss of former South African players Lance Klusener and Dale Benkenstein to the Indian Cricket League (ICL). Players linked with the ICL have been banned from domestic cricket by Cricket South Africa.”This will definitely strengthen the Dolphins ahead of the MTN Domestic Championship and the Pro20 Series,” Cassim Docrat, the Dolphins chief executive, told Supercricket.Docrat said that Thomas had signed for the next season as well. In six games this season, Thomas has scored 110 runs and taken 11 wickets while de Bruyn has scored 112 runs in four games.

Punjab completely dominated the first day’s play of their three day North Zone Cooch Behar Trophy (under-19) match against Jammu & Kashmir at the Dhruv Pandove stadium in Patiala on Tuesday. At stumps they were 140 for two in reply to J & K’s first innings total of 126.Winning the toss, J & K ran into trouble against A Uniyal and G Mandora and lost six wickets for 51 runs. A seventh wicket partnership of 64 runs off 24.4 overs between V Kaw (38) and A Mongotra (28) produced a recovery of sorts. But then three wickets fell with the total on 115 and J & K were all out for a highly adequate score. Uniyal (3 for 19) and Mandora (3 for 23) were the wreckers-in-chief while SP Singh hastened the end of the innings by taking two wickets for two runs off 3.4 overs, of which two were maidens.When Punjab batted, SP Singh (60 not out) and opener Binwant Singh (41) with a second wicket stand of 77 runs off 14 overs steered the side to a strong position by close. While Binwant faced 51 balls and hit five fours, the more aggressive SP Singh faced 69 balls and hit five fours and three sixes.

Close South Africa 369 for 2 (Smith 200, Kirsten 113*)
scorecardGraeme Smith converted his maiden Test century to a superb 200, and Gary Kirsten became the first man to score centuries against all nine Test-playing opponents, as South Africa christened Buffalo Park, the 85th and newest Test venue, with a feast of runs. The pair added 272 for the second wicket, as Bangladesh, who won the toss and chose to field, suffered a long and fruitless day in the sun.Kirsten had a point to prove after his omission from South Africa’s one-day side, and after making a rare appearance at No. 3, he peppered the arc between point and long-off with exquisitely timed drives. He quickly celebrated his return to international cricket with a 58-ball half-century, and took no time to settle into a rhythm, opening his account with three boundaries in an over off Tapash Baisya – one of which was a slightly fortuitous under-edged cut to fine leg.At the other end, Kirsten’s doppelganger Smith was in equally commanding form. Both men are left-handed, with a tendency to drive away from the body, and such was the frequency with which the ball clattered over the ropes at extra-cover, that it was hard to distinguish the two. Smith, though, was the only man to give a chance, when on 111, he edged Alok Kapali between keeper and slip for four. On reaching three figures, he looked slightly sheepish to have fulfilled a lifelong ambition in such hollow circumstances, but there was no disguising his glee when he posted his double century. Sure enough, the surfeit of emotion did for him, and within two balls he had lofted Sanwar Hossain to mid-on (359 for 2).The only other scalp fell in the morning session – Herschelle Gibbs, who had looked in sumptuous form until he who cut loosely at a wide delivery from Baisya and scooped the ball to Tushar Imran at extra cover (87 for 1). After a measured start, with a mere 20 runs coming from the first seven overs, he had launched Baisya over midwicket for six, before driving him emphatically down the ground for four, and though he dutifully shouldered arms to much that came his way, when he chose to play a shot, it was never with anything but the very middle of the bat.Bangladesh’s bowlers were spirited as ever, but lacked the necessary penetration. Baisya and Talha Jubair bowled with optimistic hostility, and beat the edge on occasions, and Mohammad Rafique found some handy drift with his staccato round-arm spin. By the end of the day, however, they had been reduced to a rabble. Yet another dispiriting trouncing is only a matter of time.South Africa 1 Herschelle Gibbs, 2 Graeme Smith, 3 Gary Kirsten, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Ashwell Prince, 6 Martin van Jaarsveld, 7 Mark Boucher (capt & wk), 8 Claude Henderson, 9 David Terbrugge, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Nantie Hayward.Bangladesh 1 Al-Sahariar Rokon, 2 Javed Omar, 3 Habibul Bashar, 4 Sanwar Hossain, 5 Tushar Imran, 6 Alok Kapali, 7 Khaled Mashud (capt & wk), 8 Mohammad Rafique, 9 Tapash Baisya, 10 Talha Jubair, 11 Manjural Islam.

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Nepal produced one of the major upsets of the tournament when they defeated South Africa by two runs in the semi-final of the Plate competition. Their reward is a place in Saturday’s final against Ireland.Nepal scored 214 for 8 with captain Kanishka Chaugai (59) leading the way before restricting South Africa to 212 for 5, despite Dean Elgar’s 66 not out from 65 balls.South Africa required 16 from the final two overs, 10 from the last six deliveries and three off the last ball but Basanti Regmi and Paras Khadka bowled superbly to earn their side a famous win. It is the second time in successive U-19 World Cups that Nepal have beaten South Africa – the last time by one wicket in Bangladesh.Roy Dias, Nepal’s coach, said: “That finish today was really tense but the boys handled it well and I am very proud of them. I told them beforehand that South Africa would be under pressure after looking at that last result and with our spinners bowling well it was a great win.”Elgar, the South Africa captain, was gracious in defeat: “Our fielding let us down and they got 20 or 30 more runs than they should have but there are no excuses. They were the better side today.”Chaugai’s contribution, his second fifty of the tournament, was crucial in ensuring Nepal more than held their own against their more illustrious opponents. Playing in his third and final U-19 World Cup, he faced 81 balls in a stay of 106 minutes, hitting six fours and a six during his innings. He added 67 for the first wicket with Mahesh Chhetri (15) and 38 for the second wicket with Sarad Vesawkar (19) and at 105 for 1 Nepal looked well placed. They were also helped by an injury to South Africa fast bowler Craig Alexander, who was only able to bowl 3.1 overs before breaking down with a suspected cartilage tear.But Nepal’s innings was checked with the appearance of spinners Jean Symes and Richard Das Neves in the attack as both applied the brakes in remarkable fashion. Left-armer Symes bowled his ten-overs at a cost of just 15 runs and also picked up three wickets including Chaugai, while offspinner Das Neves was almost as economical, delivering his ten overs at a cost of just 25 runs.No one went on to play a major innings for Nepal and it was left to Gyanendra Malla, whose 64 in the previous match against Uganda was vital in helping his side to a defendable score, to once again hold the middle order together. He made an responsible unbeaten 46 in 71 balls with six fours, but Malusi Siboto ensured Nepal were unable to break freeing the latter stages of their innings. He picked up 4 for 47 while the other wicket-taker for South Africa was Brett Thompson with 1 for 38 and their contributions were vital after Alexander left the field.Having got runs on the board, Nepal gradually squeezed the life out of the South Africa innings through their spinners and from 92 for 1 the Proteas slipped to 99 for 4. Basant Regmi led the way with the ball for Nepal. The left-armer bowled superbly to take 3 for 31 and the other bowlers responded to his lead.Khadka, who opened the bowling alongside Amrit Bhattarai, was equally impressive and although he did not take any wickets, his 0 for 36 in a full compliment of ten overs, including the last of the match, was priceless.”Our batsmen in the middle period played very slowly and by the time I was with Romano (Ramoo) we were wanting eight an over,” said Elgar. “They put us under pressure and although we got 15 from the 48th over we could not get there in the end.”Ramoo made 38 before he was dismissed in the penultimate over by Regmi but those runs took him 64 balls and his inability to score more quickly turned out to be a key difference.

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Offspinner Amit Jaggernauth and seamer Ravi Rampaul took seven wickets between them to send CCC crashing to 97 before Kieron Pollard scored 85 off 79 balls to help Trinidad take a 127-run first-innings lead in their Carib Beer Series match in Bridgetown.Trinidad’s openers, William Perkins and Lendl Simmons, put on 44 runs for the first wicket, but both were removed by Kevin McClean before tea. Pollard, who came in at No.4, was in an aggressive mood, bringing up his half-century off 48 balls. In the mean time, he added 117 runs for the third wicket with Darren Ganga, who made 47. Jason Bennett, the right-arm seamer, then dismissed both batsmen, before Denesh Ramdin slogged at the third-last ball of the day from Shirley Clarke, the CCC captain, to be bowled for 18.In the morning session, Rampaul took three wickets in a ten-over opening burst to leave CCC at 29 for 3. The introduction of spin hastened the end of CCC’s innings as Jaggernauth, who was included in West Indies’ Test squad for the coming series against Sri Lanka, took 4 for 35, including the wicket of their top scorer, Nekoli Parris, who made 27. Dave Mohammed, the left-arm spinner, complemented Jaggernauth by taking two wickets – he had Kurt Wilkinson caught at cover and induced a top-edged sweep from Bennett.
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Guyana, aided by a four-wicket haul from offspinner Zaheer Mohammed, restricted Leeward Islands to 204 before they made their way to within 67 runs off taking the first-innings lead in St. Thomas.Lionel Baker, the Leewards seamer, took two wickets to have Guyana at 17 for 2 before Krishna Arjune, who made 35, and Travis Dowlin (26) resurrected the innings. After both batsmen failed to extend their scores, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Guyana’s batting mainstay, anchored the innings with a patient 36, and with Ramnaresh Sarwan (16*), ensured that there was no further damage.Put in, Leewards lost Austin Richards and Runako Morton before a run was scored, both of whom were removed by Esuan Crandon. Shane Jeffers and Tonito Willett, who scored 37 and 34 respectively, steadied the innings, before they were dismissed by Brandon Bess. The Leewards’ middle order, comprising Orlando Peters, Steve Liburd, and Jahmar Hamilton, could not build on their starts, all of them falling to Mohammed, edging to Sarwan in the slips. Lionel Baker scored a quick 26 to stretch Leewards’ score, before Mohammed returned to finish off the innings by getting rid of Bront de Freitas.
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Windward Islands’ bowlers combined well to keep Jamaicia down to 232, but they conceded the momentum when they lost Devon Smith and debutant Raymond Casimir to the fiery Daren Powell with only a run on the board just before the close of play in St Elizabeth.Windwards’ decision to field reaped immediate reward when three early wickets by Nelon Pascal had Jamaica on the back foot at 95 for 3. Jamaica slipped further when Chris Gayle was caught behind off Deighton Butler for 55. Shane Shillingford, the offspinner, then ran through the middle order, taking three wickets including the prized scalp of Marlon Samuels for 28, before returning to dismiss Nikita Miller, who also made 28. The tail was taken care off by Butler, who removed Carlton Baugh for 25 and had Jemore Taylor caught behind for a duck to finish with figures of 3 for 35.

Essex have announced a pre-tax profit of £26,129 for the year ended December 31, 2005. This is slightly down on the 2004 figure of £27,707, while the balance sheet stood at £2,573,726.David East, the chief executive, said the profit was reward for hard work during a tough year. “We are pleased that we have been able to show a profit once again, but this should not detract from the fact that 2005 was a very challenging year.”We have worked extremely hard on examining all areas of expenditure, whilst ensuring that our cricket remains competitive and properly resourced. It is a fine balance, but the combination of our [National] League success and a modest surplus in 2005 indicates that the club is moving in a very positive direction.East added that there were ambitious plans in the pipeline to try and secure the future financial health of Essex. “We have an exciting plan for a major redevelopment of the ground which is progressing well. Our objective is to have a top-class stadium with fantastic facilities, whilst ensuring the financial security of the club for the future.”As guardians of the game in the county it is vital that we continue to support the recreational and developmental activities of the Essex County Cricket Board, whilst retaining our focus on achieving excellence on the professional field.”

Virender Sehwag has been fined 20% of his match fee for excessive appealing during the tense final stages of the drawn first Test between India and West Indies in Antigua.Sehwag was found to have breached section 1.5 of the ICC Code which relates to “the practice of celebrating a dismissal before the decision has been given”. He removed Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin on the final day as West Indies hung on by one-wicket to save the match.All level one breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50% of a player’s match fee. The charge was brought by the umpires Asad Rauf, Simon Taufel and Billy Doctrove.Jeff Crowe, the match referee, reached his conclusion after a hearing attended by Sehwag, the Indian coach Greg Chappell and the umpires following the conclusion of the Test.