The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) issued a cautious initial response to the news that four of its leading players had signed up with the Indian Cricket League (ICL), saying that they would like to confirm the reports with the players before proceeding with any action.The ICL announced earlier today that Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq and Imran Farhat had signed contracts with them, putting an end to weeks of speculation.The board has reiterated that any contracted player joining the ICL would thereafter not be considered for selection for Pakistan. Of the four, only Farhat had signed a central contract, though he has, on his own request, been released from it. Yousuf and Razzaq had been offered contracts but hadn’t signed them, reportedly in protest against their omission from the Twenty20 World Championship squad. Inzamam was not included in the list of centrally-contracted players.But Shafqat Naghmi, the board’s chief operating officer, told Cricinfo no action would be taken until and unless the players confirm the reports themselves. “It wouldn’t be fair to act without confirmation from the players. Once that has happened, action will be taken.”Naghmi, however, stopped short of saying bans would be imposed on the players, as is the board’s policy. “We are very clear on what our policy is, but for any ban, the decision has to be approved by the ad-hoc committee.”How much the decision of the four will hurt Pakistan is also not yet clear. Farhat has been out of favour in shorter formats of the game, but it is thought he was still in the running as a Test opener. Razzaq has already announced his retirement from international cricket and though Salahuddin Ahmed, the chief selector, insisted he is still part of Pakistan’s plans, other officials privately concede the future may not be so bright.Inzamam has already retired from ODI cricket, though he insists he still wants to play Tests for Pakistan. But having missed out on a central contract, his immediate future was also not rosy.As Naghmi acknowledged, however, in a statement with more meaning than is immediately apparent, the loss of one player could be the most significant. “If it is true that they have signed up, then losing Yousuf would be the biggest blow to Pakistan cricket.”

The difference a day makes
It was like watching two different teams when Bangladesh began their innings. After showing scant regard to anything South Africa sent down last night, they offered the Australian attack much more respect. Brett Lee and Co, though, didn’t begin with a series of tempting half volleys and it wasn’t until Lee had to protect himself against a free-hit that he pitched the ball up. Bangladesh’s first boundary was a fortunate edged cut between the wicketkeeper and slip and there was a huge amount of playing and missing. The difference was summed up by Aftab Ahmed, who yesterday creamed 36 off 14 balls and here made 31 off 34.Top-left-corner
Bangladesh’s batsmen spent most of the early overs planted firmly on the back foot and as hard as they tried they couldn’t break the shackles. Facing a rapid bouncer from Mitchell Johnson, Nazimuddin went for a pull but was so late on the shot that he was clattered flush on the helmet. The ball ballooned to backward point and they ran a leg-bye. It was a fine glancing header that wouldn’t have looked out of place a few days ago at the other Newlands sports stadium when theSouth African football team played Zambia.Double free-hit
Australia continued to have a few problems with the front line and Johnson, in his second over, followed one no-ball with another. After the first one Tamim Iqbal had a wild swing-and-miss, then when the free-hit was carried over to the following delivery he went for another wild mow and didn’t make contact. So, apart from the extra run for the no-ball, the free-hit had cost Australia the grand total of one bye. That’s an escape and a half.Second chance Sunday
It was fairly clear that events were going Australia’s way when Ricky Ponting showed his brilliant reflexes to hold Nazimuddin’s powerful drive at extra cover. The shot sped towards Ponting and popped straight out of his hands, but the momentum carried him forward and he snapped up the chance on the rebound.Have a single for that
Aftab was trying his best to hold the innings together, and unfurled a trademark clip over midwicket which soared high into the air. The batsmen were sure it was going for at least four, but the Newlands outfield is still fairly soft and slow. Like a fine nine-iron into the green, Aftab’s shot pitched and plugged almost on the spot allowing deep square-leg to haul it in. Aftab only realised too late, and didn’t even make it back for two.Another Twenty20 first
After the first Twenty20 century, by Chris Gayle against South Africa, this match brought the first hat-trick in the international version. Brett Lee was the man with the honour as his pace proved too much for the middle order. Shakib al Hasan edged a catch behind, Mashrafe Mortaza was speared by a yorker and Alok Kapali was trapped in front. It nearly got better for Lee, his next delivery missed the stumps by a fraction, but he had overstepped. The free-hit found the hands ofJohnson at long-on, and didn’t count. But the over had had enough wickets.Catches win…oh dear
Bangladesh needed early wickets, and they nearly got one. With the fourth ball of the innings Mortaza brought an edge from Adam Gilchrist which flew towards Alok Kapali at slip. He moved quickly to his left, got a decent amount of hand on it, but couldn’t hold on. Australian batsmen don’t offer many chances and they hurried the game towards its conclusion.

Mitchell Johnson’s stunning form in India has fuelled his belief that he is ready for a Test debut at the Gabba on November 8. A five-wicket haul in the fifth ODI in India has highlighted his growing maturity on the international stage and leaves him in perfect shape to face Sri Lanka alongside Brett Lee and Stuart Clark.”I’d be absolutely thrilled if I get picked,” he said in the . “I think where I was last season when I was 12th man [for the Ashes], I probably wasn’t ready. But now I back myself more. If I get that selection, I’d be very thrilled and I think I’d be ready for it.”Johnson has spent a lot of time learning over the past year, which included long stints on the sidelines as he waited for openings in the Test and one-day teams. In India he has been a regular, taking 11 wickets at 19.45, and he showed he could perform under pressure with a double-wicket maiden to shut out India in Nagpur on Sunday.”It’s been a long ride, being 12th man last summer and with the World Cup stuff, but it’s been an exciting one for me and I’ve just enjoyed the whole experience,” he said. “If I wasn’t around the team [as 12th man], I wouldn’t be in this situation now. If I was sitting back at home watching and not being around the guys, it would probably be a different story.”Johnson, who went to Chennai on a pre-season trip to the city’s pace academy, has been surprised by his success in India. “I probably didn’t expect to get as many wickets as I did,” Johnson said. He has another chance to add to his collection during the seventh match in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The second event takes place on Friday at the foothills of Mount Kenya. The three-day event, designed to raise funds to support the Ol Pejeta Conservancy – a 90,000 acre wildlife park – which, it is hoped, will aid the development of schools and other local facilities.Each of the eight teams, split into two leagues, is required to raise a minimum of KS200,000 (USD2,900) – usually by sponsorship – to secure their place in the tournament. The cricket itself will be 10 overs per side with eight-ball overs.Cricket in the Wild last year raised KS6m, thanks to extra fund raising efforts by all teams that participated but especially Hugh Crossley’s Team from the UK who won the highest fundraising prize. These funds have been allocated to the building, rehabilitation and development of several secondary schools and medical dispensaries surrounding the conservancy.”We were very proud that last year’s tournament was won by a Kenyan team. Chris Outram’s team will be back again this year to defend their title,” Richard Vigne, Ol Pejeta Conservancy’s director, said. “To keep the event light hearted, we will also be awarding a crate of Tusker to the most humorous sledger.”Entry will be free.

Lionel Cann’s tour diary first appeared in the Bermuda SunI was banned for two games this week for showing dissent after I was given out lbw against Kenya. I admit I was wrong, I went up for it, I got banned and now I have to put it behind me.Basically I got a bad decision and I exploded. As I was walking off the field I hit the trash can with my bat. It was just out of frustration. I hit my kit-bag, too, when I got back in the dressing room, but it was the trash can that got me in trouble because everybody could see.It was the second one-day-international against Kenya and I was given out first-ball lbw for a duck. I pushed well forward and the ball hit my pads. The bowler appealed, but nobody else did. I didn’t even look up because I didn’t think it was out. There was a slight delay because I didn’t realize I was out until I looked around and I saw the fielders celebrating.We’d had some very tough decisions on this tour – we always seem to get bad decisions against the bigger countries. Plus, I knew I was in form and my team needed me to get a score, so the frustration just boiled over.Despite the 3-0 loss to Kenya, I think the team is improving and there are a lot of positives about our performances so far. We’ve bowled and fielded well and we were in positions where we could have won in both of the last two games. In the final game they needed ten runs to win with the last batsman at the crease but Steve Tikolo, who played a very professional innings, hit a six and took the pressure off.Despite that we have not batted well enough. You can’t expect to score 180 runs on a good batting pitch and beat a team like Kenya. We’ve got a couple of guys in a serious, serious rut right now. Irving (Romaine) batted 49 overs on Saturday and scored 60 so that shows you the struggle he’s in. But he’s fighting it out and, of course, he is still good enough. Hemp (David) is having one of the worst runs of his life, I think, but he and Irving are both good players and they will turn it round.Of the younger guys, Rodney Trott has been a revelation. I batted with him a couple of times and he’s a tough little fella, he acts like a seasoned player already. Malachi Jones is growing and Kyle Hodsoll picked up his first wicket the other day. It was good to see Jekon Edness get a 70. The youth are gaining the experience and doing themselves proud. It’s the senior players that need to step up and make a bigger contribution with the bat.We were given a reminder of how lucky we are to come from Bermuda the other day when we witnessed another example of the tough living conditions here in Nairobi. From the window of our hotel we saw a crowd of people beating this one guy, virtually to death, right in the middle of the street. I think he had grabbed a cell phone, somebody had shouted ‘thief’ and everybody jumped him.Then security arrived and they joined in the beating, We asked in the hotel, what was happening, and they said if you are a thief in Kenya people are allowed to do that. It was amazing and scary. There were women on the side of the street shouting and encouraging the people that were beating this guy up. I’m waiting for tomorrow’s newspapers to find out if he died.It’s sad to see. Last time we were here somebody got shot. We don’t walk the streets without security. It definitely made us think we’re lucky to be Bermudians.

The Sri Lankan legspinner, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, is expected to be out of action for two months after undergoing an operation on his dislocated right index finger.Lokuarchchi sustained the injury while attempting a return catch off Ravi Bopara during England’s first innings of their match against a Sri Lanka Board President’s XI in Colombo.Initially it was feared he had sustained a break, but his coach, Chandika Hathurusinghe, confirmed that the blow had dislocated a knuckle without severing the surrounding tendons. Nevertheless, he is expected to spend three weeks in plaster, and it will be a further month before he is fit to bowl again.Though Lokuarachchi was not in contention for the forthcoming Test series against England, he was very much in the selectors’ thoughts for the CB Series in Australia in January and February. He played in the final two matches of England’s recent ODI series in September and October, and has taken 31 wickets at 23.38 in 31 matches to date.

International players should be allowed to retire and take up lucrative contracts with Twenty20 leagues in India, according to Tim May, the chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations. May said any move by national boards to stop such retirements, or to ban players who join Twenty20 leagues, could be a restraint of trade and might result in court action.”If a player wants to retire from international cricket because he’s had enough and wants to spend more time with his family and he can seek employment elsewhere, to allow him to spend more time with his family, then, like any other employee, he should be allowed to,” May told the .”We will resist that [banning players] with everything we have. That is an unreasonable restraint of trade, which will be up to the players and the courts to test.”But while May said there was the potential for competitions like the Indian Premier League and the Indian Cricket League to lure players away from their international contracts, national boards also have another potential problem. The IPL’s franchising system has raised questions over possible sponsorship clashes.It is feasible that a Cricket Australia-contracted player could sign with a team owned by a company that provides services in competition with Cricket Australia’s major sponsors, the Commonwealth Bank and Travelex. “That’s a hypothetical question,” James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive said.”The facts are that we deal with these situations day after day, with players playing county cricket or in other situations. Players will need to work around these situations to be released.”Justin Vaughan, the New Zealand Cricket chief executive, said his board would have to revisit its payment structure to ensure non-IPL players are not easily enticed to a rebel Twenty20 outfit.”We’ll talk to the players’ association because they are very mindful of that situation and we certainly don’t want these players being lost to international cricket,” Vaughan told the . “But it’s great our players can make a lot of money playing cricket. That’s fantastic.”The initial IPL sign-on fees were announced last week, with Shane Warne receiving a US$400,000 deal, Glenn McGrath attracting US$350,000 and Justin Langer signing up for US$175,000. However, those figures are base fees for being part of the player pool and do not include the salaries they will be paid by whichever franchise they join.

Andrew Flintoff could make a long-awaited comeback playing for the England Lions on their tour of India, according to the chairman of selectors, David Graveney.”They are very happy with his rehab,” Graveney said after announcing England’s two squads to tour New Zealand next month. “There is a possibility, if his rehab goes to plan, of him going on the Lions tour at the end of January.”Flintoff, 30, underwent keyhole ankle surgery in October and has since been recovering in America. He hasn’t played a Test match since the fifth Test of the 2006-07 Ashes in Sydney, and although he wasn’t considered for England’s tour of New Zealand, Graveney said he could feature for the Lions when they play in India’s Duleep Trophy.”He’s very keen to get back playing cricket so there is a possibility ofhim joining up as a batsman only as part of his rehab,” Graveney said. “Everyone has their fingers crossed to get him back bowling and at this stage it is going according to plan.”The Lions depart for India on January 24.

Just months after quitting international cricket, former West Indies captain Brian Lara is set to return to the domestic game and represent Trinidad and Tobago for the 2008 Carib Beer Series.Deryck Murray, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) president, confirmed the news at a press conference at the Queens Park Oval, saying his earlier conversation with Lara culminated in his decision to come back and play regional first-class cricket. Lara had earlier participated in the recently-concluded Indian Cricket League (ICL), captaining Mumbai Champs.”Brian can make a great contribution to Trinidad and Tobago cricket in the future, in terms of the development of the game and in administration,” Murray said at the tea interval during the Pizza Hut Gerry Gomez North/South Classic in Port-of-Spain.Murray noted further that Lara’s contribution to the national team is more of a motivating factor for the rest of the team as they begin their defense of the Carib Beer Challenge trophy on January 4 against Guyana at the Queens Park Oval.”Lara’s experience and knowledge will be a great asset to the team,” Murray said. “We are the champions of the Caribbean, the team to beat and every game will be a final.”However, Murray was careful to say that the inclusion of Lara, who last played for the national team in the double-winning 2006 Carib Beer Series, would not affect the future of the youngsters in the team. Lara is set to return over the weekend and will only be available for the four-day games. It was also made clear that he will not assume the role of the captain as Rayad Emrit was already selected in that capacity.Being the highest run-scorer in Test cricket with 11,953 runs and the holder of the world records for the highest individual Test and first-class scores, Murray said the board would use the opportunity to give Lara a proper farewell.”Everyone was taken by surprise when he announced his retirement and I think this is the perfect opportunity for T&T to say thank you for what he has done for local cricket.”

Central Districts batsman Andrew Dodd has been drafted into New Zealand’s squad for the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia as a replacement for Jeet Raval.A captain wasn’t named when the squad was announced a fortnight ago, but as expected Kane Williamson has been picked for the task. Williamson scored an unbeaten 47 off 56 balls for Northern Districts against the touring Bangladeshis in a rain-affected match in December.Besides Williamson, there are four other players with first-class experience. The squad includes Corey Anderson, Greg Morgan, Tim Southee and Trent Boult, who along with Williamson, were selected for New Zealand A’s three-week winter training camp in Darwin in 2007. Southee has been called up for New Zealand’s two Twenty20 internationals against England, and will join the U-19 team later. The side also includes Michael Bracewell, nephew of former Test players John and Brendon Bracewell, and Hamish Rutherford, son of former New Zealand captain Ken.The New Zealand team leaves for Australia on Saturday for a week-long camp in Queensland before heading to Malaysia, where they are drawn in the same pool as Pakistan, Zimbabwe and the hosts. New Zealand’s first fixture is against Zimbabwe on February 18, the second day of the tournament.Squad Kane Williamson (capt), Corey Anderson, Nick Beard, Harry Boam, Trent Boult, Michael Bracewell, Tamati Clarke, Fraser Colson, Michael Guptill-Bunce, Greg Morgan, Andrew Dodd, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Anurag Verma, George Worker.