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Former England, Yorkshire and Warwickshire allrounder ends 20-year playing career

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2022Tim Bresnan, the former England allrounder who played a pivotal role in the Ashes triumph in Australia in 2010-11, has retired from professional cricket.Bresnan, 36, announced the decision through his club, Warwickshire, on Monday, ending a 20-year playing career after he helped them secure an eighth County Championship title in 2021.”This has been an incredibly tough decision, but after returning to winter training I feel that this is the right time,” Bresnan said. “I have continued to work hard throughout the off-season to prepare for my 21st professional year, but deep down I feel I can’t reach the high standards that I set myself and my teammates.”The hunger and enthusiasm that I have for the game I love will never leave me, but whilst my head is willing to tackle the 2022 season, my body is not.”Bresnan, part of the England side that won the Ashes in Australia in 2010-11 and on home soil in 2013, represented his country on 142 occasions, including 23 Tests. Having made his Test debut against West Indies at Lord’s in 2009, Bresnan was called into England’s Ashes side for the Boxing Day Test in 2010 as a replacement for Steven Finn and ended up playing a crucial role, helping to bowl Australia out for 98 in the first innings and taking 4 for 50 in the second as England sealed their defence of the Urn.With his broad-shouldered bowling style, allied to a composed batting technique that grew in stature particularly on the county circuit in his later years, Bresnan was an under-rated but crucial component of the England team that rose, in the summer of 2011, to become the No.1 Test side in the world. From making his debut against West Indies at Lord’s in 2009, through to the opening match against the same opponents, at Trent Bridge in 2012, he featured in 13 consecutive England wins, and was also in the England team which won the World Twenty20 in 2010.During his first-class career, Bresnan amassed 7,138 runs and 575 wickets with seven centuries and nine five-wicket hauls.”I will always look back at my career with immense pride and it’s been an absolute honour to represent Warwickshire, my home county and country,” Bresnan said. “Growing up I never would have believed how lucky I was to play with and against some of the finest cricketers to grace the game… the opportunity to wear the Three Lions is something that should never be taken for granted and I’m proud to have played a very small part in our country’s storied history.”I’m excited for my next chapter and am determined to throw everything into it, like I did on the cricket field for so many years.”Bresnan joined Warwickshire from Yorkshire in June 2020, initially on loan before signing a two-year deal intended to take him through to the end of the 2022 season. He had played for Yorkshire from 2001 to 2019, helping them to County Championship titles in 2014 and 2015.Bresnan was implicated in the investigation into institutional racism at Yorkshire when Azeem Rafiq named him in testimony to November’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee hearing into his accusations of racism and bullying at the club. Bresnan denied making racist comments but apologised “for any part I played in contributing to Azeem Rafiq’s experience of feeling bullied at Yorkshire”. Warwickshire subsequently said that Bresnan would join its players, coaches and management in cultural awareness and appreciation training.Paul Farbrace, Warwickshire’s director of cricket, praised Bresnan for making the difficult decision to retire well before the start of the new season.”Tim has had an astounding career,” Farbrace said. “I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with him throughout his cricketing journey and he has been a marvellous servant to the game. When Tim joined Warwickshire, I believed he could make a huge impact to our side with his experience, knowledge and attitude, and as a County Champion he has certainly achieved that.”His performances for the club have been exemplary… during his international career, Tim rose to the occasion when his country needed him and his achievements on the biggest stage show how talented and driven, he is.”

Australia’s players and staff face months of moving from one bubble to another to put the season on

Daniel Brettig21-Sep-2020Four consecutive weeks of hotel quarantine must elapse before Justin Langer – or any of the other West Australian or Tasmanian members of Australia’s England tour party – can see their families again. And that’s just for starters.Langer was at close to his most wide-eyed and pleading on a recent podcast with the England rugby coach Eddie Jones, as he emphasised the possibility that some members of the national team may go 173 consecutive days without seeing their families this summer.It’s the sort of assignment that gives lie to the notion that cricketers are better equipped than most to deal with the maze of hubs and quarantine periods inherent in a “Covid normal” home summer, since overseas tours or home series have about as much in common with coronavirus hub existence as train journeys do with space flight.ALSO READ: Steven Smith ruled out of England series after first game: ‘We saw how unwell he looked’ – LangerTo that end, Langer had two clear takeaways from England. The first being that every possible chance must be taken to allow players to see their families whether that means Steven Smith missing a game here and there, or Pat Cummins continuing to skip the Big Bash League. The second is that within the hubs themselves, all efforts must be taken to keep things fresh for players and staff, while also ensuring that perspective is retained: losing a game is not the end of the world, nor the start of a global pandemic.”We know how hectic it’s going to be, a long time away from their families, a long time away from home, but we know the sacrifices we have to make to ensure that cricket stays up and running and we keep entertaining people,” Langer said. “That’s the main thing, the quarantine issues which are going to cause the greatest angst for the families, whether it’s two weeks before they come into our hub or for example in Perth or Hobart and Tasmania’s case, if our families come into the hub, then they’ve got to quarantine for two weeks when they get home.”So it’s really problematic but I guess it’s the sacrifices we have to make. It’s something I’ve talked about for the last four or five months with CA, no doubt we’ll talk about it with the ACA, it’s one of the contentious issue at the moment, but our families all have their lives to live, with the current restrictions in place it’s problematic for a lot of the families. We’ll just keep working our way through those things.”Government restrictions and requirements are, according to Cricket Australia, the main reason why the summer schedule is yet to be announced even as the first international cricket of the season is due to be played between Australia and New Zealand women in Brisbane as soon as Saturday. Langer said that any player who put his hand up and requested time out of the bubble would have their wishes respected, citing the example of Glenn Maxwell’s break from the game on mental helth grounds late last year.”It’s not so much about the training, all our guys are super fit, they’ll be up and running and playing, it’s more to do with quarantine regulations and every state’s different,” Langer said. “That’s where it becomes so problematic and that’s where our management of the players individually and collectively is going to be so important.”Every opportunity we’re going to get for our players and our support staff to see their families we are definitely going to take it, but it’s really complex. We saw it with Glenn Maxwell last summer. One of the most important things in this Australian cricket team is we care for our people. We are all very respectful of the present climate with guys being away from home, guys living in this hub life, and we are looking at ways to manage that. The Latin origin of the word culture comes from the word care. And hopefully we are showing that consistently that we care for our people.”Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and David Warner have rarely featured in the BBL due to Australia duty•Getty Images

There must be consideration, too, for players kept in reserve and thus missing out either on Sheffield Shield assignments for their states or BBL outings with their clubs. “One of our lessons from England, whatever [size] our squad is going to be, they’re going to see a lot of their mates playing Big Bash cricket or potentially playing some Shield cricket,” Langer said. “It’s not going to be as easy as before to come in and out.”We are also very mindful though that we want all our cricketers playing as much cricket as possible. So, working out the exact number [for the squad], won’t necessarily be a science. There’ll be an art to it. So that we get the balance between guys playing and guys being ready in case there’s some infections or anything like that.”As for keeping things fresh, Langer was able to call on a new pair of eyes and many more opinions from the assistant coach Trent Woodhill during the England tour, who substituted for Andrew McDonald due to his pre-existing IPL contract with Rajasthan Royals. He also introduced a boxing “fight club” to the squad, albeit in the form of boxing training sessions with hand pads: as much as Langer is known as a pugilist, there are no immediate plans to send Matthew Wade into the ring against Mitchell Starc.”I know from a lifetime of doing it, there’s real advantages in staying fit and healthy and letting off some steam. A number of the guys got all our boxing gear over here and we’ve been doing a bit of that, as much to keep us stimulated as anything,” he said. “I’ve said for many years that the best form of training for batting particularly is boxing, because you’ve got to concentrate, its footwork, its technique, you’ve got to face your opponent, got to have good defence and good offence.”For me it’s a lot of fun, it’s something I’ve done for a long time, I know some of the players are enjoying doing some boxing training away from the normal realms of cricket training. We have to be really conscious that we keep things as fresh as possible, because if you’re going through the same routine over and over any way we can break it up is going to be really important.”Last but not least will be the need to take whatever environmental advantages that are available. In Adelaide, Langer has been gratified to see that the new hotel built into the oval’s eastern stand does not overlook the ground directly, but instead offers a sweeping panorama of the parklands and the nearby cathedral, granting a precious chance to switch off from the sights and sounds of professional cricket.Nevertheless, it will be hard at times to avoid a sense of the walls closing in – as Langer discovered when the hotel’s curtains began shutting automatically on his view of St Peter’s.

Leading wicket-taker at IPL will join squad at conclusion of South Africa’s World Cup campaign

ESPNcricinfo staff14-May-2019 Imran Tahir, the South Africa legspinner, has signed for Surrey for the entirety of this year’s Vitality Blast.Tahir, who has been named in his country’s squad for the upcoming World Cup, becomes the club’s second overseas signing for the 2019 competition, alongside the Australia limited-overs captain, Aaron Finch, who is returning for a fourth year.He will join up with the Surrey squad at the completion of South Africa’s World Cup campaign, in time for their opening match at Essex on Friday July 19.”I’m always looking for new and exciting opportunities,” said Tahir. “That’s how I see the chance to play with one of the most talented playing groups in county cricket.”When I heard Alec Stewart had asked after me, it was an easy decision. Surrey are a massive club and it will be great if I can contribute to helping them win another trophy this summer at the Kia Oval.”Tahir was the most successful bowler in this year’s Indian Premier League; taking 26 wickets, the most in the competition, as his Chennai Super Kings ended runners-up.Tahir has extensive experience in T20 cricket around the world, having also played in the Pakistan Super League, Caribbean Premier League, Mzansi Super League and Bangladesh Premier League, as well as six previous campaigns in the English domestic tournament.He has represented South Africa at two World Cups and two T20 World Cups,rising to become the No.1-ranked T20 bowler in 2017, and currently has 63 wickets in 38 international T20 appearances.Surrey Director of Cricket Alec Stewart said: “Imran is a proven match winner and with his vast experience of international, county and franchise cricket will be a huge asset to us.”

Tall medium-pacer Kaleemullah set up a six-wicket win for Oman over Nepal and Canada’s Nitish Kumar prevailed in a showdown of offspinning-allrounder captains against UAE

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Windhoek09-Feb-2018
Peter Della Penna

Tall medium-pacer Kaleemullah used his height and bounce to claim 4 for 28, setting up a six-wicket win for Oman over Nepal at Wanderers Affies Field.Oman chose to bowl first under heavy cloud cover. On a sluggish second-day wicket, Oman’s medium pacers exploited the conditions expertly. At the forefront was Kaleemullah, who probed a fifth-stump line and had his first two wickets – Gyanendra Malla and Aarif Sheikh –
caught behind. A bigger blow came at the start of the 23rd over when he claimed Paras Khadka after an inside edge ricocheted off the pads into the base of the stumps.Six batsman reached double figures for Nepal but none went past Sharad Vesawkar’s 22, Nepal’s top-scorer for the second day in a row. Vesawkar added 36 with Dipendra Airee, before Airee edged Khawar Ali’s legspin to slip for 20. Vesawkar fell seven overs later, beaten for pace attempting to pull Bilal Khan. Kaleemullah returned later to help wipe out the tail, having Rohit Paudel caught on the boundary for 14 at the start of the 44th over. A yorker from Bilal to Sandeep Lamichhane finished the innings in 46 overs.For the second successive day, Aqib Ilyas top-scored with 46 but this time it was in a winning effort. Ilyas neutralized the threat of Lamichhane after he gave Oman a brief scare when he struck in the 11th over, getting Jatinder Singh with a googly for 26. After Ilyas was drawn out of his crease to be stumped by Basant Regmi, Vaibhav Wategaonkar steered the rest of the chase, finishing unbeaten on 37.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsCecil Pervez punches the air after claiming the final wicket to seal victory•Peter Della Penna

In a showdown of offspinning-allrounder captains, Nitish Kumar’s 62 and back-to-back wickets late in the chase trumped Rohan Mustafa’s 5 for 34 and an unbeaten 37 as Canada staved off UAE by 23 runs in a tense chase at Wanderers Sports Club.Mustafa struck with his first ball, coming on in the fourth over to bowl Ruvindu Gunasekera for 21. Nitish led a fightback through a 64-run third-wicket partnership with Dhanuka Pathirana and brought up his half-century off 75 balls before eventually falling to medium-pacer Mohammad Naveed at the beginning of the 41st over. Mustafa then came back to complete his five-for, holding Canada to 209.Mustafa opened the chase but retired hurt in the fourth over on 6 before Ghulam Shabber joined Ashfaq Ahmed to carry on an 88-run opening stand. The drinks break at the 18-over mark brought Canada back to life as offspinner Nikhil Dutta struck in the 19th over to get Ashfaq for 42, sparking a collapse of three wickets in six balls as Gunasekera claimed two in the next over with his part-time legspin.Shabber went on to top-score with 55 before he was the fifth batsman out, to Dillon Heyliger. Mustafa returned with 80 runs left to win and with storm clouds lurking, UAE were still a handful of runs ahead on Duckworth-Lewis but Nitish’s consecutive strikes in the 43rd over put Canada in front on the calculation for good.Needing 27 off 36 balls and with only the No. 11 Zahoor Khan left to help, Mustafa began turning down singles before taking one on the third ball of the 45th over. Cecil Pervez beat Zahoor on the final ball of the over with a yorker and his lbw appeal was upheld, triggering emotional celebrations from Canada who are now the only remaining unbeaten team in the tournament field.

Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach, said the team was ‘comfortable’ with their selection of Sohail Khan

Osman Samiuddin at the MCG26-Dec-2016Pakistan are “comfortable” with their selection of Sohail Khan for the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, despite Mickey Arthur’s comments during the first Test in Brisbane that he had doubts about the bowler’s endurance levels.Pakistan made one change to their XI from Brisbane, picking Sohail in place of Rahat Ali. That may have come as a surprise to those who heard Arthur’s comments on radio during the first Test, made, incidentally, in defense of the pace attack selected for that game.”Sohail Khan comes in and swings it right arm, but I’ve got a doubt about Sohail’s comebackability,” Arthur had said at the time. “If he has got to bowl, his first spell’s very good, his second spell’s okay, his third spell is tough and then you just don’t get anything more. That puts a lot of pressure on our other units.”Sohail’s ability to return after his first and second spells has been in question since he made his Test return to Pakistan on the tour to England this year. Though he picked two five-fors in consecutive Tests, he often struggled to make an impact in his later spells and in the second innings.That would seem to be borne out by his career stats: 21 of his 24 Test wickets have come in the first fielding innings, while he averages 123 per wicket in the second innings.On Pakistan’s tour to New Zealand, however, he put together a couple of long spells and ended up bowling more overs – 70 – in the two Tests than any bowler on either side, bar Tim Southee.Pakistan decided to go with Sohail’s potential impact with the new ball over Imran Khan’s sturdier, more energetic presence. Arthur said Sohail had made an impression during training since they arrived in Melbourne – Sohail missed the first day with an upset stomach – but stopped short of u-turning on his earlier assessment.”He has bowled beautifully,” Arthur said. “He has trained exceptionally, that’s all I can say. I don’t know if you’ve seen him lately, he has lost seven-eight kilos, he’s the first guy in the gym at six in the morning. He does his training, he bowls two-three spells in the nets every day. He has been excellent and I sort of doff my cap to him because he has been outstanding, almost been a model professional for us over the last month or so.”Time will tell though. He knows exactly what the concerns are around him. We’re comfortable we have picked what we think is the best attack. It just gives us a little bit more balance. He has swung the ball nicely. He’s a right-armer. On this wicket you don’t want to give too many areas for Nathan Lyon to bowl so we wanted to keep one right-armer to attack.”Speaking to later, Arthur pointed to the many positives in selecting Sohail. “Sohail Khan’s ability has never been in doubt. He swings the ball and bowls at a good pace. He is a very, very fine bowler.”And what I said in the interview was a fact – that we have concerns around him coming back – but there are so many positives about him. He swings the ball at a good pace and he is a real trier. So I am comfortable that he has done everything we wanted him to do and the proof of the pudding is going to be in how he performs.”

A round-up of the Ram Slam T20 matches played on November 22, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2015Four tight overs and a quickfire 23 from Kieron Pollard helped Cobras get over the line for a four-wicket win against Knights at Paarl. The result left Knights rooted to the bottom of the table, without a win in six, and kept Cobras on course for a top-three finish.Richard Levi helped get the chase off to a solid start with 36 off 23 balls before becoming one of two wickets in an over for Dillon du Preez. Justin Ontong was less fluent in scoring 40 from 42, with two boundaries, and when he fell, Cobras lost 3 for 19 in three overs to briefly give Knights hope. Pollard, however, was unfazed and hit his compatriot Andre Russell for six and four in the 19th to ensure Cobras would get home.Knights’ total of 140 for 7 was based around several useful contributions but lacked a significant flourish. Theunis de Bruyn top-scored with 45 from 44 balls, adding 51 for the fourth wicket with Russell, but both fell in the same over just as Knights were looking to kick on. Dane Paterson and Rory Kleinveldt picked up two wickets apiece as Cobras kept the target within range.Lions prevailed over Dolphins in a relatively low scoring game at the Wanderers in Johannesburg to register their third win of the tournament.Playing a stellar role with the ball that helped them defend 145 for 6 was Dwaine Pretorius, the pacer, who took 4 for 22 as Dolphins were restricted to 139 for 7. If Pretorius was the hero with the ball, that Lions posted what would be a match-winning total was courtesy Alviro Petersen, who hit four fours and a six in his unbeaten 41-ball 60. The next best came from Devon Conway, who stroked 38.Dolphins started their chase well, with Morne van Wyk (20) and Vaughan van Jaarsveld (42) putting together a 45-run opening stand in just 5.3 overs. Despite two quick strikes after that, David Miller (37) ensured they were well on their way to pocket two points. But Pretorius put the brakes on the scoring by dismissing Cody Chetty, Miller and Dwayne Bravo in the space of two overs to turn the game around. Phangiso, the left-arm spinner, also chipped in with two wickets.Dolpins have now failed to win in four games. Although they remain in second place, they lead the Cobras by just two points, having played a game more.

For the second time this season, Rajasthan Royals promoted a wicketkeeper to No. 3, and stunned the opposition to set up a win

The Report by Sidharth Monga29-Apr-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Shane Watson pitched in with an all-round effort, picking up three wickets and scoring 41•BCCI

For the second time this season, Rajasthan Royals promoted a wicketkeeper to No. 3, and stunned the opposition to set up a win. Chasing 172, with Shane Watson, Brad Hodge and Owais Shah yet to bat, Kerala’s 18-year-old Sanju Samson scored 63 off 41, leaving Royals 56 to get off 34 balls, which they chased, but not without the mandatory inexplicable drama that is the IPL’s USP. Watson, who left the chase all but finished, had been instrumental in keeping Royal Challengers, who have now lost all their four away matches, down with the wickets of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli among his three.The game began with Royals presenting Gayle spin when hostile short bowling has only managed to trouble him. Gayle raced away, but Watson got him for 34 off 16 with an innocuous-looking delivery angling away from him. From 44 for 1 in four overs, Royal Challengers went without a boundary for 6.1 overs. The run rate fell, and when AB de Villiers and Kohli tried to correct it, they both holed out.With the innings not going anywhere, R Vinay Kumar gave them a fighting target with three sixes of James Faulkner in the final over, two of those off slower balls. Faulkner had had a good birthday until then with two catches a run-out. Vinay would try to turn the game around in the last over of the next innings too, but that’s for later.In the chase, Royals stayed with their plan of using Watson lower down the order. Rahul Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane opened, and got them off to a swift enough start, but it was Samson who pinched Royal Challengers. There might have been the odd slog, but a major part of the innings relied on cricketing shots. The standout was successive sixes over extra cover to welcome Murali Kartik, who would have hoped he had not recovered from his illness in time for this match.Those sixes took Royals to 60 for 2 in 7.2 overs, and the chase was on its way. Watson played the second fiddle while Samson went at it, reaching 25 off 21 by the time Samson fell. Watson and Hodge went about with the pursuit coolly until Hodge seemed to have killed off the chase with two sixes off Ravi Rampaul in the 18th over. If you thought 18 off 15 was the done thing, though, you haven’t watched enough of IPL.Watson top-edged RP Singh in the next over, but six off six was easy enough. However, Hodge tried to finish it off in one hit, and was bowled to leave five to get off four. Owais Shah then managed to get run out at the non-danger end, and we were smack in the middle of an IPL implosion. Back to the same last-over characters: Vinay and Faulkner.Faulkner took the single, and then Stuart Binny pulled a four to beat the team that carries his home city’s name.

Mohammad Amir has appeared in an educational video on behalf of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit

Umar Farooq05-Apr-2012Mohammad Amir, the Pakistan fast-bowler banned from competitive cricket for five years for his part in the spot-fixing scandal of the 2010 Lord’s Test, has appeared in an educational video on behalf of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU).In the five-minute video, Amir speaks about his life after being trapped by the illegal betting mafia, his embarrassment at lying to the ICC during its Qatar hearings and his three months in a British prison. Amir recounts his career, coming into the Pakistan team, and the Lord’s Test, of which he says, “I took six wickets but I did something very bad… after a couple of hours, my life is changed, my life is ruined because of two no balls.” It is understood the Amir video has also been shown to players from the various IPL teams in the lead-up to the event, which began on Wednesday.Amir said he had wanted to confess to the ICC anti-corruption tribunal during their hearings in Qatar last January, but had been unable to do so. In the video, he says, “I always knew this was cheating cricket but I was under pressure. But I accept my mistake. When I was in the ICC hearing, I knew I was totally embarrassed because I knew I am lying. I wanted to tell the truth but I didn’t have courage.”He said had bowled the no-balls at Lord’s because, “some senior players put me under pressure. I didn’t want to. One day I was on the top and the next day everyone was calling me cheater and fixer. You don’t have words to explain that.” The spot-fixing episode, he said, had been an act of entrapment but accepted his mistake of becoming a part of it. He said he was tricked into spot-fixing and he was not aware of the the player-agent Mazhar Majeed’s intentions.When he found himself facing a criminal trial, Amir said he had decided to tell the truth. The spot-fixing exercise was exposed by a sting operation arranged by the now defunct UK Sunday tabloid, the . Amir who will turn 20 on April 13, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat at gambling and did not stand trial in London. He was sentenced to six months in jail and in the video says, “When the police put me in handcuffs I was literally crying and I was thinking I am not going to play cricket ever again.”His parting message in the video is, “Prison is a bad place for everyone. Don’t make the mistakes which I did. I was stupid I didn’t tell anybody because I didn’t have coverage…If someone comes to you and asks you to do those kind of things, go straight to ICC team and team management they can help you.”Since his release after serving half of his six-month custodial sentence in England, Amir has been in contact with the ICC and PCB for an educational and rehabilitation program, which “remains confidential”.Speaking to ESPNcricinfo last month, the ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat had suggested the idea of Amir featuring in videos to point out the perils of corruption as part of educating young cricketers. “If Mohammad Amir stands up and delivers a message of caution about this murky world, people are going to sit up and listen. That is one example of rehabilitation,’ Lorgat said.In a televised interview with former England captain Michael Atherton last month, Aamer said his friendship with former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt was betrayed as it was Butt who had lured him into spot-fixing. Amir is currently living in Lahore, and serving his five-year ban which will run till 2015. There is no suggestion that Amir’s appearance in the ACSU video will lead to a reduction of his ban.There has been a lot of sympathy for Amir largely due to his age. Former captain Ramiz Raja met the bowler last week said, “the lad is obviously shaken badly by the gravity of events.” The PCB at the moment is keen to take care of the bowler but is yet to launch any rehabilitation program officially; it is understood the ICC is supporting the PCB in the process. An ICC spokesman told ESPNcricinfo: “The ICC has been in contact with Amir and the PCB about appropriate education and rehabilitation at an appropriate time, the details of which remain confidential.”

The PCB has said the communication Danish Kaneria sent the board from his former employers Essex “failed to satisfy requirements” of the integrity committee

Osman Samiuddin17-May-2011Danish Kaneria’s exclusion from the national team looks set to continue for a while yet, after the PCB has said the communication the legspinner sent the board from his former employers Essex “failed to satisfy requirements” of the integrity committee.The PCB had asked Kaneria to send them a certificate of clearance from Essex following his arrest by police and eventual release last summer in a spot-fixing case involving another player from the county. Earlier this week, Kaneria sent the board an email from Essex in which the club thanked him for his services and explained the reasons he was not being offered another contract. It was an email he had already submitted to the board late last year.”We have responded to Kaneria,” PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarward told ESPNcricinfo. “The clearance letter he sent is something he sent to us six months ago and which we had. We sought legal opinion and confirmed with the ECB, and decided that the document failed to satisfy the requirements of the PCB. So Kaneria has been advised to provide a clearance certificate at the earliest.”What exactly constitutes a “clearance certificate” is unclear: “We just want an idea of what Essex say about him and the case. They were his employers at the time. Will they consider him now?” is what the board’s legal advisor Taffazul Rizvi told ESPNcricinfo recently. Whether or not Essex will or can provide such a document is another matter altogether. Indications from board officials suggest that such a certificate may not arrive so readily, which leaves a question mark over Kaneria’s international future.Kaneria, presently Pakistan’s leading Test wicket-taker, has not played internationals since last summer. He was selected as part of the squad to face South Africa in a series in the UAE in November 2010, but was prevented from travelling by the PCB at the last minute. The board said he had not been cleared by the integrity committee, newly-formed in the wake of the Lord’s spot-fixing scandal.Since then, Kaneria has submitted various financial records and documents and appeared in front of the committee several times, but hasn’t managed to satisfy members. Until recently, the committee was asking him for transcripts of his questioning by police in the case, something Kaneria and his lawyers insisted they could not provide as it was part of an ongoing investigation in the UK.”This is an integrity issue for us,” Rizvi had said nearly two weeks ago, when asking for the clearance certificate. “The committee is not just made up of board members or cricketers, it has an ex-judge of the Supreme Court on it and in their opinion, Kaneria had not satisfied them so he has not been cleared. We can’t take a risk, so we have asked for this clearance now.”

In his email to the BCCI, the English County Board Chairman, Giles Clarke, outlined the details of Lalit Modi’s alleged plan to set up a parallel league in England.

Cricinfo staff07-May-2010In his email to the BCCI, the English County Board Chairman, Giles Clarke, outlined the details of Lalit Modi’s alleged plan to set up a parallel league in England. The details of the plan, as reported in the , are:The ten existing Indian franchises would have the first right to buy the new franchises in England at an auction. Each franchise would need to strike a 50% partnership with a UK-based stakeholder to give the team a local presence. If any of the existing franchises chose not to bid for a team, the losing bidders from the Indian auctions would have the second right to bid. After that, the auction will be thrown open to all interested bidders.The counties would get 20% of the revenues while the franchises would get 80%.All franchise fees are payable to the BCCI, out of which 20% may be paid to the clubs.Each county would be guaranteed a payout between $3 – $5 million a year, along with a staging fee of $1.5 millionThe player regulations would be the same as they are in the IPL – 10 overseas players per team, with no more than four in the playing 11.The mail also spelt out potential courses of action should the national boards oppose the new league:Players could be induced to revolt against the national boards, given their desire to capitalise on their earning power. It cites MS Dhoni as an example of some earning several times more than his BCCI salary from his IPL contract and spin-offs.Alternatively, franchisees could buy out players who are prevented from playing in the league by their national boards and create their own cricket structure, thereby shifting the power structure of cricket.Finally, Modi suggests such a development is inevitable even without the co-operation of the ICC, as players would rather play for money than their national or state / country sides. The smaller nations could be compensated for the loss of revenue from international games to allow the growth of the Twenty20 version.”ODIs have reached a saturation point and though unlikely to disappear, cannot grow any further. Tests are almost redundant and only T20 has growth value.”This would practically mean just a handful of nations playing international cricket and their players spending the rest of their time playing the IPL and its UK version, while the smaller countries sit idle and don’t get to play any games.”