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The KSCA Diamond Jubilee Tournament saw yet another strong side from Chennai advance as Chemplast beat ONGC by 4 wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. When ONGC won the toss, skipper Vadhera opted to bat first. His decision looked like the right one when openers Gagan Khoda and Manoj Mudgal put together a 50 run opening partnership. Mudgal (31) was castled by Balajee and soon after the wickets began to fall at regular intervals.Left arm spinner Diwakar Vasu got his act together, trapping his opposition captain LBW with the score on 76. Rizwan Shamshad and Virendra Sehwag both failed to make significant contributions. With the score on 143, Khoda, who was holding one end up was dismissed one run short of his half century. Vasu then scalped three quick wickets, getting rid of the tail. He ended with 4/36 off his 10 overs. 202 was all ONGC could muster before they were all out in the last of their allotted 50 overs.In response, Chemplast began badly, losing Badrinath before he could open his account. Punjab cricketer Dinesh Mongia played a solid knock, making 59 in the middle order. Batting around him, Jacob Martin (27), Vasant Saravanan (32) and Ajay Kudua (36) took Chemplast to a four wicket victory with a little more than an over to spare.

The National Squad has already reduced its members to sixteen who are now contracted with BCB. This team will head for Multan on 24th July to take on Pakistan for their first match in Asian Test Championship.These sixteen boys are now carrying on their three-day weekly practice in BKSP, a sports training institute twenty miles away from the capital. Usually in BKSP, the practice session runs from Saturday to Monday. It begins from 6:30 in the morning. Trevor Chappell always gives importance on fitness; therefore, the morning begins with hard stretching.A long running session waits for those who are still struggling with their fitness. Mohammed Ashraful disclosed that they had to run continuously for almost an hour in this early hour session. Cricketers who are better fit start this running from 7:00 am.Then they are given a break. The second session keeps on from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, which includes net practice. The quick bowlers are seen firing on the cement track. Mohammed Sharif, who is now regarded as the fastest among Bangladeshi bowlers, has concentrated more on line and length. He looks more confident and matured as well. The two most recognized pace pair Hasibul and Manjurul are trying to put their recent overseas experience into operation.After these toil the players take a nap after lunch because the afternoon practice will soon begin from four o’clock. Under the guidance of Trevor the boys get on with fielding practice in this ending session in the BKSP Ground-1. Bangladesh floored a good number of catches in Zimbabwe. Keeping it in head Trevor put emphasis on this particular area.In June the players went through hard fitness training only, which was very monotonous and cumbersome. Some of the players even asked the coach to reduce the amount of labour. But Trevor explained, saying, " It is important to carry out fitness training in this way. You will see the outcome in future."As the Asian Test Championship is approaching; net practice is now becoming more vital. The players get a day off the field in Tuesday. They carry out weight training for the next two days in the BCB gymnasium at the early hours. In Wednesday and Thursday they select the BUET ground for additional net practice. On Friday the fatigue team members are given a complete rest.Khaled Masud, the vice-captain of the side is regaining his lost rhythm and fitness. He says he is almost fit to put on the keeping gloves again. He joined the side last week and kept on doing all those tough works with his mates. The doctor asked him to be off from taking any risky attempt still. A cordial Masud who received an ankle injury in Zimbabwe, said, " I think I am getting better these days. I don’t face any difficulty while doing running, stretching and all those. The doctor asked me to take the load gradually."So this veteran wicket keeper is optimistic to play in the Test Championship. Certainly it would be a great pleasure to see him back in the squad.The squad will undergo a fifteen-day training under Javed Miandad and Andy Roberts who are arriving soon. They are going to give expert instructions to the players over their related field. Trevor will warmheartedly welcome them, he says, " No doubt their specialized guidance would be beneficial. Both are great players and if we go along with their suggestions, we are looking forward to doing much better."

ScorecardJoe Clarke stood out with his maiden Championship hundred – a shining light on a bleak day for Worcestershire•Getty Images

Worcestershire are 13 points adrift from safety with two games remaining after suffering a thumping defeat, by an innings and 63 runs, against Sussex at New Road. To make matters worse, the two counties above them, Somerset and Hampshire, have a match in hand. The upshot is that they will need to win their last two matches to have a chance of staying up – a depressing state of affairs for their director of cricket, Steve Rhodes, as he marks 10 years in charge.They are the bald facts. But even on this forlorn day, as they lost with 26 overs remaining, there was rich consolation. Joe Clarke’s maiden Championship hundred, from 174 balls with 14 fours, filled the afternoon with optimism, his achievement coming amid considerable tension with Worcestershire’s last pair at the crease.A delightful cover drive when Chris Jordan overpitched, with the last man Saeed Ajmal looking on from the other end, brought a rare purr on a day when Worcestershire returned to the bottom of the table for the first time since mid-June. Sussex, by virtue of their first Championship win in nine matches, advanced to fourth from bottom.It was a close run thing for Clarke, if not for Worcestershire. When a succession of deliveries thudding into Jack Shantry’s pads finally brought an lbw decision for Luke Wells – the fifth of the innings – Clarke was 97, the tea interval was pushed back and, with the new ball only two balls away, Ajmal walked out for his last contribution of the season for Worcestershire – perhaps his last ever – before he departs for the Hajj festival. That exit came with spread-eagled stumps against Steve Magoffin, armed with the new ball.

The relegation battle

Sussex 14 matches – 146 points
Somerset 13-133
Hampshire 13-128
Worcestershire 14-120

Rhodes’ work ethic and determination has helped to keep Worcestershire honest since his rapid elevation to the top role upon Tom Moody’s departure to coach Sri Lanka in 2005. He takes fierce pride in Worcestershire’s self-sufficiency, committing himself ceaselessly to the development of young players, of which Clarke, a 19-year-old from Shrewsbury, is set to be a fine representative. Sussex’s change bowling was limited, and the pitch remained quite sound, but he repelled two fine bowlers in Magoffin and Jordan as he played Worcestershire’s one innings of true quality in the match.Michael Vaughan watched him make 88 at Scarborough, his previous career best, and immediately tipped him as a future England batsman. England’s selectors are already excited by his potential, regarding him as one of the best young batsmen in the country. Having signed a new contract, he may need to further his education in Division Two.Worcestershire deserve that faith. This season, their overseas bowler Ajmal apart, they have at times fielded a side that has only ever played county cricket for the club. “Quite a feat I reckon,” Dave Bradley, of BBC Hereford and Worcester, has observed, and so it is.With three wickets already down overnight, and still 241 needed to make Sussex bat again, Worcestershire’s fate looked as good as sealed at the start of the final day.Three more fell by lunchtime despite showers robbing 12 overs from the morning. Slight unease began to gather for Sussex when the seventh-wicket pair resisted until mid-afternoon, but OIlie Robinson switched to offspin guise, which he first unveiled in county cricket against Warwickshire earlier this season, to bowl Ben Cox on the slog-sweep with a lavishly-flighted delivery. Seam is still very much his lead suit, but the affable manner of his offspin captures his laid-back personality. After that, it was a matter of awaiting Sussex’s victory and hoping for Clarke’s hundred. Both duly came.As debates take place about the structure of county cricket, it is not a good time for Worcestershire to be a yo-yo club. If the decision is taken to reshape the Championship into two divisions of eight and 10 in 2017 then the likelihood is that there would be only one promotion place on offer next season. A lot of ifs perhaps, but not the sort of outcome that would suit a county that has had five promotions and five relegations in the past 12 years. For Rhodes, it has literally been a decade of ups and downs.No side is too good to go down, as is habitually observed, but Sussex come closer to that assessment than most. They have been stricken by bowling injuries for much of the season, and like many counties their spin options are limited, but they have been vastly superior in this game. It helps, of course, when Jordan is fit again and giving every indication of a vigorous end to the season.But Sussex, despite this win, cannot entirely relax. They have moved up to fourth bottom, 13 points clear of Somerset, 18 ahead of Hampshire, but both these counties have a game in hand and meet next week at Taunton in another significant relegation encounter.At least one of these counties will be close enough to disturb Sussex with two matches remaining, making their final home match of the season, against Somerset the following week, another game that will have a major bearing on the relegation places.

A brisk century from Andrew Ellis in the first innings and a rapid one from Neil Broom in the second were sown together by Matt Henry’s four wicket burst to cement Canterbury atop the Plunkett Shield table. They beat Central Districts by 183 runs and stretched the lead from Auckland, their closest rivals in the tournament, by 27 points.Though they were put in, Canterbury got a strong foundation from Ronnie Hira’s 88 off 80 balls. Ellis and Henry Nicholls (74) came together at 218 for 4 and added 96 more runs. Central Districts may have hoped for the tail to pose lesser resistance but Henry strode out at No. 9 and blasted 46 off 27 for the total to balloon to 463 in 106.3 overs.The reply was similar, and strong. Ben Smith struck 80 at the top of the order, Tom Bruce made an unbeaten 112 and Seth Rance struck a run-a-ball 40 at No. 10. Only the rest of the lower order was successfully muted and Central Districts finished at 350. Ellis made his match better with 4 for 75 from 20 overs from his medium pace.A lead of 113 gave Canterbury the freedom they needed to switch from first-class to List A mode. Broom hammered 16 fours and a six during his 123 off 149 balls and Ellis walloped 43 off 23 with three sixes and four fours as they racked up 305 runs at 5.31 per over. A target of 419 went considerably beyond Central Districts’ reach when only Will Young, with 75, and Greg Hay, with 46, were the major contributors. Henry took out four of the top-five, including the two top-scorers to finish with 4 for 74 from his 20 overs.Wellington put in an all-round performance to beat Auckland by 213 runs at the Colin Maiden Park, despite conceding an innings lead. A second-innings ton from Michael Papps, and six scalps apiece from Matt McEwan and Andy McKay were the keys to their win over the home team.Papps struck 21 fours and one six in his 265-ball 171, which was well supported by fifties from Stephen Murdoch (51), Michael Pollard (55) and James Franklin (56*). It helped in getting Wellington to 387 for 5 in their second innings after they resumed batting from an overnight score of 263 for 3.Wellington’s fast-bowling pair of McEwan and McKay, and offspinner Jeetan Patel each picked up three wickets, as they bundled out Auckland for just 168 in 68 overs.Auckland, who chose to field on the first day, conceded 344 runs to Wellington in their first innings. Fifties from Deepak Joon (60), Brandy Barnett (65) and a late half-century from McEwan (52 off 68), who shared an 110-run eight wicket stand with Barnett, helped them past 300.Auckland’s right-arm quick Lachie Ferguson picked up 4 for 46, his best innings bowling figures.In reply, Auckland declared on 350 for 7, with a slender six-run lead. Jeet Raval and Colin Munro both made centuries and shared a 201-run stand for the third wicket. Raval was caught behind off McEwan after striking 21 fours in his 266-ball 148, while Munro, who also got out in the same fashion, hit 17 fours and 4 sixes for his 125-ball 108.

Kent v Sussex
Luke Wright will be captaining Sussex for the first time, with Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene one of those under his charge. He is likely to be without four seamers, including Tymal Mills and Ajmal Shahzad, for their opener against Kent, as well as Sunday’s home game against Gloucestershire. But he will be able to tap into the considerable expertise of Jayawardene, who will be making his county debut with Sussex for the first half of the campaign before being replaced by George Bailey. Sam Northeast will lead Kent for the first time in the Blast after Rob Key’s decision to drop down to the 2nd XI in order to find some form and confidence. The hosts will also hope to include former Hampshire firebrand David Griffiths for the first time this season after a triceps injury.Gloucestershire v Middlesex
Captain James Franklin believes Middlesex can replicate their four-day form in Twenty20 and improve on a dismal recent record in the format. In the six tournaments since they won the competition in 2008, Middlesex are the only county not to reach the knockout stage at least once. Gloucestershire include Australian Big Bash centurion Peter Handscomb and powerful New Zealand allrounder Kieran Noema-Barnett and, after a couple of group games, will also be boosted by the return of Michael Klinger, the only other batsman apart from Handscomb to make a hundred in the 2014-15 BBL. Spinners Jack Taylor and Tom Smith could both play a part against Middlesex. Ian Cockbain will be captain in the absence of Klinger.Surrey v Glamorgan
Surrey have signed Wahab Riaz, who made such an impression for Pakistan in the World Cup, for a whirlwind 36-hour stint in which he will play in their first two group matches. Riaz will play in the opener at the Kia Oval followed by Saturday’s short trip to Essex, with Moises Henriques, the Australian allrounder, still on IPL duty with Sunrisers Hyderabad. “Wahab’s a quality bowler and we all saw how well he bowled for Pakistan at the World Cup, especially in that spell against Australia,” says their captain Gareth Batty. “It’s great to have him on board as our second overseas player alongside Kumar Sangakkara for these two opening games.” Glamorgan’s new overseas signing Wayne Parnell may not be fit to make his debut.Hampshire v Essex
Owais Shah will make his first appearance of the season for Hampshire against one of his former counties. Shah and Pakistan veteran Yasir Arafat provide a double boost after the Championship defeat by Yorkshire, where Fidel Edwards made his debut. Championship captain Jimmy Adams should be available after he missed the defeat by Yorkshire to attend the birth of his second child while former Essex wicketkeeper Adam Wheater, who was denied by injury from playing in the same match, is a doubt. Essex’s captain Ryan ten Doeschate is flying back from India to play in two games at the weekend, before returning to Kolkata, but they are missing Ravi Bopara, also at the IPL, as well as the injured Tom Westley. They have signed Shaun Tait as a second explosive overseas player alongside Jesse Ryder, and also have Reece Topley returning from injury.

Dominic Thornely has been named to captain New South Wales for Wednesday’s opening fixture of the Australian domestic season. The summer kicks off with an FR Cup match between the Blues and Western Australia in Perth.The New South Wales squad will start the season without several key players including the regular captain Simon Katich and Doug Bollinger, who are on tour with Australia in India. Thornely filled in as the leader on occasions last summer and he is set to guide the Blues for at least a month in Katich’s absence.The 12-man squad for the season opener features a strong emphasis on spin, with Nathan Hauritz joined by the left-arm orthodox spinner Steve O’Keefe and the legspinner Steven Smith. However, there was no place for Beau Casson, who is in contention for a late call-up for the India tour but struggled to win selection in the Blues’ one-day side last season.Nathan Bracken provides some much needed experience in the young New South Wales group. The Blues were last summer’s Pura Cup champions but they battled for impact in the one-day competition, where they finished on the bottom of the table.Western Australia have named a 14-man squad that includes the uncapped left-arm fast bowler Arron Crawford, who was given his first full state deal for 2008-09. The Warriors finished second last on the FR Cup table last summer.Western Australia squad Shaun Marsh, Luke Ronchi (wk), Liam Davis, Marcus North (capt), Adam Voges, Luke Pomersbach, Theo Doropoulos, David Bandy, Matt Johnston, Aaron Heal, Brett Dorey, Steve Magoffin, Ben Edmondson, Arron Crawford.New South Wales squad Phillip Hughes, Grant Lambert, Peter Forrest, Dominic Thornely (capt), David Warner, Steven Smith, Daniel Smith (wk), Nathan Hauritz, Steve O’Keefe, Nathan Bracken, Aaron Bird, Mark Cameron.

Jagmohan Dalmiya has been elected president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), a position from which he was unseated in December 2006 following charges of embezzlement. Dalmiya, a former president of both the ICC and the BCCI, defeated the incumbent, Prasun Mukherjee, to secure a seat on the Indian board.Dalmiya won by 71 votes to 47, an overwhelming margin for someone virtually out of cricket for the past 18 months. His supporters also swept the polls for the other positions, including those of secretary and treasurer.”Cricket in the state needs me, that’s why I’m back,” Dalmiya told the , a Kolkata-based daily. “I’ll require a couple of days to sit down with colleagues and then chalk out plans. Initially, I wanted to make a comeback so that I could emerge without a blemish, but that changed once Bengal got relegated to the Plate Division in the Ranji Trophy. Nothing personal is a priority. Today, there’s much work to do.”The election has created interest far beyond Kolkata, because of Dalmiya’s bitter and long-running rivalry with the current BCCI administration. The charges of embezzlement – relating to the 1996 World Cup, and for which he was arrested before being released on bail – were levelled by the BCCI after Sharad Pawar took over as president. Dalmiya had used his casting vote to help his nominee, Ranbir Singh Mahendra, defeat Pawar in the BCCI presidential election in 2004. On Tuesday night, Pawar said Dalmiya’s win was an “internal matter”.Mukherjee – Dalmiya’s opponent in this election – had been part of Pawar’s camp within the board. The last time the two fought each other in an election, in 2006, Mukherjee had the backing of Pawar and the state’s chief minister but lost to Dalmiya by one vote. The embezzlement charge led to Dalmiya being expelled from the BCCI and forced to resign from the CAB post, which then fell to Mukherjee.Dalmiya challenged the expulsion in the Kolkata High Court and, in July 2007, the court stayed the decision and allowed him to contest elections. The stay came too late for last year’s CAB elections but his return to the fray this year was always on the cards.Dalmiya’s campaign was helped by a general decline in Bengal cricket, of which the lowest point was the Ranji team’s relegation from the Elite group. The Mukherjee administration had also seen several glitches, the most glaring and embarrassing being during the first IPL match at Eden Gardens, when the floodlights failed. Mukherjee had suffered a personal embarrassment too several months ago when he was forced to step down as the city’s police chief following a controversial murder case.Mukherjee, however, said the result was unexpected. “The members wanted Dalmiya back and this mandate is overwhelmingly in his favour,” Mukherjee said. “I have nothing to say and I congratulate Dalmiya and wish him all the best.”But this result is unexpected for me and I have not really understood why this happened. I don’t want to go into the reasons.”Since his ouster from the CAB in 2006, Dalmiya spent time fighting various legal battles relating to cricket; apart from the embezzlement case, being heard in a Mumbai metropolitan court, he has filed perjury charges against Pawar, his successor Shashank Manohar and BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah. He has also been the subject of investigations by the state government over irregularities in his tannery business.The Dalmiya panel: Jagmohan Dalmiya (president), Biswarup Dey, Arun Mitra (joint-secretaries), Samar Kar, Shib Kumar Kalyani, Shibaji Dutta (vice-presidents), Bablu Ganguly (treasurer).

The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) is planning to build a stadium which will have “more seating capacity Eden Gardens or the Melbourne Cricket Ground” in Chennai for the 2011 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.The stadium, which will also have a retractable roof to prevent wash-outs, will be located on a 50-acre site in Karunkuzhipallam village in Kanchipuram district which is 25 kilometers outside Chennai. The TNCA is yet to find a contractor for the project.”The government has leased out the land to us for 30 years and we have remitted Rs 1 lakh as payment,” N Srinivasan, the TNCA president, told . “TNCA’s executive committee will meet on Thursday to discuss plans, including awarding of construction contract.””The stadium will have more seating capacity than Eden Gardens or the Melbourne Cricket Ground, though we can’t give an exact number at this stage. It will meet futuristic safety standards,” TNCA honorary secretary KS Viswanathan said.

In an unprecedented move in Indian domestic cricket, the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) has appointed Intikhab Alam, the former Pakistan captain and coach, as coach-cum-manager of its Ranji Trophy team for the coming season. Intikhab, 62, will replace Bhupinder Singh senior, the former Indian medium-pacer, who was in charge of the side for more than six years.Intikhab will become the first foreigner to coach any Indian domestic team. He had a very successful time coaching Pakistan, with the World Cup victory in 1992 the glittering highlight.Intikhab has been appointed for a one-year term, beginning in September. The PCA confirmed that they have put in a request to the Indian board about the appointment. The reported that Intikhab was extremely pleased about the appointment, and quoted him as saying: “IS Bindra [the PCA president] approached me during the India-Pakistan series. I thought about it for three weeks before realising this was a challenge I couldn’t pass up.”Intikhab felt that the Indian domestic structure was better than its Pakistan counterpart, as “You don’t have institutions or banks involved.”Jagmohan Dalmiya, the BCCI president, did not foresee any problems with this appointment. “We have no problem with it. In fact, Punjab cricketers would benefit from Alam’s experience since he speaks Punjabi so well and was also born in Indian Punjab.”And Intikhab also didn’t think there would be any problems communicating with the players, and added, “I don’t think there will be any cultural or language problems because I was born in Hoshiarpur, I speak the language.”

Abdul Razzaq, the former Pakistan allrounder, has said he has no regrets over joining the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) and risking his future with Pakistan. In an interview to pakpassion.net, Razzaq said he was optimistic the Pakistan Cricket Board would eventually lift the ban on ICL players, much like their English counterparts have softened their stance on its ICL players.Razzaq, 28, announced his retirement from international cricket last year after being omitted from selection for the ICC World Twenty20 in September. He said the ICL was the only available option for him and that the Indian Premier League wouldn’t have been an option in the first place because of his status as a non-contracted player.”By my making an announcement saying that I’ve retired, it doesn’t mean that it’s a permanent thing,” Razzaq told the website. “I’ve got no regrets about signing for the ICL because I probably couldn’t have played in the IPL even if I had wanted to. The IPL only selects those players who have been recommended by the domestic cricket boards. I hadn’t signed a central contract and I had been dropped from the team so there’s no guarantee I’d have been able to play in the IPL anyway.ICL players worldwide have been banned from playing international cricket but Razzaq was confident it would be lifted in due course. Since the ECB has allowed all its ICL players to honour their county commitments, he felt a change of guard within the PCB could result in something similar in Pakistan as well. Given India’s powerful influence in the ICC, Razzaq said a change of heart from the BCCI would also help a great deal.”The ban on ICL players could be lifted worldwide or the PCB officials could be replaced and the new set of officials may decide to lift the ban,” he said. “Just look at county cricket. Initially we were banned but now that it has been lifted, I’m playing for Surrey. So it’s not impossible to think that I could be playing for the ICL and the PCB by this time next year.”The Asian Cricket Council and the ICC both know that currently India produces a lot of revenue for them, so whatever India decides they will do. I very much doubt that this ban will be lifted without either the BCCI’s say or a change of officials in the PCB.”The ICL contract doesn’t mean that I definitely can’t play in the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup. It could still happen.”However, he cautioned that taking the PCB to court over the bans isn’t the solution as it’s impossible to challenge government bodies in Pakistan and hope for a fair hearing.”In England, everyone is equal in the eyes of the law but in Pakistan that’s not the case. You can’t challenge the government or government bodies like the PCB. The courts belong to the government and so does the PCB, why would one overrule the other? This sort of thing can’t be successful in Pakistan.”Commenting on the current Pakistan team, Razzaq felt Shoaib Malik was the wrong choice as captain. Malik succeeded Inzamam-ul-Haq after Pakistan’s first-round exit from the 2007 World Cup. Pakistan have had mixed results in the period since, reaching the finals of the World Twenty20 but losing Test series to India and South Africa.”I think he (Malik) was given the captaincy too early. He may have made a good captain in the future but not right now. Or they could have made Malik the captain and kept more experienced players around like India have done. They would be there to advise, support, and help him settle into the role.”