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The ICL has hit recession mode with a series of moves that reflect the current economic realities. The World Series Twenty20 tournament, scheduled for March, now stands cancelled, and payments to players have been put on hold until the management completes a stringent performance review that could lead to downgrading of payments and even sackings.Himanshu Mody, the business head of the ICL, said the non-availability of Pakistan players – Lahore Badshahs are the ICL’s biggest draw – was the other major reason for the cancellation of the March tournament, which will be replaced by one involving Indian players. The October edition of the World Series is on schedule as of now.”Several other initiatives have also been lined up, including a talent-spotting programme in schools across India,” Mody told Cricinfo.That apart, the ICL is also trying to plug some glaring holes from the last season and has terminated the contracts of Chris Cairns and Dinesh Mongia, who were asked to leave midway through the last season. The official line is that the two have been sacked because of non-performance.Significantly, the ICL is undertaking a major review of its existing contracts and it is understood that the performances of 18 out of 85 Indian players and 15-16 from a pool of 70 foreign players are under the scanner. Players who fail to perform will either be released or asked to sign up again for a lesser fee.Three prominent Indian players, two from Australia, and one from Pakistan have confirmed to Cricinfo that their payments have been delayed and said no timeframe has been specified so far. While the players claimed that payments for 2-3 months are to be paid, ICL officials said that dues up to December have been cleared.The ICL pays its Indian players every month and foreign recruits in quarterly installments and Jason Gillespie, one of the ICL’s foreign recruits, told Cricinfo that “the ICL management told us that they were sorting through their finances.””The global credit crisis is affecting everyone, not just sporting organisations,” Gillespie said. “I’m not too concerned. I’m confident everyone will be paid. These are just difficult economic times. Everyone is struggling.” Mody said the ICL is “looking into the issue and grievances, if any, will be resolved”.Asked about the World Series, Mody admitted that that global economic downturn has come as a dampener. Apparently, “ad spends” have dipped so low that a leading TV advertiser who had spent up to Rs 15 crore last year on advertisements has a budget of Rs 50 lakh this year. “The economics of our model is event-based,” Mody said. “This means that if we hold the event, we would be affected by the current climate. But we are fine as of now.”

Jhulan Goswami, the India captain, is confident of her team’s chances at the Women’s World Cup despite weak performances recently. India were thrashed 5-0 in Australia in October and November, which followed a 4-0 mauling in a five-match contest in England a couple of months earlier. However, Jhulan was optimistic that the training camp held in Bangalore in January, and another which begins from February 20 in Mumbai, will be enough for the players to iron out the flaws.”Prior to our preparations at home, we had tough tours to England and Australia last year, and though both the tours ended in disappointment, they gave us an excellent opportunity to strengthen our strong areas and fix our weak links,” Jhulan told the , a Kolkata-based daily.”In terms of World Cup preparations, both series provided us with the chance to evaluate where we stood with ample time to find a way to lift our standards. By playing three months prior to the main event, we have given ourselves a very good chance to put ourselves back on track. Needless to say it was also a good wake-up call for us.”Jhulan, who was the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2007, has picked up 105 wickets at 22.23 in 93 ODIs so far. If India do qualify for the final, to be played on March 22 at the North Sydney Oval, it will be her 100th match.”Playing 100 ODIs will be the perfect icing on the cake,” she said. “But I would like to focus on the tournament, as winning the World Cup will bring huge honour to the country while completing a century of ODIs will only be a personal landmark.”India were runners-up in the previous edition in South Africa in 2005, losing the final against Australia by 98 runs. They are placed in Group A with Sri Lanka, Pakistan and England, and will face Pakistan in the tournament opener at the Bradman Oval in Bowral on March 7.

MCC cricketers will swap the English winter for the African summer when they depart for a six-game tour of Mozambique. It is the first MCC tour of 2009 and includes a coaching session in neighbouring Swaziland as well as matches against the national side in the capital Maputo.Mozambique has been an Affiliate Member of the ICC for six years and cricket there is going from strength to strength. There are currently 17 senior clubs and 22 schools that play cricket in the country and the Association of Mozambique Cricket (AMC) has a national side and also Under-19, 17 and 15 representative teams.Between February 8 and 15, MCC will play five different AMC teams, including the Under-19s, a Chairman’s XI and a President’s Invitation XI. MCC will warm up with a match against Equipa Anfitria CC on February 7.The MCC squad includes former Northamptonshire wicketkeeper Toby Bailey, MCC Young Cricketers Andrew Clarke, Jonathan Miles and Ned Eckersley, and Leeds/Bradford UCCE’s Dan Woods. It is managed by Chad Murrin, who has played 63 games for MCC since becoming a member in 1979.”I was fortunate to visit Mozambique last October, having never been to Africa before,” Murrin said. “The week I spent in Maputo was one of the best things I have done … a fascinating experience. I am delighted to be returning as manager of the MCC cricket team, the first time that the club has sent a team to Mozambique.”As a development tour, promoting the game of cricket will be at the heart of all we do. We will be playing matches, and giving local cricketers the opportunity to test themselves and gain experience against us. We will be providing special cricket coaching, and sharing our cricket knowledge with local cricketers and officials. We are there to encourage and enthuse.”MCC will contribute to the development of the game in the region by running a coaching session for young local cricketers on February 6 in Mbabane, Swaziland. The club will leave a grant of $2500 and the ICC will donate $1250 to develop facilities and coaching programmes in the country.MCC’s head of cricket, John Stephenson, said: “MCC is committed to developing cricket all over the world and we hope that providing good opposition and coaching to Mozambique’s cricketers and youngsters will spread the game further throughout the country. MCC is delighted to be visiting a country which has made such big strides in a short time and we hope the tour can generate interest amongst a new audience in Mozambique.”

February 7: Equipa Anfitria CC, Campo de Cricket da Cometal
February 8: AMC XI, Campo de Cricket da Cometal
February 10: AMC Under-19s, Parque dos Continuadores
February 13: AMC Development XI, Parque dos Continuadores
February 14: AMC Chairman’s XI, Campo de Cricket da Cometal
February 15: AMC President’s Invitation XI, Parque dos Continuadores

Thailand pulled off a dramatic and unexpected one-wicket win over tournament favourites Hong Kong at the Chiang Mai Gymkhana after Pornthiva Olarakchat took 4 for 9 to bowl out the visitors for 76. Thailand’s chase started promisingly even though they lost three wickets in reaching 35 in nine overs. However, Hong Kong struck with three more wickets in the space of seven balls. Thailand needed 24 off 11 overs with four wickets in hand and the game was still tilted in their favour when Hong Kong came back to reduce them to 74 for 9 in 20.1 overs. But Pimpika Jindam stayed calm, and in the company of No. 11 Sutanya Yimpaibool, saw Thailand to safety – sealing the win with a boundary.Qatar won their second match in two days, led by Sana Zafar’s 27 in chasing UAE‘s 87 at the Prem Oval. Ishani Mittal took three wickets, including that of top scorer Sneha Sankar (17). Aysha Mohammad and Zafar’s 51-run stand anchored the chase though they could not see it through. Nahan Arif, Qatar’s Player of the Match in the previous game, hit a run-a-ball 15 to hand them a seven-wicket win.Manisha Rawal and Trishna Singh eased Nepal to their third straight success with a nine-wicket win over Singapore at the Chiang Mai Gymkhana. Singapore plodded to 71 in 25 overs, captain Priyanjali Jain top scoring with 20. Rawal (25 not out) and Trishna (13 not out) were helped on their way by Singapore’s 25 extras.Nur Aishah put in another all-round performance for Malaysia in their 60-run win over Bhutan at the Chiang Mai Gymkhana. She top scored with 21 as Malaysia meandered their way to 88 for 5 in 25 overs and then took two wickets in Bhutan’s collapse. The most runs were got by extras – 15 – and no batsman reached double figures.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s captain, has credited his bowlers for keeping England to under 300 in the Cuttack one-day international, which the home side won by six wickets.”We didn’t get the best of starts from the new-ball bowlers but in the middle the spinners did the job,” Dhoni said. “In the second Powerplay, with two batsmen set, Ishant [Sharma] and Zaheer [Khan] bid a splendid job. It seemed as if England would get to 300-odd but the bowlers came back well.”The remarkable thing this series has been the bowling in the middle and death overs. We have improved all series and hopefully we’ll do well in the last two games.”Chasing 271, India got off to a flying start with Virender Sehwag – who hit a 73-ball 91 – and Sachin Tendulkar (50) putting on 136 for the first wicket. However, a wobble left India at 156 for 3. Both the openers and an in-form Yuvraj Singh were dismissed before Dhoni and Suresh Raina, with half-centuries, put India back on track.”We knew their three seamers had almost finished their quota. So they had to bowl the spinners,” said Dhoni. “We had one Powerplay still left and the asking-rate was quite down. We knew if we could survive for a while, we could get our eyes in and rotate the strike.”The job, however, was not as easy as it looked. “The light was low and it was difficult to sight the ball. It was moist and was losing colour,” Dhoni said. He was satisfied with the batsmen’s performance so far in the series. “It is a pleasant sight to have Sehwag batting that way and Sachin rotating the strike, hitting the odd boundary. If Yuvraj gets going you can expect more than 300.”Kevin Pietersen, the England captain, said 270 was not a bad score but the dew made life difficult for his bowlers. “I thought it was a very competitive total, and I can see now why Dhoni chose to field first because of the dew factor,” he said. “They won the toss and got the fielding out of the way and we just had to deal with it. We were outplayed by Veeru [Virender Sehwag] and Sachin [Tendulkar] at the top of the order. I said I wanted to keep the series competitive and we still want to nick two games off India.”The next match is in Guwahati on November 29.

ScorecardRain denied the Sri Lankan bowlers another workout before the one-day series when their match against Zimbabwe A was washed out after they were dismissed for 235.The Zimbabwe A bowlers tested the experienced Sri Lankan batsmen and they were 73 for 4 before Jehan Mubarak and Upul Tharanga steered them to a competitive total.Mahela Jayawardene, back to lead the Sri Lankans after being rested for the four-day match against the Zimbabwe Select XI, won the toss but the top order struggled. Mahela Udawatte fell in the seventh over when he edged to the wicketkeeper and Kumar Sangakkara, who plundered 174 against the Select XI, cut to point for 5.Admire Manyumwa struck twice in quick succession to remove Jayawardene, caught at mid-on, and Chamara Kapugedera with the score on 73. Tharanga helped add 61 for the fifth-wicket until he was stumped of Malcolm Waller, the son of former Zimbabwe batsman Andy Waller, who then picked up his second wicket when he removed Farveez Maharoof.Waller claimed his third courtesy of a fine catch in the deep by Cephas Zhuwawo, but Mubarak ensured the innings didn’t fade away as he added 38 with Muttiah Muralitharan.Rainsford was the pick of the Zimbabwe A attack with 3 for 29 to put his name firmly in the frame for the one-day series which starts on Thursday. However, the rain prevented Vusi Sibanda from showing the selectors how he is progressing after a hip injury.

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Robin D’Souza and Saurabh Bandekar shared nine wickets to push Goa to second place in the points table with a win against Jharkhand in Margao. It took Goa 31 overs on the final day to bowl out Jharkhand, who were tottering at 53 for 4 overnight.D’Souza took three wickets in two overs to all but end Jharkhand’s hopes of saving the match. He first trapped Amir Hashmi leg before for 24 and then removed Prabhat Kumar and Santosh Lal in his next over to reduce Jharkhand to 80 for 7. Bandekar took two more wickets with 13 added to the total. The tenth-wicket 45-run stand between Saurabh Tiwary (72) and Shankar Rao (6) was the highest partnership of the innings. Both Bandekar and D’Souza ended with career-best match-hauls; Bandekar with 8 for 98 and D’Souza with 6 for 81.
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With draw as the only possible result, Sambasiva Sarma scored his second hundred of the match as Kerala batted out day four against Haryana in Palakkad.Kerala resumed on their overnight total of 36 for 0 and the openers Sarma and Raiphi Gomez added 56 more before Gomez was bowled for 22. Sarma added half-century stands with VA Jagdeesh and Sreekumar Nair and the teams decided to call of the match with five overs still to be bowled. Sarma’s unbeaten 111 off 262 balls included 17 fours.
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Tripura were left ruing what could have been as Pritam Gandhe’s master act not only ensured the five points for Vidarbha but also propelled them to the top of the table in Group B. Still requiring 232 to win, the Tripura openers could only add eight to their overnight score of 46 as Sourav Dubey fell for 14. His partner Biswajit Dey, playing only his second first-class game, was looking confident but was fast running out of partners with the fall of regular wickets. Gandhe accounted for four of the top-order batsmen to tighten the noose on Tripura. And once Ravi Jangid trapped Dey leg-before for 75, with Tripura on 184 for 6, the tail succumbed within another 20 runs.