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The BCCI has cranked up the pressure on English counties that have employed players linked with the unauthorised Indian Cricket League (ICL) by “advising” its own players to not sign up with such teams.Niranjan Shah, BCCI secretary, told Cricinfo that its contracted players – including VVS Laxman, Piyush Chawla and Ajit Agarkar – who have signed or are in the process of signing with English counties this season are being “advised” to pull out if the county has ICL players on its rolls.”We don’t want our players in teams that have other players playing in unauthorised tournaments,” Shah said.Shah, however, clarified that “non-ICL” players from these county teams will be allowed to take part in the Indian Premier League (IPL) – Hampshire’s Dimitri Mascarenhas had played for Rajasthan Royals in the tournament’s first season. The decision does, though, put into doubt the participation of Indian players in the English Premier League, which was unveiled on Wednesday and will start in 2010.Chawla was expected to sign up for Hampshire, Laxman was set to join Nottinghamshire in August, while Ajit Agarkar has followed the BCCI directive and called off talks with Worcestershire.A report on cricketnirvana.com said the BCCI first granted permission to Chawla to join Hampshire and then decided against it.The ECB has allowed around 25 cricketers associated with ICL to represent 15 of its 18 counties after it faced legal action from the unauthorized league, which was backed by the country’s strong trade laws that protects the rights of individuals. Only Middlesex, Somerset and Essex have teams without any ICL players.

Paul Collingwood’s time as England one-day captain has come to end on the same day as Michael Vaughan’s Test reign. He said he’d stepped down after feeling the captaincy was affecting his performances.It means England will have new leaders in both forms of the game when the selectors make their announcement at Lord’s on Monday. Collingwood took on the role last year against West Indies, after Vaughan resigned the one-day job, and his initial results were promising with series victories against India at home and Sri Lanka away.However, England had a poor World Twenty20 and have suffered back-to-back series defeats against New Zealand. Collingwood also became embroiled in controversy against New Zealand when he insisted on appealing for Grant Elliott’s run out at The Oval after he’d been knocked to the ground by Ryan Sidebottom. He later admitted his error, but following the match picked up a four-game suspension for a slow over-rate. Kevin Pietersen took over for the final ODI against New Zealand and is now favourite to become the new full-time captain, as well as lead in Tests.”I’ve made the decision to step down as England’s one-day captain as I want to give myself the best chance to perform for England and enjoy my cricket,” Collingwood said. “Whilst I am humbled to have been given the opportunity to captain England’s one-day side, I feel the captaincy diminished my ability to perform for England across all forms of the game. I feel the England captaincy impacted on my ability to enjoy my cricket and contribute to the team.”Collingwood returned to form in the Test arena with his 135 in the second innings at Edgbaston after being on the brink of losing his place. “I’ve always enjoyed representing my country at the highest level,” he said, “and it has always been my ambition to play cricket, across all forms of the game, but I’ve found the extra workload of the captaincy to be very difficult.”The last thing I want is for the captaincy to impact my performance and that of the team’s which is why I’ve arrived at this decision after a huge amount of consideration. I will continue to make myself available to England for all forms of cricket and look forward to playing a significant role in England’s future success.”Hugh Morris, managing director of England cricket, said: “Paul feels this is the best decision in terms of benefiting the England team and his contribution to the team, across all forms of the game.”We are extremely grateful for the way in which Paul has led the England one-day side since his appointment last year. The team has made real progress under his leadership and he will continue to be a valuable member of the England set-up.”

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is set to review the team’s dismal showing in Australia, where they were routed 3-0 in the ODI series, with the coaching staff and players likely to come under the scanner.The board is also expected to examine Jamie Siddons’ role as the head coach and seek an explanation over his comments on Mohammad Ashraful’s captaincy during the tour. Siddons was earlier quoted as saying: “It’s disappointing for Ashraful, being the leader of the team. If it were anyone else he wouldn’t be in the side.”Gazi Ashraf Hossain, the chairman of the BCB cricket operations committee, said the board would first verify what Siddons had actually said. “But the fact remains that a coach should not talk publicly like that, because he can only give a recommendation to the board,” Hossain told the Dhaka-based . “It is indecent and his comments may have increased the pressure on the captain.”The board will also take into account the earlier comments from Siddons where he said there was “hardly any standard left” for him to follow and blamed the “infrastructure” of Bangladesh cricket for the poor showing.”The problem was that we haven’t had dependable batsmen in the top-order and that was why we appointed Siddons, who has a good knowledge of batting, as the head coach,” Hossain said. “But unfortunately the batting standard has gone down.”It was expected that the performance graph would improve but it didn’t happen, so we can’t accept it. I think it’s about time the board should reassess the whole situation and take a tough decision, even if my role is questioned.”Hossain, however, refused to pin the blame on poor infrastructure and practice facilities for the dismal performance. “The BCB is trying its level best to improve and undoubtedly we have ensured expensive facilities for our national cricketers. One can’t improve everything overnight and I must agree we have to improve our domestic structure. But one cannot make that as an excuse for the disastrous showing in Australia,” he said.He said since the BCB had spent a lot of money and raked in huge investments, the players needed to “pay the board back with good performances”. “I don’t think there is any need to spend so much money on anybody for this kind of performance,” he said.On the issue of captaincy, he said though Ashraful had been appointed as captain till December, his position would also come under review. “He is even struggling with his own position in the team, but we hardly have any choice to replace him ahead of the next home series against New Zealand in October. But still we have to think about the issue seriously.”Ruing the absence of mature players in the team, Hossain said the board was mulling the return of some senior players like Habibul Bashar. “You must think why someone was dropped from the squad before taking any decision. The fitness levels and absence from international cricket must also be taken into account.”

The Indian board has said that Bangalore could host one of the seven ODIs between India and England after the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) withdrew its hosting rights for the match.The JSCA informed the board it could not host the November 23 fixture because Tata Steel, which maintains the ground, is yet to agree to a takeover by the association. “As we have received no response despite the deadline set by the JSCA till this afternoon, we have no option but to withdraw from hosting the one dayer,” Rajesh Verma Bobby, the JSCA secretary, said.According to reports Tata was concerned about the condition of the stadium. “We are awaiting full inspection of the stadium. Inspection of the galleries has already started. Request of the JSCA, regarding allotment of the stadium for the ODI, is under consideration,” Sanjay Choudhury, the chief of corporate communications of Tata Steel, told the Kolkata-based earlier this month.Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said a decision on the match will be taken in the board’s annual general body meeting on the weekend.

Mohammad Hafeez starred with the bat in Faisalabad Wolves’ 20-run victory against Abbottabad Rhinos’ at the Lahore City Cricket Associaton Ground in Lahore. Faisalabad made a shaky start after losing the toss – opener Asif Hussain was out for a duck – but Hafeez, who scored 62 off 53 balls, and captain Misbah-ul-Haq had a 43-run partnership and posted a total of 148. Abbottabad struggled right through their chase, losing wickets at frequent intervals. Their highest score came from Asif Kail (25) and their largest partnership was 33 for the fifth wicket. Mohammad Talha was the most successful bowler for Faislabad picking up 3 for 23.Quick-fire innings from Fawad Alam (55) and Naumanullah (41) were the highlights of Karachi Dolphins’ 25-run win over Lahore Eagles at the Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore. Alam and Naumanullah added 83 for the second wicket and laid the foundation for Karachi’s total of 184. Lahore slipped from 28 for 0 to 81 for 7 during their run-chase and not even a late flourish from Asif Raza, who hit six sixes in his 53 off 21 balls, was enough. Anwar Ali, who ran through Lahore’s top order, was the best Karachi bowler with 3 for 8.Lahore Lions beat Quetta Bears by two runs in a tense finish at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Salman Butt thrived after Lahore chose to bat, scoring 99 of 67 balls. His innings, which included 10 fours and three sixes, helped them reach 187 for 4 off the 20 overs. Quetta’s captain Shoaib Khan jnr led a strong reply by scoring 85 off 54 balls. However, he fell at a crucial stage and Arun Lal and Jalat Khan couldn’t complete the victory. Quetta finished on 185 for 4.Qaiser Abbas and captain Shoaib Malik ensured there was no struggle for Sialkot Stallions against Karachi Zebras at the Gaddafi Stadium. Sialkot were pegged back by Fahad Khan, who removed both openers, after choosing to bat but a partnership between Abbas and Malik and late hitting from Adeel Malik helped them reach 179. Sarfraz Ahmed’s inspired spell – 3 for 16 – at the beginning of the second innings ensured Asif Zakir’s unbeaten 58 of 51 balls was not enough to rescue Karachi from a 32-run defeat.A quickfire 45 of 26 balls by captain Younis Khan set up a 14-run win for Peshawar Panthers against Islamabad Leopards at the Gaddafi Satdium. It was up to Younis to help Peshawar post a competitive score after a 52-run partnership between Yasir Hameed and Jannisar Khan for the first wicket laid the foundation. A steady fall of wickets hampered Islamabad’s run-chase and wicketkeeper Naeem Anjum’s 38 off 20 balls came too late to prevent Peshawar from picking two points.

Bangladesh came close to clinching their first Test victory against New Zealand but, despite being in control for the majority of the match, the hosts slipped to defeat by three wickets in Chittagong. Mohammad Ashraful, the Bangladesh captain, said that his team played “really well” but added that New Zealand’s ability to avoid their first-innings mistakes made the difference during their chase of 317.”We had a pretty good chance of winning and, on an individual level, I thought Shakib Al Hasan bowled and batted wonderfully well, Mushfiqur Rahim made runs in both innings and Tamim Iqbal got starts in both innings,” Ashraful said. “The difference between the two sides was Daniel Vettori who was brilliant with the bat and ball. Also they [New Zealand] planned their second innings really well and did not repeat the mistakes they did in the first innings.”Unlike his counterpart Vettori, who took nine wickets and scored two vital half-centuries, Ashraful had a poor match, scoring 2 and 0, and fell to Vettori in both innings. “I have played match-winning knocks in most of Bangladesh’s big wins in one-day cricket but it hasn’t happened for me in Tests yet. I tried my best but wasn’t successful,” Ashraful said. “There is another Test in this series and I will continue to try and hopefully it will happen in the future.New Zealand began the day needing 172 to win with eight wickets in hand. At one stage they needed 101 with only five wickets remaining but Vettori steered his team home with a calm 76. Jamie Siddons, the Bangladesh coach, felt that the visitors had “learned their lessons pretty well” after being dismissed for 171 in the first innings.”They [New Zealand] planned well, didn’t play any unnecessary shots and made us [work] for every wicket,” Siddons said. “They batted with discipline and didn’t give us any chances. Hopefully our guys can learn a bit from that, especially our top-order.”Having outbatted them and bowled so well in the first innings makes me happy. Everything’s looking good with young guys like Mehrab [Hossain jr] and Shakib, and we’ll get Ashraful and Zunaed (Siddique) to play well. I need all the guys to play well in the one game but at the moment we are a little inconsistent.”Siddons praised left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak’s performance in the second innings. Razzak bowled 50 overs and took 3 for 93. “He tied up an end beautifully for us and bowled at two an over,” Siddons said. “He stretched the game out which you have to do when you have 300 on the board. He made them work very hard for their runs. He got a couple of wickets but we didn’t quite get enough from the other end.”Siddons hoped that his team would be able to catch New Zealand “on the hop” in Dhaka where the pitch “stays low and plays tricks”. The second Test begins on October 25 at the Shere-e-Bangla Stadium.

The new season of West Indies’ domestic one-day tournament kicks off next week, but the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will have to foot the bill itself having failed to secure any sponsorship.”We have held talks with some prospective sponsors and were not able to tiedown one for this series. However, we will continue to have discussions withthe sponsors and I am sure that we would have one for the tournament nextyear,” Donald Peters, the WICB chief executive, said. “The WICB will carry the tournament alone and it will cost around US$400,000. Normally, when we had sponsors it used to cost the board around US$500,000 because we did not really receive much from them.”What we have done to take the cost down is to keep the tournament at onesite. This has cut the cost considerably for us.”It was hoped that the tournament, which was previously sponsored by KFC, would be played in Fort Lauderdale, United States, after a Florida-based sponsor had expressed interest. However, the WICB was forced to reschedule the tournament after negotiations broke down.This year, the tournament will be boosted to nine teams with the inclusion of Canada and the United States. The winners will pocket US$28,000.

Dougie Brown, the former Scotland and Warwickshire allrounder, has been appointed by the club as its assistant coach.The new role was created by merging the Second XI coaching post previously held by Keith Piper, as well as Brown’s position as head of Warwickshire’s academy. Piper, who has spent 19 years with the club, has decided to take voluntary redundancy.”Firstly, I would like to thank Pipes for his service to the club. He has been a great servant for Warwickshire and has been a lively character to have around the dressing room both in his playing career and as a coach,” said Ashley Giles, Warwickshire’s director of cricket. “Pipes will always be remembered for his outstanding keeping skills during the glory years in the nineties.”Moving forward, I believe Dougie will bring his raw enthusiasm and passion for cricket into his new role, he is a Bear through and through and will offer support both mentally and physically to the players in his charge.”

Ewen Thompson, the Central Districts left-arm fast bowler, is the only new face in New Zealand’s Twenty20 squad for the two internationals against West Indies. Jacob Oram, who missed the two Tests owing to a calf strain, has been included but he may play only as a batsman.”Thompson makes the side on the strength of his outstanding Twenty20 statistics – 16 wickets at an average of 17 and an economy rate of 6.97,” Glenn Turner, the chief selector, said. “He’s also top of the MVP rankings in the State Championship right now.””He swings it and he’s one of those guys who doesn’t ‘arrive’ so you can get through your shot,” Turner told the . “He’s always at you, he’s hard to score from and he can give it a whack at the death.”The omissions from the Test squad include Jamie How, Tim McIntosh and Iain O’Brien. “This squad is about horses for courses,” Turner said. “A Twenty20 side has a different look from a Test side – it’s a different game and has different requirements.”We haven’t really played a lot of Twenty20 and we’re still gaining experience. If we’re going to pick up our game we need a good depth of players who can deliver in this arena.”Thompson, 29, has played 40 first-class games and 38 one-dayers for Central Districts since his debut in 1999-00. He has three first-class hundreds and five first-class fifties.The Twenty20s will be played in Auckland and Hamilton on December 26 and 28.New Zealand Daniel Vettori (capt), Daniel Flynn, James Franklin, Mark Gillespie, Brendon McCullum (wk), Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Ewen Thompson.

Bangladesh have recalled Enamul Haque jnr and Rajin Saleh in the 14-member Test squad to take on Sri Lanka in the two-match series, which gets underway on January 26 in Dhaka. While Haque makes his comeback after close to a year, after last playing on the tour of New Zealand in January, Rajin Saleh returns after being dropped for Bangladesh’s previous tour, away to South Africa last month.The notable absentees from that tour however, will be Abdur Razzak, Naeem Islam, Nazmul Hossain. Razzak, the Bangladesh left-arm spinner, has been suspended from bowling in international cricket after independent analysis confirmed his action was suspect under current ICC regulations.Naeem, having made his debut in the home series against New Zealand, before he was picked for the team to South Africa, had a disappointing outing in the only Test he played at Bloemfontein, managing just 8 and 3 and failing to pick up any wickets. Nazmul, however, did not play in either of the two matches on that tour.The selectors seem to have opted for a like-for-like switch with Haque replacing Razzak, both of whom are left-arm spinners. Haque, incidentally, has also been signed by Maharashtra as one of its two overseas players for the 2008-09 Indian domestic season. He has played three ODIs and 12 Tests for Bangladesh and took 6 for 45 in his country’s maiden Test victory against Zimbabwe in 2005.Saleh will look to bolster the batting line-up after last featuring in the two-Test home series against New Zealand. Not a regular feature in the squad since July 2007, he was called up for the series this October where he managed just 26 runs in the two matches at 8.66. He has played 24 Tests and 43 ODIs and will be keen to score his first Test century in the series against Sri Lanka and cement his place in the side.Bangladesh have not managed a win against Sri Lanka in the ten Tests they have played. The last series was played in Sri Lanka back in June-July 2007 and had resulted in a 3-0 clean-sweep for the hosts.Meanwhile, Saleh has been named captain of the BCB XI squad for the three-day match against the Sri Lankans starting December 21. The 14-man team also includes Mehrab Hossain jnr, Imrul Kayes and Shahadat Hossain – all part of the Test squad – as well as Nazmul. Left-arm spinner Nabil Samad, the second-highest wicket-taker in the National Cricket League this season, has been called up so is Faisal Hossain, who played his only Test in 2004 and is the leading run-getter so far this season in Bangladesh’s domestic first-class tournament. Mithun Ali, who was Bangladesh’s keeper during this year’s Under-19 World Cup, has also been included.Test squad: Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Mashrafe Mortaza (vice-capt), Tamim Iqbal, Junaid Siddique, Imrul Kayes, Raqibul Hasan, Mehrab Hossain jnr, Shakib Al Hasan, Rajin Saleh, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shahadat Hossain, Enamul Haque jnr, Mahbubul Alam, Sajidul Islam.BCB XI squad: Rajin Saleh (capt), Imrul Kayes, Nafees Iqbal, Faisal Hossain, Mithun Ali (wk), Mehrab Hossain jnr, Nazmul Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Tareq Khan, Nabil Samad, Saikat Ali, Ashraful Aziz, Mohammad Rahe, Raihanuddin Arafat.