Muttiah Muralitharan, who has been named in a 16-man squad for Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia, has released a personal statement asserting that his doosra, which has been barred by the ICC, is a fair delivery and will eventually be declared legal.Muralitharan admitted that the weeks since his doosra was reported as being suspect have been traumatic, and added that he will wait patiently for the results of further research into the biomechanics of spin bowling, which is due to be completed by the ICC in September.”I am a patient person and as a spin bowler you learn that trait very quickly,” said Murali. “I am adamant in my belief that I operate within the laws of the game, and that my action when delivering the doosra does not give me an unfair advantage. I am confident that the tests and research by the relevant authorities will conclusively prove that my action when delivering the doosra is legal.”Tests carried out at the University of Western Australia revealed that Muralitharan’s arm, when bowling the doosra, straightened by 14 degrees. This flexing was reduced to 10.2 degrees after remedial action, but that was still twice the permitted level of bending for slow bowlers, which stands at five degrees. The ICC’s tolerance levels are to be reviewed after further research during the Champions Trophy.”My action is unorthodox,” he said, “It is, however, wrong for people to label me as a chucker based solely on what they see with the naked eyes, for what such people perceive as a throw is an optical illusion, a fact proven by the tests carried out on my bowling action over the years.”Muralitharan also hit out at his critics in the release, saying: “I have been defamed, pilloried and severely criticised by the world’s cricket media. Even the prime minister of Australia has called me a chucker and then in the next sentence says I will be welcome to tour his country!”He also took time to thank those who have stood by him during the controversy: “Through this all, the supportive comments of cricketers, cricket experts and the cricket-loving public from all over the world has been greatly appreciated.”

Kenya is to take part in the ICC’s Intercontinental Cup and has been drawn in the same group as Uganda and Namibia. Together, the three countries represent the African region of the competition, with the Americas, Asia and Europe making up the other regions, it was reported today by the .The matches, which last three days, have been awarded first-class status by the ICC, which wants to speed up the process of enlarging the number of Test-playing nations.While Kenya, who have had significant international experience, are expected to top their group and move into the semi-finals, the opposition they will face from then on will be a different matter. Their opponents will be any one of USA, Canada, UAE, Nepal, Scotland or Holland. After the semis, the finals will be held in the United Arab Emirates at Sharjah.Kenya will play Uganda on July 23-25 and will take on Namibia on October 1-3.The pools
Kenya, Uganda, Namibia
UAE, Nepal, Malaysia
USA, Canada, Bermuda
Scotland, Holland, Ireland

The Indian team suffered another setback as Laksmipathy Balaji was ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy with an abdominal injury. He will return to India shortly. Amit Bhandari, the medium pacer from Delhi, has been chosen to replace him.Balaji has become the second Indian to drop out, after Sachin Tendulkar’s tennis elbow did not recover in time. Speaking to reporters at the indoor nets at the Rose Bowl, Sourav Ganguly said: “There’s a problem with Balaji and we’ve asked for a replacement. He had a problem with his abdomen [muscle] this morning and we’ve asked for a replacement.”Balaji’s problem cropped up in London during the NatWest Challenge. He experienced some muscle pain in the abdomen, and was treated for it. “He had an injection in London on the 7th,” said Ganguly, “and we hoped he would recover, but the injury has not responded since then.”The Indian selectors picked Bhandari to replace Balaji. Bhandari has played two one-day internationas for India, and has picked up five wickets. His last match for India was against Zimbabwe in the VB Series earlier this year, in which he took 3 for 31 in 7.4 overs.

Muttiah Muralitharan has signed up as Lanka IOC’s brand manager in a lucrative sponsorship deal. The company had showed interest in Muralitharan after the Lanka IOC Asia Cup held earlier this year.M Nageswaran, the managing director of the company, said, “This tie-up between Lanka IOC and Muralitharan effectively brings together two major players in their respective fields, with the hope of working together as a team to further promote and develop not only the petroleum industry in the country, but also Sri Lanka as a whole.” Nageswaran also spoke about how the company and Muralitharan were part of the `500-club’: one had over 500 Test wickets, the other was a Fortune-500 company, and both were on everybody’s lips.”Not only is Muralitharan loved and admired in his country of origin, but he is also a much-respected figure the world over. Having faced and successfully overcome many obstacles in his rise to the top position in the cricketing world, Muralitharan is an example of how strength and determination can conquer any obstacles placed in its way. Similarly, ensuring international standards of service and meeting stringent quality and eco-friendly standards, Lanka IOC’s operations in Sri Lanka will also uphold those virtues of strength and determination.”

Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, confident in the faith the selectors have shown in him by confirming his position for the the next three series, is upbeat about his young side’s chances on the forthcoming tour to Australia. Speaking to Wisden Cricinfo, Inzamam said, “These are Pakistan’s best players and I feel it is a balanced team. Conditions in Australia are difficult but the way they have performed in the last few months, I am confident that they can perform very well there. I am going there to win, there is no compromise on that.”The composition of the squad has been questioned in some quarters for containing only two specialist openers and the omission of Taufeeq Umar. But both Wasim Bari, the chief selector, and Inzamam defended the decision, arguing that Yasir Hameed, till now the future of Pakistan at one-down, is now to be considered an opener as well. Bari told us: “Hameed can go one-down and as an opener and we are considering him seriously as an opener – if Andrew Hall can work as an opener then why not Hameed? Yasir has opened in ODIs before and we are confident he can do it.”The selection of Kamran Akmal as the sole wicketkeeper, ahead of the discarded Moin Khan and Rashid Latif, may well signal the end of an era for Pakistan behind the stumps. “We want to give Akmal responsibility, we want him to develop now because potentially he is very good and if you give someone like him responsibility he will develop faster,” said Bari.Inzamam played down fears of not having any back-up: “I don’t want to put pressure on Akmal by taking an extra keeper, in case he fails. I want to give him a free hand for this tour.”The selectors, said Bari, were impressed in particular with the newcomers Mohammad Khalil and Mohammad Asif. “Khalil, in particular, is a very fit young man, and he impressed in the trials. He gives us variety as a left-armer, and with Asif, who is tall and gets good bounce, we have adequate back-up. But we will miss Shabbir Ahmed and Umar Gul.”The recall of the experienced Shahid Afridi for the Test squad, after a considerable period, also came under scrutiny, with some former cricketers questioning the need for a third allrounder, and one unproven at Test level. “He has developed well recently, especially his bowling,” asserted Bari. “I feel he can be called upon to do a job as a utility member for the Tests – he gives an extra option to the captain.”But, as selector and captain pointed out, it will be the younger players who will need to perform and establish themselves on this tour. “Australia are the strongest team in the world – it will be a tough series and they need to fight it out,” said Bari. “It’s time for players like Farhat and Hameed to step up to the next level.”

Graeme Smith was a frustrated South African captain, as he watched his prospects of a series-levelling victory slip every further down the drainage ditch on the third day at Centurion. Though South Africa extracted the crucial wicket of Andrew Strauss with minutes of the day’s play remaining, they have just six more sessions in which to force a result, and there is the prospect of more bad weather to come."It’s a bit like the end of the world out there," said Smith, as a torrential downpour battered at the windows during his end-of-day press conference. "That’s the biggest storm I’ve seen in these parts for a while. As a team, we are prepared to do a lot of things to win, but taking on lightning is not one of them."Though he accepted that his chances of victory were "diminishing", Smith maintained an upbeat front. "All this stop-starting is frustrating because we’ve got England under pressure," he said. "But we’re still positive. We’ve got to be. If we bowl well again tomorrow, then we will go for it. We’re not giving up."At the fifth time of asking, South Africa have produced their most aggressive bowling performance of the series, and Smith put a lot of that down to Andre Nel, whose late scalp of Strauss tilted the day’s balance back in South Africa’s favour. "The guys were hungry today and knew what they had to do," said Smith. "With the five bowlers, we’ve been able to attack for longer, and there’s a bit of turn in the wicket as well, so we’ve got options tomorrow."For Nel, it was a successful return to international cricket after a lengthy injury lay-off, and Smith said that his eagerness to get back in the thick of things was plain to see. "I try not to spend too much time around Nella when we’re in the dressing-room," he joked. "You can see his feet twitching when it gets close to his time to bowl. But it’s nice to have good back-up for Polly and Makhaya, and he’s come back well from his injury. When he’s 120 percent fit, I’d like to see him bowl nice and quick."We’ve had a few disappointments in this series," admitted Smith, who blamed South Africa’s capitulation on the final day at The Wanderers, rather than their misfortune with the weather here, as the turning point of the series. "We could have come here even-stevens and ready to win here," he said. "Instead, there was that crucial three-and-a-half hours on the final day. We could have won the series elsewhere, but if we don’t get back on the field tomorrow, we’ll know where we lost the series."

The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition filed by Zee Telefilms contesting the manner in which the Indian board cancelled the telecast rights after awarding them to Zee. In its verdict, the court announced that the BCCI could not be called a state, according to the definition of the term in the Indian constitution, nor could a writ petition be filed against it for violation of fundamental rights.According to a report by the Press Trust of India, the court ruled that while some element of public duty was involved in selecting the Indian team, it wasn’t enough make the BCCI a state. “The Indian government had failed to prove that it has given de facto recognition to the cricket board for discharging these functions. In the absence of any such authorisation, if a private board discharges these functions, it would be not be proper for the court to hold the same body as an instrumentality of the state.”The court also pointed out that if the cricket board was termed a state, then all other sports bodies would need to be declared states too. “The board cannot be singly identified as a state for the purpose of Article 12,” the bench observed, saying that it would be in violation of the right to equality. The five-member bench passed its verdict by a 3-2 majority.A five-judge constitution bench – Justices N Santosh Hegde, SN Variava, BP Singh, HK Sema and SB Sinha – handed down the ruling. While Justices Hegde, Singh and Sema contended that the BCCI was not a state, Justices Variava and Sinha were of the view that the board could be considered one under the ambit of article 12 of the Indian constitution.Explaining the majority view, Justice Hegde noted that the Indian government had not passed any laws or statutes vesting authority in the BCCI to select the Indian team. According to him, the control exercised by the government over the BCCI could best be termed “regulatory”, not enough to have the organisation declared as a state.However, the court also stated that any complaints against the BCCI could still be made to the High Court under article 226, which had a much wider scope and wasn’t restricted only to bodies which could be classified states.The BCCI had earlier agreed to a US$308 million, four-year deal with Zee for the telecast of all cricket matches in India, but it reversed its decision after being challenged in court by ESPN-Star, who had bid unsuccessfully for the rights. The BCCI then went on to grant the telecast rights for the India-Australia series to Sony. Zee had contested both these decisions in the Supreme Court.

Grant Flower insists that he is not interested in returning to play for Zimbabwe, despite the imminent return of his fellow rebels Heath Streak and Andy Blignaut to the international arena.Flower, 34 – Zimbabwe’s most-capped player with 67 Test appearances – told Sky Sports that he is content to honour his two-year contract with Essex, where he will play as a Kolpak player alongside his elder brother Andy. Streak, meanwhile, is likely to be drafted into Zimbabwe’s current tour of South Africa in time for the Test series. It has been confirmed that Ray Price won’t return for Zimbabwe, either.”I won’t be playing for Zimbabwe in the next few years, then after that anything’s possible,” Flower said. “I’ve committed myself to Essex, and I won’tchange my mind. I’m on the Kolpak scheme: I will be with Essex.”Flower, who was a leading figure in the early stages of the Zimbabwean players’ dispute with their board, appeared to have been kept out of the loop as to the latest developments. When asked what light he could shed on the end of the dispute, he was vague: “When I left Zimbabwe two weeks ago nothing had been resolved. Nobody was going to play in South Africa, but things have changed.”When asked if Streak’s announcement had come as a shock, Flower replied: “Yes, to a certain extent, or at least to one or two of the guys. When I left the country nobody was making themselves available to play against South Africa.”

ScorecardWest Indies women edged to a tight three-wicket victory against South Africa, at the Technikon Oval, to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match one-day series, hastily arranged after both teams where knocked out of the World Cup. Chasing 207 to win, Nelly Williams was the star for the West Indies, anchoring the run chase with an unbeaten 82. At 148 for 2 the target looked a formality but a middle-order collapse opened the door for South Africa, before Williams settled the issueSouth Africa’s top order had put in a solid performance against a West Indies outfit who had, for their part, performed better than expected, to come fifth and gain a place at the next World Cup. Daleen Terblanche (68) and Cri-Zelda Brits (53) shared an opening stand of 121 to give South Africa a solid platform, and Johmari Logtenberg added 40 at No 3. But the middle and lower-order could not maintain the scoring rate and South Africa ended at least 20 runs short of the total they should have made.The result will not have helped the cause of Stephen Jones, the South African coach, who called on the women to “be serious about the future” after the hosts fared worse than expected in the World Cup – prompting Jones to criticise their board implicitly for their lack of assistance – meaning they will have to re-qualify for the next tournament.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

MCC wrapped up a convincing 112-run win over an International XI, in the tsunami appeal match at Lord’s, as their spin bowlers collected nine wickets between them. Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Chris Gayle took three each after Brian Lara and Graeme Smith threatened to set up a thrilling finish.Brian Lara and Graeme Smith lit up Lord’s with some thrilling stroke play, adding 75 in just 8.1 overs as the asking rate was kept within reach, but once they both departed the rest of the International XI fell in something of a rush.Anil Kumble removed three key batsmen, including Lara as he got a leading edge that was comfortably taken at short third-man by Shoaib Akhtar (141 for 3). Lara faced 27 balls, hitting five fours and six – a stunning check-drive off Kumble – to all corners of Lord’s. He received a standing ovation as he returned to the pavilion, a rare sight for an innings of 42 – but it was special while it lasted.Smith was no slouch at the other end, but was left in the shade by Lara’s onslaught. He had an entertaining battle with Akhtar, who refused to give an inch and hit 95mph during his opening spell. But Smith, returning to the ground where he made 259 against England in 2003, punched and drove with confidence, reaching his half-century from 39 balls.Kumble struck back again for MCC when he drew Smith down the pitch and Kumar Sangakkara produced a swift bit of wicketkeeping (168 for 4). Kumble was using all his international experience and the contest between him and top quality batsmen gave the second half of this match an edge.Harbhajan Singh then got into the wicket taking act when he managed to squeeze a ball behind the legs of Shivnarine Chanderpaul (171 for 5). He then had Chris Cairns stumped, to remove the last realistic chance of the International XI reaching their target. There was a brief, mini, battle between Harbhajan and Shane Warne but Gayle wrapped up the tail, taking 3 for 28, with 15 overs to spare.But at least the crowd had been able to enjoy the stand between Lara and Smith, which enabled the International XI to recover from the early loss of Virendar Sehwag, trapped lbw by a ball that nipped backed from Shaun Pollock (10 for 1). Sanath Jayasuriya located the boundary with some powerful off-side shots, but found deep mid-wicket in Kumble’s first over (66 for 2), as the gamble of using a spinner within the first fifteen overs worked.Jacques Kallis received some tough treatment – three overs costing 33 – as Smith showed that familiarity can breed contempt. But Kallis had earlier starred with the bat as MCC piled up 327 for 7.

Kallis made 62, the equal top score as Lara, leading the International XI, gave ten of his team – including himself – a bowl as the charity element of this match extended to the field. MCC’s middle-order all contributed useful runs, with Andy Flower making 55 from 39 balls, as he and Kumar Sangakkara added 84 in 9.2 overs to lift the total past 300.Warne – like his Australian team mates last night – came in for some harsh treatment, conceding 64 runs from his eight overs as Flower showed his usual collections of sweeps, nurdles and the occasional bludgeon. VVS Laxman, who has tormented Warne in Test cricket, used his wrists to good effect as he moved along at a run-a-ball before edging an attempted glide (220 for 5).MCC were given a solid platform as Stephen Fleming, their captain for the day, stroked an attractive 59-ball 62. Chaminda Vaas trapped Chris Gayle lbw in the fifth over when he played around a ball that didn’t quite bounce as high as Gayle was expecting (14 for 1).But Fleming’s offside stroke play was in top working order as he took advantage of some juicy half-volleys from Sami. Sourav Ganguly also unfurled his trademark, thumping, cover-drive but fell to Vaas, when he tried to cut a ball that was too close to his body (52 for 2).Fleming reached his half-century from 46 balls, including a loft square cut which sailed over backward point for six. It was a similar shot that brought his dismissal when he uppercut Chris Cairns to third-man (114 for 3). A team mate against a team mate was one of the novel aspects of the day and everything was done with a smile of the player’s faces.But this game was not really about the cricket and it was certainly played in the right spirit and, following from the first tsunami relief match in Melbourne, showed how cricket can come together to play a small part helping out those who suffered in a huge tragedy.