England ask for joke games on Ashes tour

Cricinfo report that the ECB have asked Cricket Australia to allow them to use all sixteen members of their squad in their warm up games. It really is about time the ICC stopped this. It makes a mockery of cricket, and it doesn’t give the team with the 16 players any idea of how their players play as a team. It’s a joke.

Inzamam cleared of ball tampering

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has been cleared of ball tampering in his disciplinary hearing. He has, however, been found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute, which he always going to be found guilty of.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Darrell Hair now. Will the ICC keep backing him, or give him the pay off he asked for?

Hair raising times

It has been revealed today that the BCCI have written to the ICC asking them to not select Darrel Hair as an umpire for the Champions Trophy. The umpire list was supposed to have been announced last week.

I also hope that Hair isn’t selected, as he is quite possibly the most incompetent umpire on the “Elite” panel at the moment. But the ICC musn’t bow down to the BCCI over anything. If they want to select Hair, they shouldn’t let a letter from the BCCI stop them. The ICC run international cricket, not the BCCI.

Big win for Australia in DLF Cup final

Australia have beaten the West Indies by 127 runs in the DLF Cup final in Kuala Lumpur. Batting first, the Aussies scored 240/6 from their 50 overs, Damien Martyn and Andrew Symonds both making 52. No West Indian batsman got a decent start, and Brett Lee took 4/24 to help dismiss the West Indies for just 113.

Australia win after close fought game

Another close game in the DLF Cup has seen Australia beat India by 18 runs. The Aussies batted first and Matthew Hayden scored 54 at the top of the order. But other than the two Brad’s (Haddin and Hogg) putting on a 77 runs partnership in the middle order, no other batsman contributed much, and they were dismissed for 213.

Dinesh Mongia scored 63 for India in their reply, but no batsman could stay with him, and Brett Lee took 5/38 to help bowl the Indians out for 195. Australia will now face the West Indies in Sunday’s final.

Women’s Rankings updated

The BOV Women’s rankings have been updated. (Link) There hasn’t been any change to the order of the teams from the last updated at the end of August, but we have seen the new entry of the various teams that have played World Cup qualifiers this month.

South Africa thrash Zimbabwe

South Africa have cruised to a 171 run win over Zimbabwe in Potchefstroom today. Batting first, they scored a huge total of 418/5, with Loots Bosman scoring 88, Alviro Petersen 80 and Jacques Kallis 50 before Mark Boucher demolished the Zimbabwean attack with 147.

Zimbabwe did actually show some improvement in their batting as they reached 247/4 from their 50 overs, with 88 from Terry Duffin and 55 from Hamilton Masakadza. They deserve credit for keeping wickets intact, and gained some much needed time in the middle.

India win in close game

India have trumphed over the West Indies in a close game in Malaysia today. India batted first and made 162. They would have struggled if it wasn’t for a fine 65 from Sachin Tendulkar after Dwayne Smith demolished the Indian top order with 4/31. Despite a lower order fightback from the West Indies, led by Brian Lara (batting at 9!), India bowled them out for 146 for a 16 run win. India now need to beat Australia on Friday to get to the final.

Orgasmic?

Just had a quick look at the live scorecard of the current India v West Indies ODI, and they’ve described Dwayne Bravo’s dismissal of Agit Agakar as an “orgasmic slower ball”. I’m not sure I want to imagine what that might mean!

Hair to umpire in Champions Trophy?

According to cricinfo, Darrell Hair is expecting to umpire in the ICC Champions Trophy in India next month. I can’t help think that this is a mistake, and that the ICC should lay off any official announcement until after the hearing into Ovalgate.