Cricket South Africa appoints Haroon Lorgat as CEO

Former ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat was on Saturday appointed as the new chief executive officer of the Cricket South Africa (CSA), replacing the controversial Gerald Majola.

The CSA made the announcement in a terse statement after the board interviewed three shortlisted candidates for the position, although commentators have been saying that Lorgat was the top candidate.

"Mr Lorgat's appointment follows a thorough and rigorous process to fill this important position," CSA president Chris Nenzani said in the statement.

"The quality of the candidates was exceptional and I would like to express my appreciation to the sub-committee of the Board as well as my colleagues on the Board who have brought this matter to a highly satisfactory conclusion," he added.

The candidacy of Lorgat was highly controversial amid earlier reports that the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) had tried to influence CSA not to appoint him.

Lorgat had been at loggerheads with the BCCI during his tenure at the ICC.

But earlier this week, reliable sources said Lorgat had received the approval of former BCCI president IS Bindra, who is also the president of the Punjab Cricket Association for the past 35 years.

This, coupled with a change of guard at BCCI, including the departure of fierce Lorgat critic N Srinivasan, is believed to have eased tensions at CSA about the influence of the BCCI.

Lorgat served as treasurer to the forerunner of CSA, the United Cricket Board of South Africa, in 2004 and 2005 and as convenor of selectors for the national squad from 2004 to 2007 before taking over as ICC chief executive in 2008 for a four-year term.

Lorgat's appointment is expected to signal a new era in the administration ofcricket in South Africa after the bitter in-fighting resulting from decisions by dismissed chief executive Gerald Majola.

the almost three-year period of Majola, several top executives were ousted or resigned until Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula intervened by setting up the Nicholson inquiry which fingered Majola for breaches of corporate governance and recommended disciplinary action as well as criminal investigation.

Majola was subsequently fired in 2010 after refusing to continue with his disciplinary hearing.

Among Lorgat's major tasks will be re-instilling confidence in sponsors who increasingly shied away from CSA in the aftermath for the Majola saga.

Cricket - Misbah puts Pakistan in the hunt

Misbah anchored a disjointed innings with a patient 75 although Pakistan were equally indebted to Akmal after he and tailender Wahab Riaz added a much-needed and breezy 52 from the final 26 balls.

Pakistan therefore went into the mid-innings break with the momentum if only a barely-par score of 229 for six.
New-ball quick Jason Holder was the pick of the West Indies attack returning two for 40 from his 10 overs. The 21-year-old right-armer combined with Kemar Roach to ensure Pakistan began at a crawl after skipper Dwayne Bravo had opted for first use of the ball.
Holder had Ahmed Shehzad caught in the deep off a top-edge by Roach and when Nasir Jamshed fell to Darren Sammy in similar circumstances in the next over, the 13th, Pakistan were 39 for two.
That brought Misbah to the crease and while he and Mohammad Hafeez set about recovering the early damage they did so without any thought of inhibition.
Hafeez took 33 balls to reach 14 before tamely pulling Dwayne Bravo to square leg as the tourists edged past 100 in the 31st over.
Misbah remained steadfast to reach his half-century from 91 balls but when he fell in the 45th over, bowled by Dwayne Bravo, Pakistan were still only 174 for five.
Any hope Shahid Afridi might supply some of his characteristic late fireworks ended aprutly, the all-rounder managed just one before Holder located the top-edge again, but Akmal ably filled his shoes with an unbeaten 40 from 31 balls.
Wahab also contributed 19, from 10 balls, hitting Dwayne Bravo for back-to-back sixes in a penultimate over that cost 16.

Doping in sports is unacceptable, says Virat Kohli

Indian cricket team vice-captain Virat Kohli on Friday said doping in sport is simply not acceptable and called for the harshest possible punishment for those who bring disrepute to the game.

Kohli's comments came in the wake of Delhi Ranji player and Kolkata Knight Rider's promising left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan failing a random dope test during the sixth edition of the IPL. Sangwan is only the second cricketer in  the history of IPL after Pakistani speedster Mohammad Asif to  have been found guilty of consuming banned drugs.

"This (doping) is not at all acceptable. Whoever doesn't respect sport, corrupts it, should be handed the harshest punishment. Sport gives you everything in life. If you can't respect the game, you don't deserve to be there. Strict punishment should be given to the guilty," said Kohli on the sidelines of a function here.

Kohli said there's always the possibility of an athlete taking banned substances by mistake without being fully aware of its specifications.

"You may have taken an antibiotic but if it has banned substance, you will test positive. You may not know about it," he added.

Athletics suffered one of its darkest days this week following revelations that two of the world's fastest men, Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, were among six athletes to have tested positive for banned substances.

The conversation soon veered towards cricket and Kohli was asked about his superhero in real life.

"In cricket, my superhero is Sachin Tendulkar. He has always been my hero and will continue to remain so. Apart from him and outside cricket, my mother has remained my inspiration.

"Whatever difficult time I had faced, she was always there for me. She has given me all the strength. She maintained her composure and supported me in tough times," he said.

Finland gets a taste for cricket

Quite surprisingly, the traditional British sport is no newcomer to Finland. The first record of a cricket match being played in the country is from 1953, when a team from the then visiting British Navy destroyer Agincourt played against British expatriates living in Finland. In the decades following, cricket was played by independent groups on a small scale – mainly by teams of friends and the British Embassy.
The forming of a national association in 1999 followed rapid growth and there is now an active nationwide league.
There are currently around 400 cricketers, competitive and social, and the number is growing. The main stage is in Kerava, where the Finnish Cricket Association is developing an international level cricket ground.
The chairman of the Finnish Cricket Association, Andrew Armitage, says the development of the Kerava field started in 2006, when Finnish cricketers began talks with the city council there. The talks ended with the Association being offered a patch of set-aside land, which now houses a ground. Foundations for a pavilion have been laid and construction should be finished next winter.
"At this moment in time we're looking at establishing the Kerava National Cricket Ground for a long future for cricket in Finland", Armitage says.
A lot of the groundwork for cricket’s popularity is done by reaching out to junior players. The Finnish Cricket Association is currently starting a pilot project to attract more young people to the sport.
"Finland is one of six nations who have been picked to run this project called Street20," explains Maija Scamans, Finnish Cricket Association Operations Director. "We are hoping to take it to schools in the Autumn and targeting certain schools, and in that way building a pathway for young players to enter the clubs and then become even national team players if they like. We’re putting a lot of emphasis on that."

3rd ODI: Jason Holder guides West Indies to thrilling tie versus Pakistan

Pakistan wicketkeeper Umar Akmal missed a run-out opportunity and the West Indies last-wicket pair of Kemar Roach and Jason Holder scrambled two runs off the final ball to tie the third one-day international on Friday. Responding to the tourists' total of 229 for six, and requiring 15 off the final over to win, Holder smashed a four and a six over cover off medium-pacer Wahab Riaz to keep the home side's unlikely prospects alive, resulting in the last ball drama that leaves the series level at 1-1 going into the fourth match at the same venue on Sunday.

West Indies middle-order batsman Lendl Simmons and Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq, the joint top-scorers with 75 runs each in the thrilling encounter, also shared the Man of the Match award.

However, Misbah found it difficult to accept how his team could not have won the match after reducing the Caribbean side to 205 for nine in the 49th over.

"It's really, really disappointing, but I have to say the way Holder played at the end he took the game away from us," said an incredulous Misbah.

"In that last over there were too many full deliveries to the tailenders, but hats off to them, they played well."

In his usual calm, unruffled manner, Misbah had compiled his runs to steady the Pakistan innings after the early loss of both openers while Akmal swatted an unbeaten 40 off 31 deliveries, dominating an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 52 off 26 balls with Wahab (19 not out) to give the tourists a fighting chance on a pitch offering considerably more pace and bounce than for the first two ODIs in Guyana.

Holder and Dwayne Bravo took two wickets apiece but skipper Bravo's decision to persist with himself in the final overs proved costly, his last three overs being plastered for 40 runs.

It was a bewildering decision given that Marlon Samuels had bowled only three overs in conceding just four runs and was not utilised at the end.

"This was a match we should have won after the bowlers had done such a good job," a disappointed Bravo insisted.

"Once again the batting let us down. It should never have gotten down to the bowlers having to save us."

Pakistan's left-arm seamers made early inroads into the West Indies batting line-up and it took Simmons' effort together with a painstaking 46 from Samuels go keep the home side within reach of the target.

However, with spinner Saeed Ajmal taking three wickets in the space of two overs and Junaid Khan joining in with two scalps himself, the West Indies looked to have frittered away their opportunity in losing five wickets for 27 runs.

Big-hitting from Sunil Narine during a very brief cameo revived flagging hopes and then it came down to that decisive final over as the senior members of the Pakistan squad deliberated with their captain over who should bowl the final over.

Choosing Wahab was always going to be a gamble, as he had already conceded the most expensive over of the innings when belted for 15 runs during the batting powerplay.

Maintaining a full length gave Holder the opportunity to smash the telling boundaries after a couple of singles, leaving three runs for victory and two to tie off the final ball.

A sliced drive to third-man guaranteed at least one but he should have been run out by at least half the length of the pitch in coming back for the second tying run, only for Akmal to fail to collect the return.

The Ashes: Graeme Swann embarrassed by 'awful' Chris Rogers wicket

England's Graeme Swann made no attempt to hide his shame at the wicket that sent him on his way to a place on the Lord's honours boards during the second Ashes Test against Australia on Friday.

Off-spinner Swann led England's attack with five wickets for 44 runs in 21.3 overs as Australia collapsed to 128 all out in reply to the Ashes-holders' first innings 361, a deficit of 233 runs.

In the process the 34-year-old Nottinghamshire bowler became the first England spinner to take five wickets in an innings of an Ashes Test at Lord's in 79 years.

Yorkshire left-arm great Hedley Verity returned figures of seven for 61 and eight for 43 in the corresponding 1934 fixture -- a match England won by an innings and 38 runs.

Yet the 16th 'five for' of Swann's 54-match Test career began in comical fashion when the ball slipped from his hand and turned into a full toss that 'boxed' Australia's Chris Rogers.

England appealed for lbw and Rogers, on his Middlesex home ground, was given out by South African umpire Marais Erasmus to leave Australia 50 for two.

To make matters worse for Australia, in the latest example of their problems in using the Decision Review System (DRS), Rogers opted against challenging the decision even though replays indicated the ball would have missed the left-hander's leg stump.

"It was quite simply the worst ball I've ever bowled, it slipped out of my hand, I can't even watch it so the less we see of it the better," said Swann.

"It was truly awful cricket. I was a bit embarrassed but I'm sure Chris Rogers was even more embarrassed."

Australia coach Darren Lehmann said Rogers' role in advising fellow opener Shane Watson after the all-rounder was plumb lbw to Tim Bresnan had played a part in his subsequent decision not to use the second and final review of the innings on himself.

"Bucky Rogers got that wrong with Shane, he told Shane to take it," Lehmann explained.

"That's just the way it goes sometimes, and then he should have used one on himself, but he probably didn't want to after wasting one.

"We've certainly got the bowling side of it right with the referrals. Now the batters have to get that right."

Something else Australia have to get right, and in a hurry too, is their basic top-order batting.

Australia's 10th wicket added 228 runs during England's 14-run first Test win at Nottinghamshire's Trent Bridge ground last week after the top order twice failed to produce the runs expected of specialist batsmen.

But, unsurprisingly, the tail were unable to repeat their heroics on Friday in an Australia innings where Watson (30) and captain Michael Clarke (28) were the only batsmen to get into the 20s.

"The big thing for us is to make more runs, simple," said former Australia batsman Lehmann, appointed just 16 days before the Ashes after Mickey Arthur was dramatically sacked .

"The top order failed again and we need to make sure we're learning from our mistakes and we probably haven't done that from the first innings at Notts to the first innings here," said Lehmann.

"We showed glimpses but we've got to bat better. It was more one-day batting than Test-match batting.

"Our shot selection was poor today, simple as that. I think eight out of the 10 (wickets) were self-inflicted to be perfectly honest."

Peter Siddle's treble left England 31 for three in their second innings at stumps on the second day.

But that still meant England led by 264 runs -- more than double Australia's first innings score.

The Ashes: Australian media slam batsmen after horror show at Lord's

Australia's newspapers on Saturday ripped into their team's feeble batting in the second Test against England, fearing the Ashes campaign might have unravelled in one catastrophic session at Lord's.

Australia collapsed to 128 all out in reply to England's first innings 361 with the home side opting against enforcing the follow-on and reaching 31 for three in their second innings by stumps for an overall lead of 264.

Ashes holders England are already 1-0 up in the five-match series after last week's 14-run win at Trent Bridge.

"What a mess, what a shambles, what a debacle, what an embarrassment," thundered the Daily Telegraph's Malcolm Conn.

"Some of Australia's most well-paid professional sportsmen have been responsible for amateur-hour. There can't have been few more mindless batting performances than Australia's appalling 128 during the second day at Lord's."

Conn added: "Australia's feeble collapse had nothing to do with outside distractions from (sacked coach) Mickey Arthur or anyone else, it was just simple ineptitude.

"The players have no one to blame but themselves. Cricket Australia spends millions pampering and preparing its players with a support staff almost the size of a cricket team."

Fairfax Media feared the Ashes could be over for Australia and said it was one of several recent woeful top-order batting performances.

"Australia's Ashes campaign might have unravelled in one catastrophic session at Lord's," Chloe Saltau wrote.

"Awful batting contributed to the touring team being levelled for 128, Australia's lowest total at Lord's since 1968."

Fairfax columnist Malcolm Knox took it a step further.

"The British department of health has announced that the current heat wave has contributed to more than 700 fatalities. Australian batting was not listed among them, but the Ashes, as a contest, headed into the weekend on a morphine drip," Knox said.

"A batting collapse such as Australia's on Friday was one of the few things about this series that was anticipated. Its precedents go back not just to India, but reach deep into the (Ricky) Ponting years.

"The roll call reads like the carved frieze in a war memorial. Perth, 2012. Hobart, 2011. Cape Town, 2011. Melbourne, 2010. Headingley, 2010. They go back to the one that most resembles this, which was at the Oval Test match in the Ashes series of 2009, when the entire rubber was decided between lunch and tea on the second day."

The Australian's Wayne Smith described it as one of the most dismal days of Ashes cricket in living memory, with coach Darren Lehmann "giving a tongue-lashing to Australia's miserably underperforming batsmen".

The Australian's cricket columnist Gideon Haigh singled out opener Shane Watson for particular criticism.

"At Lord's yesterday, a cricket experiment continued: the effort to turn Shane Watson into a Test batsman, now into its 43rd attempt," he wrote.