Cricketers protest Dhaka Premier League delay

More than 50 Bangladeshi professional cricketers, including several international players, protested the delay in holding the Dhaka Premier League, the country's most popular domestic competition. They gathered at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Saturday after not having played any domestic cricket since mid-February.

The 12-team one-day competition that is central to the protest is also the biggest source of income for the top cricketers, but the Dhaka clubs have refused to participate without the national players who are currently touring Zimbabwe.

The tournament, topmost in Dhaka's league structure, was supposed to be held in March but the Bangladesh players were touring Sri Lanka. It could be held in May, but the clubs have suggested August and September. It will be in the middle of the monsoon season, and it has led to speculation that many of the top clubs are trying to push it past a point where the next BCB elections will have votes from club councillors from the previous season.

The BCB election is held with votes from councillors representing Dhaka clubs, among many other bodies from across the country, from the latest season. The other leagues and tournaments have been held in the 2012-13 season, but the Dhaka Premier League clubs are the most influential in Bangladesh cricket.

Jalal Yunus, the chairman of CCDM, the league's organising committee, has conceded that the domestic calendar should have given priority to the Dhaka Premier League ahead of the Bangladesh Premier League, the franchise-based Twenty20 competition, and added that all parties have to come to an agreement for the tournament to kick off.

"After the National Cricket League, the Dhaka Premier League is the most important tournament," said Jalal. "We cannot ignore it. We probably made some mistakes in the calendar. I think it should have more precedence than the BPL, during which we cannot hold any other tournaments.

"We cannot function without the BCB, CCDM, the clubs and the players. At the same time, you cannot force it on to the clubs or the players. We want the tournament to run smoothly, so as a result, we have to come into a middle ground."

BCB president Nazmul Hassan met with the players' representatives and assured that a solution will be given within the next two weeks.

Pakistan's Danish Kaneria bids to overturn life ban

 Pakistan's Danish Kaneria will try to resume his cricket career when he challenges a life ban for spot-fixing in London on Monday.

But, heading into the start of the appeal hearing, doubt remained over whether Mervyn Westfield would give evidence against his former Essex team-mate.

Leg-spinner Kaneria was given a life ban by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) last year after a panel found him guilty of inducing paceman Westfield to deliberately under-perform by agreeing to concede a certain number of runs in return for money while bowling in a county one-day match in 2009.

Although imposed by the ECB, the now 32-year-old Kaneria's ban was effectively a worldwide sanction as all boards under the jurisdiction of the International Cricket Council (ICC) have agreed to uphold punishments imposed by individual member countries in such circumstances.

It was not until 2010 that the scandal became public broke when Essex police arrested both Kaneria and Westfield. However, the Pakistani was released without charge and has maintained his innocence throughout.

By contrast, legal proceedings against Westfield continued and he spent two months in prison, as well as being banned for five years from first-class cricket and three from recreational cricket by the ECB.

There has been speculation in the British press and on the Cricinfo website, that Westfield could be offered a deal by the ECB allowing him to play club cricket as a paid professional for Wanstead, east of London, in the Essex league if he testifies at the appeal hearing.

It is understood talks between Westfield and the board have taken place in recent days but neither party has yet made any public statement on what outcome, if any, has been reached.

Westfield's evidence was central to the punishment imposed on Kaneria and the Pakistani's lawyers believe any failure by the seamer to give evidence at the hearing, which is being held in private, will damage the ECB's case.

Without Westfield, Kaneria's legal team have high hopes their client will be cleared and be able to sue the ECB for loss of earnings.

They have argued Westfield's evidence at the orginal hearing will be inadmissible at the appeal unless he appears in person and can be cross-examined.

Kaneria's appeal was originally due to take place in December but was postponed until April after the ECB failed to gain Westfield's co-operation.

Although he hasn't played international cricket since 2010, Kaneria remains Pakistan's most successful Test spinner with 261 wickets in 61 matches.

And, speaking to AFP in Karachi before his departure on Tuesday, he was optimistic about the chances of overturning his ban.

"I am quite hopeful," Kaneria said. "There was no evidence against me and I have maintained that the ban was unjust and I will fight till the last."

Kaneria's lawyer, Farogh Naseem, had previously signalled his client's determination to contest the ban, by saying in March: "We will definitely seek compensation from the ECB as because of the ban my client has been unable to play and earn a living."

International cricket has born the brunt of the sport's various gambling scandals where, thanks to the variety of markets, scams can be attempted without having to 'fix' a result.

But county matches have become targets for fixers now they are televised live in Asia, where betting on cricket is illegal in several countries.

Monday's hearing comes just days after former Pakistan Test players Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif lost their appeals at the Court of Arbitration for Sport over a spot-fixing scandal.

IPL 2013 stats highlights: Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians

Statistical highlights of the Indian Premier League match between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians at Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

# Rajasthan Royals (179 for 3) have recorded their second highest total against Mumbai Indians at the IPL - the highest is 208 for seven at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai on March 13, 2010.

# Rajasthan's above total is their highest at the IPL 2013, bettering the 165 for seven against Delhi Daredevils at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi on April 6.

# Ajinkya Rahane (68 not out off 54 balls) has recorded his fifth fifty for Rajasthan at the IPL.

# Rahane's tally of 196 (ave.65.33) in five games is the highest by a Rajasthan batsman in the IPL 2013. He has completed his 1000 runs as well overall in the IPL.

# Rahane has received his third Man of the Match award at the IPL.

# Dinesh Karthik has totalled 254 runs (ave 50.80) in five matches and his tally is bettered only by Virat Kohli (321) at the IPL 6.

# Three stands of fifty or more have been registered for Rajasthan Royals for the first time in an IPL innings.

# Rajasthan Royals' convincing 87-run victory is the largest by any team in terms of runs against Mumbai Indians at the IPL, surpassing the 76-run win by Kings XI Punjab at Mohali on May 10, 2011.

# Rajasthan's above victory is their second largest in terms of runs behind the 105-run win over Delhi Daredevils at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on May 30, 2008.

# Both Rajasthan and Mumbai have won five matches each against each other out of ten contested at the IPL.

# Rajasthan Royals are placed at the top in the points table, having won four and lost one out of five played at the IPL 6.

# Mumbai (92) have recorded their lowest score against Rajasthan Royals at the IPL. The said total is Mumbai Indians' joint second lowest score at the IPL. They were dismissed for 87 against Kings XI Punjab at Mohali on May 10, 2011. Against Delhi Daredevils, they had totalled 92 at Wankhede Stadium on April 16, 2012.

# Shane Watson and Rahane have added 62 - Rajasthan's second highest stand for the first wicket against Mumbai Indians at the IPL - the highest is an unbroken 134 between Watson and Rahul Dravid at Mumbai on May 20, 2011.

# Watson took his tally to 1310 at an average of 38.52 in 42 matches - the most by any batsman for Rajasthan Royals at the IPL. His tally of 60 sixes is exceeded only by Yusuf Pathan's 61 for Rajasthan Royals at the IPL.

# Watson and Yagnik were involved in a partnership of 53 - Rajasthan's highest for the second wicket against Mumbai at the IPL.

# Yagnik (34 off 24 balls) has recorded his highest score at the IPL.

# Brad Hodge and Rahane have shared a stand of 53 (unbroken) for the fourth wicket - Rajasthan's highest against Mumbai Indians at the IPL.

# Kevon Cooper has captured nine wickets at 14.33 runs apiece in five games - the most by a Rajasthan Royals' bowler at the IPL 6.

# James Faulkner

(3 for 16) has registered his best bowling performance at the IPL.

ICC allocates USD 422,000 for developing Afghanistan cricket

With an aim to develop more competitive teams among its full, associate/affiliate members, the ICC has allocated USD 422,000 for the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) from the its Targeted Assistance and Performance Programme (TAPP).

It was decided during the second of the four board meetings of the ICC and IDI (ICC Development International, the commercial arm of the cricket's governing body) held here on April 16 and 17.

"The ICC introduced a TAPP fund of USD 12m in January 2012 to help develop more competitive teams at the highest level by targeting the lower ranked full members and higher ranked associate/affiliate members for assistance," the world body said in a statement.

"The Board had previously received applications and made awards to Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland, Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond (Netherlands), New Zealand Cricket, West Indies Cricket Board and Zimbabwe Cricket."

The statement added that this funding for the ACB is for the development of the National Cricket Academy in Kabul and is subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions.

During the two-day meeting, the ICC also received an update on anti-corruption matters from YP Singh, ICC's Head of ACSU, including an overview of the ACSU workshop that took place in Dubai on March 22 involving personnel from the anti-corruption units of the ICC and member boards.

In addition to the regular updates from the finance, audit and governance review committees, the Board also considered and noted reports on relevant cricket issues, including presentations on umpire performance, assessment and training, and the Reliance ICC Rankings, the statement further read.

The ICC board also noted and welcomed the changes made by the Pakistan Cricket Board to its constitution to make the process of electing its chairman more democratic and reducing the risk of inappropriate government interference.

No Sachin, Ponting in "Dickie Bird's" greatest Test XI

With his 80th birthday coming up on Friday, cricket's most famous English umpire Dickie Bird has listed the eleven players he believes are the 'greatest-ever' in Test cricket.

Published in "The Telegraph", the list contains some predictable entries and some surprise additions. None of the top-10 run getters in Test cricket are part of the list with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara being shock omissions.

The only Indian to feature in the list is Sunil Gavaskar, who is paired alongside South African opener Barry Richards. Bird describes Gavaskar as "one of the two best opening bats" while claiming the Richards "would have broken all the records, but for apartheid".

Bird then goes on to include legends Sir Vivian Richards and Greg Chappell - picks not many can argue with. He goes on to nominate another player "largely lost because of apartheid", Graeme Pollock, as part of the list.

Sir Garfield Sobers is an obvious choice in any such list and Bird simply states "the all-rounder was the greatest I have ever seen play the game".

ICC Hall of Famer and wicketkeeper-batsman Alan Knott is the only Englishman and compatriot of Bird to feature in the list. Imran Khan is the captain of Bird's greatest Test XI and Shane Warne finds a spot as well.

"The finest fast bowler who ever lived" Dennis Lillee and West Indian spinner Lance Gibbs round off an eleven which raises more questions about omissions than in does about the inclusions.

Bird was an emotional umpire on the field. He managed to earn the respect of some of the more volatile players using his infectious humour and the players have earned his respect as well as evident in his list.

Bird's Greatest Test XI:

Sunil Gavaskar, Barry Richards, Sir Vivian Richards, Greg Chappell, Sir Garfield Sobers, Graeme Pollock, Allan Knott, Imran Khan, Dennis Lillee, Shane Warne, Lance Gibbs.