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West Indies began reviving their ODI series against Bangladesh with a four-wicket win on Wednesday but they will be aware that, yet again, their main batsman went missing. Chris Gayle has made just 54 runs in the three ODIs so far but that could be bad news for Bangladesh, with the West Indies camp confident that he is just one big innings away from returning to form.”I think at some point in the next few days Gayle will get a big score, I’m sure he will,” West Indies’ assistant coach Toby Radford said. “Chris Gayle has played all around the world, he is a fantastic player. He’ll know his own strengths and weaknesses.”To have their most experienced cricketer go through a lean patch with the bat has been disconcerting for the team. West Indies have so far let Gayle be himself, the opener not practicing on optional training days on tour, but they would require him to score big in the next two days for them to have a better chance of winning the series.For all the optimism in the West Indies camp, the 14 scratchy minutes he spent at the crease on Wednesday evening suggested that it could be a hard road back. The usually domineering Gayle had to play out a maiden in the first over of the game, bowled by Sohag Gazi, the rookie offspinner who has dismissed him three times. He was also tested by Mashrafe Mortaza and, after hitting him for a boundary, was done in by a slower ball. He had, at that time, made only 4 off 12 deliveries faced.The slump in form has also brought down Gayle’s average for the year, from 54.60 in six games before the series began to 40.87 after three games here. He had made 35 and 15 in the first two ODIs in Khulna and looked uncertain against spin. The bowlers have bowled to a plan, tying him down and preventing him from getting into any rhythm. Gayle prefers hitting boundaries to find his touch and, to counter that, Gazi has usually deployed a defensive field, especially ensuring the straight boundaries are always covered.More worrying for West Indies is the fact that Kieron Pollard is also struggling against spin, getting out twice to Abdur Razzak and once to Naeem Islam. Pollard has been out bowled twice, completely misjudging a Razzak arm-ball in the third game. The struggle has restricted his big-hitting abilities, an area he has worked on over the years and has continued doing so in Mirpur – despite the danger posed to those milling around the Academy ground on Thursday morning.”It is a practice we follow all around the world,” Radford said. “Whenever we play one-day cricket we try to get into the middle of the pitch just to get boundary range, practice six-hitting, fours and just knocking the ball down the ground.”For someone who hasn’t spent a huge amount of time in the middle in the last couple of weeks, it’s good to get in the middle. It is one thing practicing in the nets and another when you’ve got a bit of space around you and you can picture the field.”Towards the latter part of the third ODI it seemed even Marlon Samuels’ best efforts might not be enough, until he launched into Rubel Hossain in the 45th over. Gayle’s impact hasn’t yet been felt by Bangladesh and West Indies are waiting for him to impose himself on the series. It would help his team if he batted at just walking pace too – but even for that he would need to make adjustments to his game and gameplan.

Jacques Kallis, South Africa’s premier allrounder, is the team management’s main concern for the remainder of the England tour. Kallis is one of three players currently carrying an injury but his lower back spasms are more serious than Graeme Smith’s left-knee problem or Alviro Petersen’s right hamstring strain.Kallis will not bowl or field again in the match but “if he has to bat, we will make sure we get him through that” Mohammad Moosajee, South Africa team manager, said. Kallis was the only member of the squad not to make it to the ground on Sunday but spent the day on the physiotherapist’s table after he hurt himself while in the field on day three.”After 17 years of international cricket and with him being an all-round player, the load that he has to handle, there’s no doubt his back will sometimes seize up,” Moosajee said. “We will monitor him overnight and then see what further action needs to be taken.”Kallis has a history of back spasms and Moosajee said the medical staff are well aware of what needs to be done to ensure he regains fitness. “In the past, there have been times where he has responded in a day to treatment but sometimes it takes four or five days for him to respond.”This is the second successive tour during which Kallis has been injured. In March, he missed the third Test against New Zealand in Wellington after suffering a stiff neck the night before the match.The South African management are again trying to nurse 37-year-old Jacques Kallis back to fitness•AFP

His injury this time means replacement player Faf du Plessis will stay with the Test squad as cover and not travel to Ireland to captain the South African A side, as planned. Du Plessis fielded for the whole England innings and will likely feature in the next tour match against Derby. Justin Ontong will lead the A side in Du Plessis’ absence.Having their second team shadow the national side in Ireland is proving beneficial. Moosajee said that if the national selectors feel there is a need to call anyone up from Ireland because of the ongoing injuries they will, although he is hopeful that both Petersen and Smith will not need to be replaced.Jacques Rudolph opened the batting in Petersen’s place but is unlikely to have to do that at Lord’s. “Alviro is seven days away from full fitness and he will bat again if he is required to here,” Moosajee said.Smith joined Rudolph at the top of the order and did not show any signs of discomfort, although he will be fully assessed once the match is over. “Graeme is managing with a heavily strapped knee. We assume he has damaged cartilage or meniscus and I don’t think it is something major, or he would not have been able to walk,” Moosajee said.The recent spate of injuries brings to six the number of players who have been wounded on the current England tour. Mark Boucher suffered a lacerated eyeball in the first tour match at Taunton which forced him to retire prematurely from international cricket. Marchant de Lange was next on the aeroplane home after he failed to recover from back spasms which ruled him out of action for up to eight weeks. His replacement, Albie Morkel, has an ankle niggle and was not considered for this match, although he remains with the squad.

ScorecardPhil Jaques made 61 for Yorkshire but no other batsman reached fifty•PA Photos

Although this has been a summer most will want to forget, it has been a decent one for Derbyshire and their followers. The sun has been obscured by rain clouds but this “unfashionable” county have basked in the warm glow of County Championship success.It has been 13 seasons since Derbyshire sat down at domestic cricket’s top table but they showed why they went into this contest with a 25 point lead in Division Two. Until that is, Yorkshire and Steve Harmison came roaring back in the final sessionHarmison had endured another chastening day on his second appearance for Yorkshire who had collapsed in startling fashion on a pitch that is a decent one to bat. Harmison swung the bat breezily to help his new team-mates to a batting point but when he ran in from the Lake End with the ball in his hand, the radar was clearly not functioning.His fourth ball was a wide and there was one more before his opening over ended. There was another in his next as the ball shot away down to the leg side to the boundary and when Jaques took him out of the firing line, he had bowled five wides and two no balls in three overs which cost 27. The fact that Derbyshire’s bowlers did not concede a wide or a no ball between them made it even worse.But how quickly the tide of fortune can turn in this game and he responded in the best possible fashion when Phil Jaques brought him back in the 27th over. It proved an inspired piece of captaincy as he took 3 for 0 in 11 balls although it has to be said, Derbyshire gave Harmison generous assistance.First Jon Clare was tempted into a rash drive at a ball he should have left alone and then in his next over, Wes Durston chased one he should have ignored and edged to second slip. It was hardly vintage stuff but after all his recent problems, Harmison will not mind how the wickets come.As Yorkshire opener Joe Root said: “They might not have been the most pleasing-on-the-eye balls that got the wickets but the pace he was bowling at obviously put a lot of doubt in the batsmen’s minds. You could see they weren’t comfortable so you’ve got to give him a bit of credit.”At least his third victim was the result of a decent bouncer which former Yorkshire batsman David Wainwright helped on its way into the hands of Moin Ashraf who did well to take the catch and stay inside the ropes.By the time stumps were drawn at 7pm, 17 wickets had fallen but rather than convene a pitch panel, the ECB should summon a batting inspector to delve into what unfolded on the opening day of this top of the table clash.Yorkshire’s position after lunch matched the unusual sight of blue skies over picturesque Queen’s Park as Jaques and former Derbyshire batsman Gary Ballance proceeded in untroubled fashion and appeared to be setting the visitors up for a score of around 350. But all that changed in the 40th over as Mark Turner tore in from the Lake End to instigate a startling collapse that saw the visitors crash from 175 for 3 to 219 all out on the stroke of tea.Turner took the first three of those seven wickets to fall to fully justify the decision to give him his first Championship appearance of the season in place of a batsman, Chesney Hughes, who was originally down on the scorecard to play.Yorkshire appeared to be in even more trouble as Derbyshire replied by moving to 43 without loss but then they also hit the self-destruct button to leave the visitors holding a slight advantage at the end of a remarkable day.

Ernest Hilaire, the chief executive of the WICB whose tenure has been marked by standoffs with a number of senior players, most notably Chris Gayle, has decided not to seek a renewal of his contract when it expires in October, ESPNcricinfo has learned.Hilaire has already informed the WICB board of directors of his intention not to continue in the role and they have appointed a recruitment agency to find a replacement. He has been appointed St Lucia’s new ambassador in London by the newly elected St Lucia Labour party government.He took over as chief executive in November 2009, when he was given a three-year contract, and presided over a somewhat tumultuous time in West Indies cricket as the team struggled to win matches. However, the side has shown improved competitiveness under the captaincy of Darren Sammy recently, especially in the limited-overs formats, and espouses a commitment to playing as a team.Hilaire had also been involved in high profile disputes with Dinanath Ramnarine, the former head of the West Indies Players’ Association, and a number of senior players, including Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan. Gayle’s troubles with the board began when he chose to play in the 2011 IPL and miss the home series against Pakistan. It was only in June 2012 that Gayle’s exile ended after he signed a CARICOM-brokered agreement with the WICB. Sarwan has not played for West Indies since June 2011, having lost his central contract in 2010 on fitness grounds.In May 2012, Hilaire, said the selectors should focus on picking a strong collective unit rather than one just comprising 11 star players. “For a decade or so the selectors were guided by a process which had them arriving at the eleven best players to take the field,” Hilaire had said. “With the eleven best players on the park our results went from bad to worse and yet worse still.

ScorecardJonathan Carter held a catch that consigned Abhinav Mukund to a pair in the match•WICB

West Indies A redressed a disappointing second-innings collapse during a spirited last hour with the new ball on the third day, nipping out three India A batsmen to leave the chase of a middling target in the balance. The hosts had failed to consolidate two positions of advantage during their innings and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rohit Sharma made India A favourites, until the twist late in the day.Defending 186, Jason Holder and Delorn Johnson, two six-foot fast bowlers, struck three times in ten overs. Holder had Abhinav Mukund caught at third slip with an outswinger, handing the India A opener his second duck of the game, and hit Ajinkya Rahane’s off stump after the batsman offered no shot. Johnson got rid of the nightwatchman, inducing an edge to slip from Rahul Sharma, which meant Cheteshwar Pujara had to survive 21 scoreless minutes before stumps. Shikhar Dhawan remained not out on 13; India were 22 for 3 and needed 165 on the final day.West Indies A could have been in a stronger position had their middle and lower order shown more mettle earlier in the day – they lost eight wickets for 76 runs and were dismissed for 210. No one was caught; six batsmen were leg before and the other four were bowled. They had made a sound start, with Lendl Simmons scoring 53 off 77 balls in an opening stand of 68, before two wickets fell in quick succession. Simmons and Donovan Pagon were lbw to Shami Ahmed and Rahul Sharma; West Indies A were 69 for 2.The second-wicket partnership between Kraigg Brathwaite and Nkrumah Bonner produced 65. Brathwaite was slow and steady at his end, but once Bonner was lbw to Kumar for 36, the collapse began at the other. West Indies A lost two wickets with the score on 134. Kumar also dismissed Brathwaite for 50 during a six-over spell of reverse swing that produced 3 for 9, after which part-time offspinner Rohit began to spin through the lower order to pick up career-best figures of 4 for 41.

BCCI president N Srinivasan has said that Indian players could participate in the newly launched Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL), if the hosts make such a proposal. The tournament will be held between August 10 and 31 this year at Colombo and Pallekele. Each of the seven provincial teams will be allowed a maximum of six overseas players in their squads and four in their playing XI.”Last time around, there were specific reasons why the BCCI could not support the tournament,” Srinivasan said. “And we informed the Sri Lankan board at that time.”This time, if there are any proposals made, we will examine it. And we have to be satisfied that the doubts and problems we had last time will not continue.”Last year’s event was scheduled to kick off on July 19, with the final to be played on August 6. The tournament hit its first hurdle when the BCCI decided to withhold its permission to allow Indian players to take part on the grounds that Somerset Entertainment Ventures, which owned the commercial rights, would be handling the contracts for international players and that it could lead to complications, should disputes arise over payments.In order to assuage the BCCI, SLC was willing to back the Indian players’ contracts so that their financial interests were protected, but that was not enough to satisfy the BCCI. The tournament had to be postponed.Srinivasan chose not to comment on why the deal collapsed last year. The success of the Indian Premier League has led to the mushrooming of similar Twenty20 leagues in Bangladesh and Australia. However, Indian players have been absent from both.

Scorecard
Chris Hartley celebrates his century•Getty Images

Chris Hartley’s sixth first-class century and a strong performance from the Queensland bowlers gave the Bulls the upper hand in the battle for the Sheffield Shield. But at the close of the third day at the Gabba, Ed Cowan was still standing firm for Tasmania and Queensland needed another four wickets before they would know what target they would be chasing in the fourth innings.Tasmania were 101 runs in front at stumps, with Cowan on 59 and Luke Butterworth on 11. Jason Krejza, Brendan Drew and Jackson Bird were the batsmen still to come for Tasmania, who were 6 for 136, and if the Tigers could push their advantage up towards 200 their bowlers would have something to defend in their push for back-to-back titles.Cowan had been cautious but if the fast bowlers dropped short he was especially strong when cutting, and he had struck five boundaries. However, there hadn’t been any top-order support for Cowan as the Queensland fast bowlers reduced the Tigers to 4 for 36 before Tom Triffitt (35) combined with Cowan for a stabilising 51-run stand.Steve Magoffin had angled a ball across Steve Cazzulino, who was caught in the slips for 4, and Nick Kruger was also taken in the cordon for a 12-ball duck off the bowling of Ryan Harris. The big wicket came when the Queensland captain James Hopes brought himself on and struck first ball, nipping a ball back in between bat and pad to bowl Ricky Ponting for 6.The edges kept coming as James Faulkner was caught at slip for 3 off Hopes, before the Cowan-Triffitt stand. Triffitt was bowled by Harris, who was impressive in collecting 2 for 35. The final wicket for the day was the batsman Alex Doolan, who was batting down at No.7 due to a back injury and hooked a catch to fine leg off the bowling of Alister McDermott for 15.The day had started well for Tasmania, when Hopes added only four to his overnight score and was lbw to Jackson Bird for 58. Harris was caught behind off Luke Butterworth for 18 but then came the partnership that could yet prove to be the difference, a 97-run stand between Hartley and Magoffin that took Queensland from a shaky position to well past Tasmania’s total.Hartley’s experience at the Gabba showed as he took few risks but latched on to anything full enough to drive through the off side, and his shots from cover to mid-off were outstanding. He also pulled occasionally and struck the ball down the ground and brought up his century from his 151st delivery with a pull for four off Krejza.It was Hartley’s first Shield hundred in two seasons and it came at the perfect time, as the Bulls aim to improve their conversion rate having made six of the past nine Shield finals for just one title. Hartley had excellent support from Magoffin, who didn’t throw his wicket away and made a valuable 31 from 74 balls before he edged behind off Butterworth, who finished with 4 for 54.Bird collected 4 for 56 as he had Cameron Boyce caught behind for a duck and then ended the innings with the wicket of Hartley, who on 111 left a ball that swung back into him and was trapped in front. It was the end of a fine innings, and one that could be the difference in a challenging match for the batsmen.

Mohammad Amir, in his first comments on the spot-fixing affair that disgraced Pakistan cricket, has presented himself as a victim of a plot organised by his captain at the time, Salman Butt, and the agent, Mazhar Majeed, and pleaded for forgiveness.Amir was jailed for six months after pleading guilty at Southwark Crown Court last year to conspiracy to accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat at gambling after a plot was uncovered in a sting operation arranged by the now defunct UK Sunday tabloid, the , involving the bowling of deliberate no-balls in a Test against England in 2010.His guilty plea meant that unlike his co-conspirators, Butt and Mohammad Asif, his fellow fast bowler, he had no chance to tell his story, and indeed did not face the challenge of cross-examination. In a statement through his lawyer, he had ventured at Southwark Crown Court: “I want to apologise to all in Pakistan and all others to whom cricket is important. I did the wrong thing. I was trapped, because of my stupidity. I panicked.”Now he has expanded on that defence to the former England captain, Michael Atherton, on .”I ask everyone to forgive me,” he said. “I messed up… Thanks to Allah I have taught myself to distinguish between right and wrong. I have never done anything wrong. I was manipulated.”Butt was sentenced to two-and-a-half years, Asif was jailed for one year, and Majeed received a sentence of two years eight months. Butt and Amir subsequently lost appeals against the sentence.Amir told Sky that he did not admit guilt during an investigation by the ICC because “I could not find the courage.” Instead, he placed the blame firmly upon Butt, a man who he learned to view in the Pakistan Academy, before his international debut, as a rare example of a friendly senior player eager to encourage him. “I was so angry with Salman,” Amir said. “He took advantage of my friendship. And I used to respect him like an elder brother.”Amir was full of remorse during an hour-long interview that will bring the subject of his potential rehabilitation to the fore. He claimed that he bowled two deliberate no-balls in the Lord’s Test because Majeed and Butt called him to a car park at the Pakistan team hotel in London and duped him into believing that his phone conversations with an unidentified fixer called Ali, whose name had not been revealed in court, had been recorded by the ICC.After the calls from Ali, he said that the day before the Lord’s Test came the meeting with Butt and Majeed. “I received a call from Mazhar that I should go to the car park…when I got into the lift I bumped into Salman… All of a sudden it was as if someone had launched an attack. He told me that my calls with Ali had been recorded by the ICC. He told me I was trapped… I panicked so much it did not even occur to me how ridiculous it was.”He said he was taken to a car in the car park and that Majeed said, with Butt sitting silently in the back seat, “Do me a favour. Bowl two no-balls for me.”Amir recalled: “I said Bro I’m scared I can’t do it. I was churning inside, thinking about it. I cursed myself. I knew I was cheating cricket…Then I did it.”Phone records show that Ali tried to call Amir 40 times during the build-up to the Oval Test as the spot-fixing plot was being hatched: Amir returned the calls twice. However, he did give him his bank details. “I gave him my contact details because he was Salman’s friend,” he said. “…Twice he asked me if Salman had had a word with me. I was thinking what does he want from me? Let’s try to figure it out.”Amir’s rendition suggests that the spot-fixing plot was more sophisticated than previosuly thought. He claimed that Butt, who he knew as an “elder brother,” had first brought up the subject of rigging matches for financial gain during the early stages of the tour. “He was smiling and laughing,” Amir said. “I didn’t take it seriously. I said no bro. I said to him this is forbidden, leave it.”Amir’s formative years were spent in Changa Bangyaal near Rawalpindi. He was born into what is widely regarded as a poor family near Rawalpindi. In the interview, he displayed himself as more intelligent and quick-witted than many have presupposed.”I have support,” he said. “Good people are boosting my morals and giving me courage… is not a good place for anyone and nobody would be proud to be there.”He was 18, the forerunner in an exciting new crop of fast bowlers, as he displayed the form that made him Man of the Series in the England-Pakistan Tests.”One day I was on top of the world and the next it came crashing down,” he said. “… I was stupid. I should have told someone. But I didn’t know what was happening to me…I had never thought about this sort of thing. I thought it was a load of nonsense. This led to my downfall.”Amir told how after the sting he was visited by Majeed and given £1500* (approximately $2380). “He told me I was his little brother. He was buzzing with excitement like he had hit the jackpot… I did not even touch the money. I knew that he had made me do something wrong.”Amir was released from Portland Young Offenders Institution in Dorset on February 1 after serving half of a six-month sentence for his part in a spot-fixing scam.He returned to Pakistan more than three weeks later, arriving at the international airport in Lahore at dawn alongside his solicitor, Sajida Malik, and leaving through a side exit to evade the media.Amir’s mentor, Asif Bajwa, told ESPNcricinfo at the time. “He made a mistake and he admits it. He is a strong young boy and knows how to withstand pressure both in cricket and in life, so I believe he definitely will return. Now what required is his image building.”That process has begun, led not by the ICC, nor any other professional body but by a former England captain.*03.45 GMT, March 20: The article had stated £15,500. This has been corrected.

The Rajasthan High Court has stayed the dismissal of suspended Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) secretary Sanjay Dixit, and passed an interim order directing that the status quo be maintained until further orders are issued. Rajasthan cricket’s status quo involves an administrative battle that has directly impacted the two-time Ranji champions and a pay dispute between its officials and its professionals.The RCA recently expelled Dixit from the association and the court issued its ruling in response to a petition from him arguing that his expulsion was unconstitutional as the extraordinary general body meeting at which the decision was taken was improperly convened.During the hearing on March 2, Justice Ajay Rastogi reportedly told the RCA that if it continues to function in the same way, the court would be forced to dissolve the executive committee and appoint an administrator to run its affairs.The court also expressed its concern about the impact of the dispute on the players. In January, Rajasthan became only the sixth team to successfully defend the Ranji Trophy, but there are signs that the factionalism within the administration is starting to affect the team. In February, the three professionals – Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Aakash Chopra and Rashmi Parida – were clubbed with the non-playing members of the team for the distribution of prize money. That decision upset the players enough for Chopra to post about it on Twitter: “We, the professionals, are extremely hurt at being treated as non-playing members. It’s not about the money but the respect n [sic] justice.”The RCA also requested more time to file their responses to Dixit’s petition and so the court directed that “the status quo shall be maintained by the respective parties, till further order”. The court also grouped the previous pending cases between Dixit and the RCA with the present writ petition. The case is to be listed again in four weeks’ time. Dixit said he plans to “put forward our case to the general body” once the holidays (for Holi) are over. KK Sharma, the current officiating secretary of the RCA, did not respond to calls for comment.Dixit told ESPNcricinfo that the association had also failed to respond to a request from his lawyers for the minutes of the meeting, a point that his lawyer had made in court. According to the , KK Sharma and RN Mathur, representing the RCA and its president, CP Joshi, told the court that “We had passed a resolution of no-confidence against Dixit and the minutes were available on record, so there was no illegality committed.”Three days after the RCA’s decision not to pay the professionals their share of the prize money, Modi and Dixit, one-time bitter rivals in the RCA, also took to Twitter to announce a truce so that they could team up against the current state administration, headed by Joshi. Their alliance is believed to be the reason the RCA decided to remove Dixit as secretary.

Ben Hilfenhaus, the leading wicket-taker in Australia’s Test series victory over India, has been recalled to the national ODI squad to replace the injured Brett Lee – his first limited overs duty in more than two years.The national selector John Inverarity and his panel chose an experienced name to cover for Lee rather than picking another youthful pace bowler, affording Hilfenhaus the chance to play his first 50-over internationals since a tour of India in late 2009.On that tour Hilfenhaus suffered from knee tendinitis that would subsequently keep him out of international cricket for most of the 2009-10 season, and had been employed exclusively in Test matches since.While naming Hilfenhaus, Inverarity suggested the XI for the Perth match against Sri Lanka on Friday was likely to be unchanged from the one that defeated India in Melbourne on Sunday. However Hilfenhaus may play in the third match, against India in Adelaide on Sunday at Adelaide Oval.”The NSP has named Ben Hilfenhaus in the squad for the game against Sri Lanka in Perth on Friday,” Inverarity said. “Ben will replace the injured Brett Lee. The bowling attack for Perth is likely to be the same as the one that did so well in Melbourne and Ben will be in Perth to provide cover.”Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle have been resting in reserve since the completion of the Test series, which reaped 27 wickets at 17.22 for the Tasmanian after he was recalled for the Boxing Day Test.Siddle (23 wickets at 18.65) is likely to come into contention for the second half of the ODI series, his exertions in nine consecutive Test matches deemed worthy of a longer break than Hilfenhaus’ four.As previously flagged by the selectors, Mitchell Marsh will join the ODI squad after the completion of the Sheffield Shield fixture between Queensland and Western Australia at the Gabba. Two of the other mooted contenders for Lee’s spot, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Alister McDermott, are also taking part in the match.