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The first one-day international in Australia to feature a batting Powerplay ended with the new rule contributing to the home team’s demise. A win that South Africa’s captain Johan Botha described as “massive” came because he and Albie Morkel took full advantage of their five-over selection, which they used to put a chase that had started to founder, back on track.They took their Powerplay at the start of the 45th over, when they needed 51 from 36 balls with three wickets in hand having just lost the well-set JP Duminy and Neil McKenzie. It was make or break for South Africa and as Morkel found the boundary at will with the field up in his unbeaten 40 from 18 deliveries, it was Australia who were left broken.Ricky Ponting said before the game that he had spent plenty of time chatting to Australia’s domestic players, who have experienced the batting Powerplay at state level, about how best to use it. As Ponting tried to work out where to locate his boundary-riders in the dying stages he was left wishing he had also spent time studying Morkel’s batting.”We hadn’t seen a lot of Albie Morkel either, to tell you the truth,” Ponting said. “I don’t know if we were really as prepared as we could have been to bowl to him in those Powerplay overs at the end of the game. He hit the ball incredibly cleanly at the end and maybe we could have done some things a little bit better there to make it a little bit more difficult for him.”South Africa picked up 0 for 49 during their batting Powerplay, while Australia had collected 2 for 43. Australia began theirs in the 42nd over with six wickets in hand and the dangerous strikers David Husseyand Cameron White at the crease. But the men seemed to lack urgency during the five overs – both lost their wickets in any case – and Ponting knows that timing his Powerplays will be crucial in future ODIs.”I contemplated taking it really early today, just after their bowling Powerplay,” he said. “The ball was still nice and hard and both Shaun [Marsh] and I were going pretty well.”He also considered using it when the ball changed after 34 overs but Australia had just lost a wicket and the move was postponed. South Africa always planned to use theirs as late as possible, although theNo. 9 Botha would have preferred specialist batsmen to be there, instead of him and Morkel. As it happened, it didn’t much matter.The success was particularly pleasing for a South African side that lost both Twenty20s and entered the one-day series as clear underdogs. As much as anything, Botha was happy that the victory would prove tohis own players that they could hold their own against the world champions.”This is massive for us and it shows that we’ve got some guys that can really fight out there,” Botha said. “If we can just sharpen up a little bit in certain areas we probably can have a really good team. This just shows everyone in that changeroom that we can compete on this tour in the one-day tour.”However, he knows how important it is to back up in the second match at Bellerive Oval on Sunday. “I think it’s put a little bit [of pressure] back on them,” Botha said. “If we play really well in Hobart and we go two up then it’ll be massive pressure. But if after this weekend it’s one-all then it’s all square again, then the pressure is on both teams. Sunday is going to be a huge game for us.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

About an hour and half into the opening session, Sri Lanka’s decision to bat first seemed to have backfired. On a slow-paced surface, batting was an ordeal and Sri Lanka limped to 65 for 3, with their two most experienced batsmen back in the pavilion. The next two sessions told a different story, thowever, thanks to Tillakaratne Dilshan’s counterattacking brilliance.His fast-paced 162, complemented by Chamara Kapugedera’s unbeaten 93 and a patient 63 by Malinda Warnapura, had such a demoralising effect on the home side that Sri Lanka added a further 306 in two sessions.Dilshan walked in shortly after lunch with his team wobbling at 75 for 4. Until then, the top order had struggled on a pitch which rendered shot-making difficult. Mashrafe Mortaza’s restrictive line didn’t allow the batsmen easy runs and even the introduction of spin – as early as the 10th over – didn’t offer much respite.With the ball turning and bouncing, the batsmen were caught in a shell and the spirited fielding by the home side suffocated the visitors. The best – and probably the only – way out, was to counter-attack and it was left to the trigger-happy Dilshan – already with the reputation of being a thrasher – to begin the rescue efforts and carry on.His intention was to get on top of the spinners and he started off by picking on Bangladesh’s best, Shakib Al Hasan. He charged down the pitch to him and crashed one through backward point in the same over to open his boundary account. In one particularly brutal spell, 53 runs came off six overs with Dilshan helping himself to 18 off a Shahadat Hossain over. He began by whipping him on the front foot over fine leg and then fetched two boundaries past backward point and pulled past midwicket. Shahadat had just had a lucky break, getting Thilan Samaraweera to chop one onto the stumps off a short ball. As if expecting lightning to strike twice, he persisted with the same length against Dilshan and was duly punished.After keeping Sri Lanka in check through the morning, Bangladesh were starting to lose the plot. Dilshan motored along at more than a run a ball and didn’t allow any bowler to get on top of him. Enamul Haque jnr, the left-arm-spinner who came in at the expense of the seamer Mahbubul Alam, was the one to eventually dismiss him, but his return to the Test side after nearly a year wasn’t one to cherish. The quicker deliveries were delicately dabbed and cut down to third man by Dilshan and the shorter ones were swatted away either wide of cover or in the region of midwicket.The low bounce was evident from the opening session and the spinners tried to skid the ball through and target the base of the stumps but to no avail. Warnapura played and missed on a few occasions but looked comfortable against the balls which sat up to be hit. He added 119 with Dilshan and Mohammad Ashraful decided to fix the situation by bringing himself on. Warnapura was squared up by a rather innocuous straighter one as Ashraful struck off his first ball and bellowed a war cry to rival his celebration after a fighting hundred in Mirpur.The wicket didn’t promise any respite for Bangladesh as Kapugedera scooped his first ball over mid-off and cut the next past backward point, as if to prove Ashraful’s strike was a fluke. The stand-out feature in his innings was the wristy flicks to the on side. A short delivery by Mehrab Hossain jnr was flicked past midwicket and he regularly swept against the turn. He gave Shakib the charge, deposited him inside-out over long-off and pulled him when he dropped it too short. He was strong against the new ball as well and the lack of pace on the surface allowed him time to rock back and cut past backward point.Dilshan’s brilliance notwithstanding, Bangladesh had themselves to blame for their display in the field, which went from promising to poor as the day progressed. Mushfiqur Rahim’s batting won many hearts in Mirpur but his wicketkeeping left a lot to be desired. He fumbled a stumping down the leg side when Warnapura was on 20, then dropped an edge off Mahela Jayawardene, which fortunately for him didn’t cost much. He could have had Dilshan stumped on 78 had he gathered a rising delivery cleanly. Kapugedera had a life on 37 when a tame chip to mid-on was spilled by Imrul Kayes. Fielders at the boundary were more content trying to boot the ball away, rather than trying to bend down and pick it up.The body language was a contrast to the morning session when Mortaza struck in the first over, dislodging makeshift opener Prasanna Jayawardene with one on the board. Prasanna walked back after being hit in front of leg stump, and Kumar Sangakkara followed after inside-edging the same bowler on to his stumps. Mahela was very circumspect and his punches failed to beat the infield. He fell to Shakib for 11, prodding forward.The were few smiles in the home camp after that but much to their relief, they got rid of Dilshan before stumps, bowled freakishly round his legs. With Kapugedera still around, a score of 450 looms.

Chennai, take a bow
Nearly a decade ago, they swallowed their painto stand and applaud as Wasim Akram’s Pakistan side went on a lap ofhonour. On Sunday, they were on their feet again, clapping with genuineappreciation as Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood reached theircenturies. Of course, it was nothing compared to the decibel level onceVirender Sehwag started teeing off.No fours please, we’re English
In the afternoon session, withmost in the ground expecting a declaration, England dawdled along. By thetime Matt Prior stepped out and lashed one through cover, they had gone109 balls without a boundary. Some intent.Not a happy Bhajji
When Rahul Dravid couldn’t get his hands to adifficult chance at leg slip, Harbhajan Singh was heard mutteringsomething along the lines of “Why don’t you come and bowl?” His mooddidn’t improve later in the afternoon either, with Gautam Gambhir droppingPrior at short leg. This time, there were no words, just a woe-is-meexpression.His strength is his weakness?
That seemed to be Steve Harmison’stheory while bowling to Sehwag. It didn’t quite work though. By the timeKevin Pietersen decided that a steady diet of short and wide deliverieswasn’t quite the need of the hour, Sehwag had pounded five fours and oneastonishing six over third man.Playing yourself in: What’s that?
Monty Panesar’s first ball toSehwag was a full toss. Sehwag saw it early, took a good meaty swing anddeposited the ball into the stand at square leg. It brought up India’s 50,in 5.3 overs. Slow and steady, it wasn’t.How to empty the stands
Two balls after nonchalantly loftingGraeme Swann over wide long-on for a six, Sehwag went for the paddle sweepand missed it. The appeal was vociferous, and it took Daryl Harper an ageto lift the finger. As an annoyed Sehwag walked off, some in the standsstarted heading for the exit.The first run is the hardest
It took Dravid eight deliveries toget off the mark with a single behind square on the leg side. The cheersthat greeted it could have been mistaken for applause that usuallyaccompanies a half-century or better. How the mighty have fallen.

West Indies have named four uncapped players, including the Australian-born Brendan Nash, for their Test tour of New Zealand in December. The fast bowlers Kemar Roach, from Barbados, and Lionel Baker, from Leeward Islands, are also in the squad along with the Guyana batsman Leon Johnson.The four men are also in a 15-man group named for the three-match one-day series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi starting on November 12. The ODI squad also includes the spinners Nikita Miller and Dave Mohammed and the batsman Shawn Findlay, who have not been selected for the New Zealand Tests.The Test squad instead will feature the left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn, the fast bowler Fidel Edwards and an extra wicketkeeper, Denesh Ramdin. Carlton Baugh is the lone specialist gloveman for the Abu Dhabi leg although he will likely be Ramdin’s deputy in the longer format.The inclusion of the former Queensland batsman Nash, who last year moved to Jamaica where his parents were originally from, continues his rise following his ODI debut in Canada in August. Johnson and Roach also made their initial one-day appearances in Canada and the three men, along with the untried Baker, will now be aiming to squeeze into the Test line-up.John Dyson, the West Indies coach, said his team hoped to use the series against Pakistan as a chance to build on their tournament victory in Canada. “Chris Gayle batted strongly in that series as did Xavier Marshall, at his new No. 4 spot,” Dyson said.”Newcomers Brendan Nash, Leon Johnson and Shawn Findlay showed that they are ready to perform against Pakistan. The series is a further opportunity for our spinners, Nikita Miller and Dave Mohammed, to impress and provide the variety we need to balance the established pace attack. Kemar Roach is expected to press the senior bowlers for a spot in the team.”On the New Zealand leg, Dyson hoped that a series win would nudge his team above New Zealand, who at No. 7 are just one place ahead of them in the Test rankings. New Zealand were pushed hard during the tour of Bangladesh, beginning the tour with an ODI defeat and winning the Test series 1-0 with much difficultly. Dyson banked on his fast men to utilise the conditions well in the country.”We have a strong pace attack in Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell and Fidel Edwards supported by the promising newcomers Roach and Lionel Baker,” Dyson said. “Nash will be a handful on the New Zealand wickets and Sulieman Benn should find the wickets more to his liking compared with the flat wickets he has bowled on in the Caribbean.”The first Test in Dunedin starts on December 11 and the second, in Napier, begins on the 19th. The squad for the five-match ODI series and the two Twenty20 internationals in New Zealand will be named later.Squad for Abu Dhabi ODIs Chris Gayle (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lionel Baker, Carlton Baugh (wk), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Shawn Findlay, Leon Johnson, Xavier Marshall, Nikita Miller, Dave Mohammed, Brendan Nash, Daren Powell, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor.Squad for New Zealand Tests Chris Gayle (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lionel Baker, Carlton Baugh, Sulieman Benn, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Fidel Edwards, Leon Johnson, Xavier Marshall, Brendan Nash, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor.

Scorecard
Rana Naved-ul-Hasan’s superb all-round performance helped the Lahore Badshahs complete an emphatic seven-wicket victory against Chandigarh Lions at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium. Chasing a target of 137, Naved-ul-Hasan’s unbeaten half-century enabled Lahore to finish the match in the 16th over, a performance which boosted their net run-rate. Today’s result moved Lahore up to No. 4 in the league and kept their semi-final hopes alive.The Chandigarh batting line-up was bolstered by the inclusion of former England batsman Graeme Hick, who was drafted in to fill the void created by the suspension of Chris Cairns and Dinesh Mongia. He began his innings in the seventh over, after Naved-ul-Hasan had ended an opening partnership of 40 by trapping TP singh lbw, but faild to make an impact. He became fellow county-pro Saqlain Mushtaq’s first wicket when he holed out to Naved-ul-Hasan at deep midwicket. Chandigarh had slipped from 40 for no loss to 77 for 3 and they were in further trouble after Naved-ul-Hasan held another catch off Saqlain to dismiss Manish Sharma.The frequent fall of wickets curbed Chandigarh’s momentum and it was Lou Vincent’s 23-ball 33 which pushed Chandigarh up to 136 for 6.Lahore’s two Imrans – Farhat and Nazir – got their team off to a cracking start, scoring 33 off 3.4 overs. Farhat scored 22 off 12 balls but it was the promotion of Naved-ul-Hasan to No 3 which proved a masterstroke.He glanced his first delivery towards the fine-leg boundary and then drove Andrew Hall through mid-off to find his groove. His approach wasn’t frantic – he scored only 14 off his first 12 balls – but he accelerated steadily and found the boundary regularly. He hit one six in innings, sweeping Rajesh Sharma over the cow-corner boundary, and as he neared his half-century, Lahore inched closer to the target.Naved-ul-Hasan brought up his 50, off 33 balls, off the penultimate ball of the innings. his partner in a 30-run stand for the fourth wicket, Khalid Mahmood, hit the winning run with 24 balls to spare.

Match facts

October 25-29 Start time 9.00am (0330 GMT)

Big Picture

The Chittagong Test was among the most hard-fought victories for New Zealand, a ‘great character win’ as coach John Bracewell put it. When Bangladesh lost 14 players to the ICL, including a few regulars in the national team, people feared a massive walkover for New Zealand in the two-Test and three-ODI series but there were more than a few surprises in store. On a slow turning track in Chittagong, New Zealand conceded a first-innings lead and were left chasing 317. Their captain, Daniel Vettori, almost single-handedly, steered them home by three wickets and broke many Bangladesh hearts. The highs of the victory were overshadowed by several holes in the batting performance and the news isn’t good for New Zealand ahead of the second Test starting tomorrow in Mirpur, having lost Jacob Oram to a back injury.Vettori admitted Oram’s absence would be felt, but he was confident of a good show nevertheless. His team will have to gear up for another fight against a team which has shown the same self belief which carried them to the Super Eights in the World Cup last year. Bangladesh’s batsmen were uncharacteristically defensive in Chittagong but that strategy worked in frustrating New Zealand. Their lower middle order, led by Shakib Al Hasan, put a price on their wickets and dragged the Test till the fifth day, a rarity for Bangladesh.

Form guide

(Last five matches, most recent last)Bangladesh LLLLL
New Zealand LDLLW

Players to watch

Abdur Razzak: Shakib stood out for the hosts with his first-innings figures of 7-36 and a gritty 71 in the second, but Razzak was equally impressive with the ball and did most of the damage during the chase. His 3 for 93, from 50 nagging overs, included the wickets Vettori, Jamie How and Daniel Flynn. With all the attention turned towards the surprise package, Shakib, Razzak could sneak up on New Zealand again.Daniel Vettori:New Zealand scraped through in the first Test by three wickets largely due to a Man-of-the-Match performance from Vettori with both bat and ball. He took nine wickets and scored two half-centuries: his 76 in the second innings played a crucial part in New Zealand’s victory. After taking 20 wickets on his previous tour of Bangladesh, in 2004, Vettori remains the home side’s biggest needle.

Team news

Oram’s departure has forced a change and his place has gone to Grant Elliott, the allrounder who made his debut against England in Napier earlier this year. Coincidentally, he replaced Oram in that Test too.New Zealand 1 Aaron Redmond, 2 Jamie How, 3 Jesse Ryder, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Brendon McCullum (wk), 6 Daniel Flynn, 7 Grant Elliott, 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Kyle Mills, 9 Iain O’Brien, 11 Jeetan Patel.Bangladesh have kept the same 12 from the first Test. Bangladesh’s chief selector, Rafiqul Alam, said they would make a change to the XI which pushed New Zealand close in Chittagong “only if the situation demands”.Bangladesh 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Junaid Siddique, 3 Rajin Saleh, 4 Mohammad Ashraful (capt), 5 Naeem Islam, 6 Mehrab Hossain jnr, 7 Shakib Al Hasan, 8 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 9 Mashrafe Moratza, 10 Abdur Razzak, 11 Shahadat Hossain

Pitch and conditions

The head groundsman at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Shafiul Alam Belal, reckoned this would be a better batting pitch than the one at Chittagong. Vettori felt the pitch would be at its best for batting on the second day for but expected it to assist the spinners from the third onwards. Mohammad Ashraful felt it would flatten out as the game progressed.Therefore, batting last may not be the best option. Unfortunately, the weather hasn’t been too kind. Intermittent rain forced practice sessions to be cancelled and isolated showers are predicted through the Test.

Stats and trivia

Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) contracted players will be available on a phased-in basis for the domestic SuperSport Series starting next week. Gerald Majola, the CSA chief executive, said the players will feature in different rounds of the first-class competition between the South African franchises, which concludes next April.Majola said though the national side had a busy nine months ahead, the team management and franchise coaches had decided all contracted players would be made available to their franchises.”This means that Neil McKenzie, Hashim Amla, Ashwell Prince, Paul Harris, JP Duminy, Monde Zondeki, Robin Peterson, Herschelle Gibbs, Johan Botha and Albie Morkel will all be available from the outset,” Majola said.”Although Hashim has played both formats, he has been included in this group because he has played very little one-day cricket in the past 12 months. Albie will probably play as a batsman only in the first match to complete his rehabilitation and as an allrounder in the remaining two.” The other fast bowlers, Morne Morkel and Andre Nel, will play the first two matches of their respective franchises while Makhaya Ntini will appear for the second and third matches.Majola said the multi-format players like Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn and Mark Boucher will play in the tournament’s third round. “Graeme Smith’s return is clearly dependent on the progress of his tennis elbow injury. It is unlikely that he will play representative cricket until the Castle Test series against Bangladesh next month.”

Digicel, current sponsors of the West Indies team, has insisted their rights are being infringed in the deal between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and promoter Allen Stanford. It filed for an injunction before the High Court in London in respect of the proposed Stanford 20/20 match between England and the Stanford Superstars, which has a winner-take-all purse of US$20million, in Antigua on November 1.According to a release from the company, “The injunction is being sought so as to protect Digicel’s rights pending a full hearing of the dispute before an Arbitrator in London which is expected to take place later in the year.”The release added that Digicel has been forced to take this step for a number of reasons, “including confirmation received from both the WICB and Stanford that another telecommunications company is seeking to become involved as a sponsor for the proposed event. Such an involvement by another telecommunications provider would constitute another further extremely serious breach of the sole and exclusive rights that Digicel holds by virtue of its exclusive Sponsorship Agreement with the WICB.”In reaction to Digicel’s legal proceedings, WICB CEO Donald Peters said on Wednesday: “We are going to contest this injunction. Our attorneys in London are working on it. Our position remains the same.”He explained: “We are not part of this (the Stanford 20/20 match) in that it is not our team, it is not a West Indies team that will be taking part, so Digicel’s rights are not infringed. They are our sponsors but we disagree in this matter … but we expect that common sense will prevail.” For their part, Digicel said it has consistently stated they fully support and continue to support the proposed event.”However, such support can only exist if Digicel’s rights and entitlements are properly protected and observed. The WICB has steadfastly refused to do so. As such, Digicel has been left with no option other than to make this injunction application to the High Court in order to protect its sole and exclusive rights as primary sponsors of West Indies cricket.”According to Digicel, its Sponsorship Agreement with the WICB states that any team that “represents, purports to represent or could reasonably be perceived as representing the West Indies” is covered by the terms of Digicel’s exclusive sponsorship deal.”The position of both the WICB and Stanford is that the team that will play England on November 1 represents Stanford, and Stanford alone,” the release said. “Digicel’s position is that the 20/20 team is comprised of West Indies players and must therefore reasonably be seen to be a team representing the West Indies-and not one solely representing the interests of a private individual.”Digicel believe the Stanford 20/20 match falls within the parameters of Digicel’s Sponsorship Agreement with the WICB and that the position in which Digicel finds itself “is in direct contrast to the respect and protection of rights that has been afforded to the sponsors of the England team (Vodafone) and which has been confirmed by both the WICB and Stanford.”

Just 20 days after it managed to strike a delicate balance over the Zimbabwe crisis, the ICC will once again be walking the tightrope over a teleconference spanning continents which starts at 10.30 GMT on Thursday – and this time, its executive board will hope to arrive at a consensus among the eight participating nations on the issue of staging the Champions Trophy in Pakistan this September.As in the Zimbabwe crisis, which was resolved during the ICC annual conference in Dubai early this month with the country retaining its full membership while pulling out of the ICC World Twenty20 in England, the ICC hopes that a consensus decision will ensure that the tournament goes ahead as scheduled at the original venue or in Sri Lanka, the alternate venue.However, once again, strong opinions have emerged on either side of this issue. Players from England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa have expressed serious concerns over the prevailing security climate in Pakistan, and their representatives have warned of a pullout if the tournament goes ahead in that country. They seem to have the strong backing of their respective boards, too, except for Cricket South Africa (CSA) which seems to be of the view that Pakistan needs to be given “every opportunity to host the tournament to the best of their ability”.On the other side, India is leading the group of Asian countries, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the hosts, who are determined that the event needs to go ahead as scheduled. They believe that the security briefing last Sunday by the ICC for officials of the eight participating nations, broadcast executives and players’ representatives, has not pointed to any specific threat and has been “positive” about Pakistan’s status.”The Indian board sees ‘no harm’ in Pakistan hosting the tournament as scheduled,” Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, told Cricinfo. “We are supporting Pakistan as the venue of the Champions Trophy. Our Indian team had taken part in the Asia Cup without any incident. Besides, the report of the ICC’s security consultants, which was presented during the briefing in Dubai (on Sunday) was positive. So the BCCI sees no harm in Pakistan hosting the tournament.”In fact, a few hours before Thursday’s teleconference, when asked whether the tournament would go ahead as scheduled in Pakistan, a senior BCCI official shot back: “Why not?”It’s understood though that if there is stiff opposition to playing in Pakistan, especially from England, Australia and New Zealand, and the ICC reiterates its inability to provide any safety guarantees, the Indian board may suggest that the tournament be shifted to Sri Lanka, the alternate venue. Besides ensuring that the tournament stays in Asia – South Africa or England are being touted as the preferred alternatives by those who are hesitant to play in Pakistan – Indian officials believe that the current security climate in Sri Lanka, where India is playing a Test series, is peaceful and conducive for hosting the tournament.

Duleep Mendis, the chief executive of Sri Lanka Cricket, had told Cricinfo earlier this week that his country was “very confident” of hosting the event if it was moved out of Pakistan. “We are confident that we can hold the tournament within the short span of time if it’s not possible to hold it in Pakistan,” Mendis said. “We had confirmed our name as alternate hosts some time back and we stand by that. We are prepared logistically and on the security front and are very confident about hosting the tournament, if it comes to us.”Another option that may be discussed during Thursday’s teleconference is postponing the event, even though Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, has said, “We are trying our best to hold the tournament as per schedule and hope that it is not postponed.”As of now though, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are learnt to be firmly behind Pakistan, the official host, which also appears to have gained the unexpected support of Norman Arendse, the CSA president.”We must give Pakistan every opportunity to host the tournament to the best of their ability,” Arendse told . “I’m inclined to support Pakistan’s hosting of the tournament. I know it might sound easy for us as administrators to make such decisions as we stay home while the players go to Pakistan, but I assure you it is not so.”Yet, officials on either side of the issue, and especially the ICC, realise that the executive board will have to seriously consider the threat of a pullout by top cricketers from England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, which would end up diluting the tournament’s value and severely denting its credibility.Speaking to Cricinfo, Tony Irish, the chief executive of the South Africa Cricketers Association (SACA), said that there was a possibility of top players from his country pulling out if the tournament went ahead as scheduled (from September 11) in Pakistan. “I can’t confirm this, but yes, there could be some players pulling out,” he said.Irish said that the players reiterated their concern at touring Pakistan after the SACA reported back to them on the ICC’s security briefing in Dubai, which Irish attended. At the meeting, the players’ representatives were told that the governing body or the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) couldn’t give any foolproof security guarantees. “We have serious concerns with the security situation in Pakistan, especially after the briefing in Dubai,” Irish said. This view has found a loud echo in England, Australia and New Zealand.Against this backdrop, it’s understood that the ICC board, while taking a final call on Pakistan, will also consider a report on the security briefing conducted by the ICC last Sunday. However, the report does not contain any specific recommendation – either way.

IS Bindra, the principal adviser to the chief executive of the ICC, has backed England to host the inaugural Champions League tournament.”My wish and hope is that we have it in England. I feel the ideal place for a Champions League is England in September,” he told the . “They will have spectators from all different countries, multi-racial crowds for all teams, it is the most cosmopolitan place.”The Champions League was initially supposed to be a 10-day event in late September and early October but the dates are yet to be firmed up as the BCCI and ECB lock horns over the issue of whether counties with ICL players should be allowed to participate.When asked which board should run the Champions League, Bindra remained non-committal and stressed that he was now a part of the ICC and not the BCCI. “That’s a matter of detail which the two boards (BCCI and ECB) can sort out. My job is to smooth inter-member relationship and if I can help facilitate, I will,” he said. “I’m not BCCI now, I’m ICC. This September will be too soon, but it should be possible in 2009.”However, Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, continues to be adamant that the tournament will go ahead under India’s terms. “We will go ahead, with or without the ECB,” he told BBC Radio Five Live. “We have everybody on board going forward, apart from the ECB who have some reservations in terms of structure and ownership.”Meanwhile, the also reported that the ECB has lined up the royal family of Abu Dhabi as financiers of the Champions League, with ₤750m (US$1.49 billion) available over 10 years. The tournament is reportedly to be held in Abu Dhabi, with Sharjah to be used as a reserve ground.