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The issue of chucking divides opinions, but a clear verdict emerged from apanel of former cricketers instituted by Wisden Asia Cricket: five out ofseven members came out in favour of handing the matter back to the umpires.To the question whether a throw should be called by an umpire, there wasonly one categorical no and a conditional one.Eleven questions covering a range of issues relating to chucking were putto a panel comprising Greg Chappell, Peter Roebuck, Bob Woolmer, SidathWettimuny, Rameez Raja, Sanjay Manjrekar and a current international batsman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The answers, published in the June issue of the magazine, are amixture of the radical and the expected.Chappell, Manjrekar, and the current player were clear that if the transgression was obvious, the umpireshould call, whereas Wettimuny, while agreeing that “the umpire should beable to call a bowler who is clearly and purposefully breaking the law bythrowing”, said that the umpire should have access to technology todetermine a throw.Woolmer was categorically against the umpire calling. “The umpire has too muchelse to do,” he said and went on to suggest: “The bowler should be takenthrough a testing protocol [after being reported by the umpires] using adigital camera in the middle without his knowledge.”Chappell felt that there was a need to have a broader definition of whatconstituted a throw. Using an inverted argument Chappell said, “It may bebest to define what constitutes a fair delivery rather than what is athrow, and move forward from there.” While Woolmer agreed with Chappell, Roebuck and Wettimuny felt that thelaw was fine at the moment. “Unless there is any scientific evidence to thecontrary,” said Wettimuny, “there is no need for a change.”All barring Chappell were happy with the current reporting structure butmany felt that the rehabilitation process needed to be tightened. Accordingto Woolmer, “Rehab of older bowlers is tough and time-consuming, and oftenit falls down when the bowler resorts to his old action in the effort to geta wicket.” The current batsman was against the matter being reported to thehome board and said, “Home boards have a vested interest. It should go to acentral authority.”The question regarding whether the umpire must call the throw also evoked mixedreactions. Rameez was the only one who felt that itwas unfair to report the bowlers based on naked-eye judgement. “Technologyis there to be used. The technology saved Shoaib Akhtar because it spottedhis hyperextension. It showed that there was a problem with Shabbir Ahmed’saction.” But Manjrekar felt that a goodumpire would be able to spot a bowler taking unfair advantage.The panel was also asked what its take was on the number of bowlers shieldedby medical alibis. The current batsman said that having a physicaldeformity was no excuse. “If a batsman has defective eyesight, you don’tmake a special rule for him.” But Woolmer and Rameez were willing to make anexception for the cases that involved hyperextension. “I have no problem asthe arm bends back past the vertical. In the case of a thrower it is clearlydifferent, where the arm is jerked through.”Notwithstanding all the differing opinions, there were a few common threadsthat spanned the survey. All recognised the limitations of the currenttechnology for testing and were also critical of the law which allowed different tolerance limits for different types of bowlers. Chappell commented: “I would expect that the forces on the bowlingarm are not dissimilar for most bowlers so the tolerances should be thesame.”Wisden Asia Cricket

The first half of an exclusive interview with Graeme Smith, South Africa’s youngest-ever Test captainWhat are your first memories of captaincy?
I captained at under-13 aged group when I was 12. I always played a year younger than most of the other boys. I captained every team from then on until inter-provincial at under-19 level. I don’t have very much experience of not being captain, I’ve always done it.First conflict?
At under-19 level I had a little run-in with Jacques Rudolph. We’d played against each other all the time for years, and then at under-19 level he captained Northerns and I captained Gauteng. It was a pretty heated exchange, my first taste of what can happen when the adrenalin is flowing during a big game. It was the key game of the tournament. We had always got on, and still do, but it was war at the time!Clash with a team-mate?
That hasn’t really happened. You only get problems if you leave things undecided, if you leave people unsure about what they should be doing and what is expected of them. If everyone knows how the captain wants to run things then they are more likely to respect you – and if a guy steps out of line then you can pull him back in.But most of your experience has been captaining players your own age?
Most of my teams have been a year older than me, but otherwise it’s been limited to the last 12 months when took over at Western Province for a couple of games and took South Africa A to Zimbabwe. And my first couple of Test matches, of course.Any discomfort with leading older, more experienced players?
No, not all. Some people said captaining Steve Elworthy was like captaining your dad, but he was fantastic and later, had some very kind things to say about me. I’ve always got on very well with older players, I don’t know why. I have lived my life a bit “older” than some guys, and most of my best mates are older than me.Most satisfying conflict resolved?
I’m not sure the conflict was resolved, but it was comforting to know I was backed up. It happened in Bangladesh during a one-day international against India. I caught Sourav Ganguly scuffing up the pitch with his studs and I took him on, I had a real go. The satisfying aspect for me was the way my team backed me up when they saw me getting involved. I knew we were fighting together and backing each other up. I’d been told about Sourav’s tactic of being really “nice” and over-friendly when confronted about something he’s done and, sure enough, he started trying to be best buddies with Mark Boucher and some of the other guys – but they were having none of it. In fact, they went at him as hard as I had.You enjoy that confrontational side of the game?
I enjoy it because of the passion and determination involved. You are representing your countrymen, every one of them, against another nation, it’s huge. It’s massive.What about the South Africans who want to be represented by a well-mannered gentleman who does not point his finger and be aggressive on the field?
I believe the sport has gone past that gentlemanly era. It’s still right, and important actually, to have respect for your opponents and the people who play the game, and there is definitely a standard of behaviour to be maintained. Ugly clashes between players should be avoided and, in some instances, punishment is necessary. But it’s the job of a batsman representing his country to dominate the bowler and vice versa for the bowler. You’ve got to do all you can to get the upper hand. There’s going to be tension and aggression, there’s a pile of emotion. People are going to crack now and then – people must try to understand that.So the old traditions of the game have overtaken by the modern era?
No, that’s not what I’m saying – not at all. The traditions of the game are vitally important. That’s why I’m so excited about playing in England where the traditions and heritage of the game are greater than ever. All I’m saying is that a balance must be found where the modern edge, the competitive hardness, of international cricket can still fit in with the great history created by all the men who’ve played cricket for the last couple of centuries.Is there enough appreciation of the sport’s history in South Africa?
I think we’ve lost a bit of that. There’s a specialness about playing for your country that should give you goosebumps every single time you are lucky enough to be selected. It’s not an everyday thing.What will you do to help restore the pride?
It’s an ongoing process – selecting people with a natural sense of pride and honour helps! Little things help, too – little but important. I’m arranging for personal cap bags to be made for each player, embroidered with their name and Test number. Your cap is special – I’d like everyone who has one to treasure it.Are you ever daunted by your own place in history?
I’m not daunted by being the youngest captain, or one of the youngest. That sort of thing goes over my head, it doesn’t scare me or affect me. It’s hard to describe – you see yourself in the newspaper and it’s like someone else. You almost don’t realise what’s happening to you, but that’s partly intentional because I focus and concentrate only on what I can influence. So much of what happens to me is beyond my control! I’m also so excited about this team, and so convinced we can do something special together, that maybe that helps me to stay away from the peripheral stuff. “Who was South Africa’s youngest Test captain?” might come up in a pub quiz but it’s hardly important, is it? Naturally I’d prefer to be judged on my record in the years to come.

Matthew Hoggard won the the man-of-the-match award as England coasted to victory over Zimbabwe with more than 12 overs to spare to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Zimbabwe have now lost eight successive matches.And the England captain Nasser Hussain believes Hoggard’s emergence as an international force will act as a spur to his more senior bowling colleagues.”He’s a very good white-ball bowler,” said Hussain. “If you look at his figures in England they’re very good, and he should come into his own in next summer’s triangular series.”He’s putting pressure on Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick, and that’s the wayit should be. We have three very good white-ball bowlers now and we will have tosee if we’ll be able to play them all together.”Hussain also paid tribute to Nick Knight, with whom he added 112 in only 24 overs to make an England victory virtually certain.”I do like batting with Knighty. I always have even going back to the time wewere both at Essex,” said Hussain.”We’ve opened together well and we have a lot of chats and enjoy each other’scompany. I was pleased with the way we set about it today.”Hussain himself made his fifth half-century in his last seven one-day international appearances.

The rejigging of the senior selection committee, and the announcement of six new Test centres – Pune, Ranchi, Indore, Rajkot, Visakhapatnam and Dharamsala – were among the major cricket-related decisions made at the BCCI’s AGM in Mumbai. While former India wicketkeeper MSK Prasad replaced Roger Binny as the South Zone selector, Gagan Khoda was drafted in place of Rajinder Singh Hans from Central Zone.The BCCI president Shashank Manohar felt the shake-up was necessary as he did not want Binny’s son, Stuart, to be done “injustice”.

November 17 deadline for DDCA to host SA Test

The Delhi & District Cricket Association has been given a deadline of November 17 to keep Feroz Shah Kotla ready to host the fourth Test between India and South Africa starting December 3. BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said if the DDCA missed the deadline, newly-announced Test venue Pune would host the match.
“The DDCA has to give us the requisite permissions [from civic bodies and security] by the 17th, if we don’t have the permissions from the DDCA by the 17th, the match will be given to Pune,” he said.

“As I said, the perception [of conflict of interest] has to change. I said there should not be injustice on Stuart Binny also,” Manohar said. “If he is a deserving player he should not get not flak from media that because he is Roger Binny’s son he is playing. We can’t destroy his career also.”Prasad’s candidature, on the other hand, was strongly backed by his home body, the Andhra Cricket Association, and the only other person said to be in the running was former Tamil Nadu and India batsman WV Raman. The TNCA, it is learnt, did not aggressively push Raman’s case as Manohar had already zoomed in on Prasad. “[TNCA president] N Srinivasan was very clear that no favours should be sought from anyone at the AGM,” a TNCA source said.Prasad had put in his papers as ACA cricket operations director – a position he has held for six years now – close to a week ago to ensure that his nomination did not violate any conflict-of-interest norms. Prasad felt his elevation would “give hope to all those players coming from nooks and corners of the country”.”I am a representative of the minnows of Indian cricket,” Prasad told ESPNcricinfo. “When somebody from some state can rise to this position, then as a player also anybody can rise to that position.”On how he would approach his new job, Prasad said he would look to replicate what he had done in Andhra: “I am very clear that the systems we have adopted in Andhra – the clarity of selection policy – which if I can place in front of you or anybody, it will be appreciated.”The inclusion of Khoda, the former Rajasthan and India batsman, was a bit of a surprise. Manohar explained the decision to drop Hans in characteristically pithy fashion: “Looking at his performance we decided to go for a new one.”The decision to grant Test status to six new centres, Manohar said, was because of the glut of home Tests India were set to play in 2016. “Next year we are going to have about 12 Test matches in India and each stadium has all the facilities of hosting international games,” Manohar said.There was little discussion, however, on whether the NCA would stay in Bangalore or be moved out. Niranjan Shah, the newly appointed chairman of the NCA board, told ESPNcricinfo that a decision on this would be made after the committee was fully constituted. “We didn’t discuss this at the meeting,” Shah said. “After Diwali, our committee will meet and discuss the future course of action. The whole committee has to be formed.” Shah also confirmed that the BCCI did not discuss the issue of DRS.There was also no discussion on the Cricket Advisory Committee that includes Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. However, the board secretary Anurag Thakur confirmed that “all the three will remain”.Thakur also formally announced the introduction of contracts for women cricketers. “The women have also come under the contracted players. There will be two categories: category A and B. And they will paid Rs 15 lakh and Rs 10 lakh each,” he said.

Yorkshire 144 and 44 for 1 trail Lancashire 517 (Law 206, Horton 149) by 329 runs
Scorecard

This was a day of records at Headingley, none of them favourable to Yorkshire. The most notable were the highest partnership for Lancashire in first-class matches against Yorkshire, and the highest individual innings for Lancashire in Roses matches.Perhaps in the end Yorkshire did rather well to dismiss Lancashire for 517, after they were 383 for two at one stage. The batsmen chiefly responsible for Lancashire’s position of virtually overwhelming strength were the two Australian-born players, opener Paul Horton (149) and the former international Stuart Law (206). Their contributions enabled Lancashire to pass 500 and finish the day 329 runs ahead, with one already Yorkshire wicket down.Horton and Law began the day in possession of the crease, and stayed in control until well into the afternoon session. They used the well-tried method of laying a firm foundation before attempting to build. Horton, 82 not out overnight, took 48 minutes to reach his second first-class century, and was stuck on 99 for quite a while, but he refused to be flustered and finally turned a ball from Jason Gillespie towards long leg to reach three figures; it took him 186 balls.Horton continued to play the anchor role while Law now began to play his strokes. He reached his century off 139 balls shortly after lunch, and altogether scored 125 runs during the afternoon session as he thrashed an innocuous attack. He overtook Horton in the 140s, and their partnership was worth 258 runs, beating the previous Lancashire best against Yorkshire for the seventh wicket of 247 by Graham Lloyd and Ian Austin in 1997.The stand was finally broken when Younis Khan took a fine diving catch at slip off Tim Bresnan to remove Horton for 149, his highest first-class score. Andrew Flintoff played an innings of mixed quality, 24 off 37 balls, while Law reached 201 at tea. He had now beaten Reggie Spooner’s best of 200 not out for Lancashire against Yorkshire. He failed, however, to reach Maurice Leyland’s record of 211 for this fixture, being run out for 206 in a mix-up with his partner.Lancashire’s tail had little to offer, and the last eight wickets went down for 134 runs. The top Yorkshire bowler was Adil Rashid, with three expensive wickets. Yorkshire lost the wicket of Craig White before the close and face a major task even to avoid a three-day innings defeat.

Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has been retained in Pakistan’s 16-member one-day squad for the five-match series against England after recovering sufficiently from his elbow injury. Shahid Yousuf, the 20-year old right-handed batsman from Sialkot, is the only new face in the squad.Wasim Bari, the chairman of selectors, said that Yousuf was included based on the merit of his performances with the Pakistan A side in Abu Dhabi and Australia. Akhtar, who has not played for Pakistan since February, was expected to play the final Test at The Oval but was eventually not risked. Bari confirmed that he had now recovered well enough.”We have decided to retain Akhtar for the one-day series as he has recovered well from his ankle injury,” Bari told Reuters. “Yousuf is a fine batting prospect who has done well for the A side in recent months in two major tournaments.”Shoaib Malik, the allrounder, has also been included, after he was cleared to play by the Pakistan Cricket Board’s medical panel. Malik missed the Tests owing to an elbow injury and will join the squad later this week.Faisal Iqbal, the middle-order batsman and pacers Mohammad Sami and Shahid Nazir will return home after the Test series.Squad Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal (wk), Imran Farhat, Shoaib Akhtar, Rana Naved, Rao Iftikhar, Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul and Danish Kaneria.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4th day
Bulletin – Murali spins Sri Lanka to victory
Verdict – Outclassed but unbowed
Quotes – Is Murali racing Warne?
3rd day
Bulletin – Sangakkara puts Sri Lanka in charge
Verdict – Sangakkara makes his point
Quotes – ‘This is right up there with my other hundreds
News – Vaas sustains hamstring injury
Big Picture 1 – Kandy’s unwelcome guest
Big Picture 2 – Sangakkara celebrates
2nd day
Bulletin – Sri Lanka build a healthy lead
1st day
Bulletin – Vaas leads Sri Lankan fightback
Preview
Flu-ridden Sri Lanka looking to wrap up series
News Lawson retained for second Test
News Sri Lankan camp hit by illness

Shoaib Akhtar has sued two Pakistani citizens and has sought Rs 100 million (approximately $1.7 million) for tarnishing his reputation and for damages caused to him mentally. The two citizens had earlier moved a court seeking a life-long ban on his playing cricket.According to a report in Mr Furrukh Hussain, a civil judge in Lahore, called the defendants, Syed Muzammal Hussain Shah and Syed Najamul Abbas Shah, to appear in court on July 5 for the next hearing.In July last year, the two had approached the court saying they were hurt by Shoaib’s comments that he would have been better off playing for Australia. In an interview with The Guardian, Shoaib had said that he might have made a bigger impact in cricket if he was bowling Glen McGrath and Jason Gillespie rather than with Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.”Wasim and Waqar are in decline. They were great but they’re not match-winning bowlers anymore. Wasim has not won a match since 1996. So I have to make it all happen on my own. There is so much expectation on my shoulders. But, if I come on after those two [Australians], when the ball’s a bit older and swinging. Imagine, it would be ‘see you, mate, talk to you later’ every time.”The two suitors had also accused Shoaib of attending a fashion show on the night of an important Muslim festival. However, they had failed to establish the charges and the civil court had dismissed the case. Shoaib will now be claming Rs 70 million as compensation for the ‘malicious prosecution’ and Rs 30 million for the mental agony that he had to suffer.

Zimbabwe received the dampest of welcomes to England, on and off the pitch,as the first day of their opening tour match against British Universitieswas reduced to 38 overs by rain. By the close, the universities had madesteady and unspectacular progress to 92 for 2, though they were denied fullvalue for their shots by a quagmire of an outfield.Most of the interest in the game lay elsewhere, in the expected protestsfrom the Stop the Tour campaign, who have described the Zimbabweans as”spokesmen for Robert Mugabe” and have promised to stage demonstrations atevery ground. But, like the smattering of spectators, they were unenthusedby the conditions, with no more than seven protestors turning up.Warwickshire’s chief executive Dennis Amiss, who had instigated extensivesecurity arrangements for the match, was very satisfied with the day. “I amquite happy,” said Amiss. “There has been no sign of any trouble. Theprecautions taken have been worthwhile and the extra expense is nominal.”On the field, the universities captain, Jimmy Adams, top-scored with anexcellent 42, before falling in the last over before lunch.

After seeing his side finish the day on 265 for five, nearly 400 ahead of Surrey, Somerset coach Kevin Shine said: "It’s been a very good day for us today, and we have finished in a strong position. Congratulations to Steffan Jones who took his 50th championship wicket . He has grafted hard on very flat wickets. On any other track he would have taken more. There was also some fabulous bowling from Richard Johnson – a real Test Match performance."Regarding the batting he said: "We did a professional job when we batted , and we have built upon our first innings lead of a hundred to put ourselves in a commanding position in the match. We will bat for a bit longer in the morning and hope to bat them out of the game. At the start of the day we planned to be 350 ahead by close, so we are a little bit ahead of that."