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Adam Gilchrist burst back to his swashbuckling best by blasting a magnificent 116 as Australia crushed Sri Lanka by six wickets and wrapped up a berth in the finals of the VB series.Gilchrist has been under intense pressure in the local media with some sections calling for him to be dropped down the batting order. After the match, he said it had been a tough time and he paid credit to his family, especially his wife Melinda.”It’s nice to get back in amongst some runs,” he said. “It’s a bit of a tough spell I’ve been going through – you’ve got a lot of friends and family that support you but in particular Mel has been a tower of strength for me.”I’ve had a break, after having gone through a bit of a run of outs and feeling a bit flat. So to step back in and have to really take it on has been exciting and has got my energy back.”His brilliant century, which came up in only 88 balls, in partnership with fellow opener Simon Katich, carried Australia to 4 for 237 off 41 overs in reply to Sri Lanka’s pedestrian 8 for 233 from 50 overs. Gilchrist, who had made just 58 runs in his last six one-day innings for Australia, showed obvious relief when he made his ton, punching the air and running towards his team-mates and family in the dressing rooms in celebration.”I took a risk today off Chaminda [Vaas] a few times because I felt that those were the sort of conditions that required that risk in chasing that total,” he said. “I’ve done that in previous games and those risks haven’t paid off. So it’s a fine line. We won a fantastic game of cricket, the bowlers bowled beautifully and we nearly got a bonus point.”Australia now have 18 points after six matches and are nine points clear of Sri Lanka who have also played six. South Africa, who play Sri Lanka in Perth on Tuesday, have eight points from four matches.

The Colombo District Cricket Association, Sri Lanka’s largest single association with a membership of 45 clubs, is to make an appeal to the country’s president, Mahinda Rajapakse, in a bid to force an annual general meeting for Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).Following a meeting held at the Sinhalese Sports Club, which was attended by a large majority of the CDCA and Sri Lanka Cricket membership, two resolutions were unanimously approved. Firstly, an appeal will be made to the President, and secondly, the audited statements of accounts for the financial year will be circulated immediately to the general membership of SLC, for review by the Auditor General.”We think an AGM is a necessity because we feel that cricket in this country has been diluted to a huge extent,” said Colombo DCA president, Nuski Mohamed, who chaired the meeting. “Especially with the provincial and district cricket tournaments not being held and the Premier tournament being expanded to 20 clubs.”Aravinda de Silva, the vice-president of SLC, said that the majority of national cricketers were in favour of the provincial tournament because it was initiated to try and help first-class cricketers in the country, and to create a competitive structure for the youngsters to make sure they are well prepared for international cricket before they enter the scene.Mohan de Silva, the former SLC president under whose tenure of office the Sports Minister decided to suspend the activities of the SLC executive committee almost a year ago, said: “Our activities were suspended citing various reasons. One of them was this so-called financial mismanagement. Unfortunately up to now we have been deprived of a hearing or no charges have been framed against us, thus violating all norms of natural justice.””The fundamentals of natural justice demands that a fair hearing is given,” he added. “We have been denied that opportunity. This is the reason why we have waited for so long and come before our membership to seek their views. I am happy about the response that we have received today from them.”Hashan Tillakaratne, Sri Lanka’s former captain, said that it is almost ten years since the country won the World Cup and added it was sad that the standard of cricket has deteriorated to a stage where the country’s senior and junior teams were getting beaten by a country like Bangladesh.”Before our cricket reaches rock-bottom,” said Tillakaratne, “we hope the president of the country gives us a fair hearing and paves the way to hold elections and let an elected body administer cricketFormer Sri Lanka cricket stars Ashantha de Mel and Brendon Kuruppu and other SLC officials were also present at the meeting.

Macsood Ebrahim, the former Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) director and national convener of selectors, has responded to allegations by ZC interim board chairman Peter Chingoka that he externalized thousands of funds in foreign currency he acquired from ZC.”I can’t go into total details because my lawyers are now looking into the issue,” he said. “What I can say is the allegations are false and untrue. This is the work of a man who is desperate and under intense pressure. If you read the whole letter, he has not answered most of the questions asked by the stakeholders. It is an iniquitous attempt to divert attention from him.”I am very comfortable. I have done nothing wrong. If he has evidence, please let’s see it. I’m guilty of nothing.”Ebrahim said he was shocked that Chingoka had turned on him in the letter when his name had not been mentioned in the letter by the disgruntled Zimbabwe cricket stakeholders sent to ICC.”I’ve not been involved in national cricket since the interim committee was appointed. I’ve put my energy in my club and I play on Saturdays. Some of us came through the club cricket structure into national cricket. When we leave the national stage, we go back to our clubs. Tell me where have Chingoka’s men on that interim committee came from?”Ebrahim, although no longer involved at the national level, said he felt depressed by the state of the game in the country: “Unless every single player that is available for Zimbabwe comes to play the future is bleak,” he said. “The results against Kenya spoke for themselves. Kenya went on to lose 4-0 to Bangladesh and we say the results were fine. Fine in who’s eyes? Obviously in blinkered eyes.”Meanwhile, Ethan Dube, the chairman of the Matabeleland Cricket Association (MCA), who also came under attack from Chingoka in his letter, has also defended his position as MCA leader. “My appointment was handed to Justice Ahmed Ebrahim during Chingoka’s time,” he said. “Besides, the chairmanship of Matabeleland is not up to ZC. It’s up to the Matabeleland clubs. If he wants that decision to be reconfirmed, we will be happy to do that again.”Dube also criticised Chingoka’s claims that his name was being used to support protest for racial-balance reasons. “For a man of Chingoka’s stature to use racial smokescreen is pathetic,” he said. “I’m not the only black man who has questioned how things are being done. For him to say that I’m giving colour to it its sad and incorrect. We are all stakeholders in our own right. But I’m not going to dignify those claims by taking them seriously.”He also dismissed claims that his province had suppressed the formation of new smaller provinces: “He talks about us refusing to affiliate new provinces. The inclusion of these provinces will benefit everyone. But it must be structured in a transparent and planned manner.”

Division 1

Glen Chapple produced a valiant 70 from 106 balls, as Lancashire recovered their poise to grab a useful 30-run lead in a low-scoring dogfight at Old Trafford. His efforts, coupled with Tom Smith’s first runs in first-class cricket (26), thwarted Hampshire’s best efforts, although James Bruce eventually finished off the innings for 224 with a career-best 4 for 52. By the close, however, Hampshire had inched themselves back in front, thanks to an unbeaten opening stand of 54 between Michael Brown and James Adams.Durham’s Gordon Muchall and Phil Mustard took their sixth-wicket stand against Kent at Canterbury to 249 before they were separated, Muchall finishing on a career-best 219 and Mustard 130. In reply to Durham’s 574 for 9 declared, Kent ambled to 169 for 2 in 68 overs, David Fulton leading the way with 62.Jonathan Trott recorded his ninth first-class hundred, Nick Knight made 73, and the debutant Dane Freddie Klokker made a useful 40 as nightwatchman, as Warwickshire built themselves an imposing platform against Sussex at Hove. Click here for a full report on this match .After a day of thumb-twiddling at Trent Bridge, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire finally made it onto the pitch on the second day of their match … but not for long. Only 14 overs were possible before rain and bad light closed back in, in which time Notts progressed to 69 for 1. The only casualty of the day was the captain, Jason Gallian, who fell for 5 to the rookie Australian, Mitchell Claydon. Darren Bicknell and Russell Warren made it to the close without further loss.

Division 2

Marcus Trescothick was dismissed twice in the day for a total of 16 runs, as Somerset lurched towards an ignominious innings defeat against a Jon Lewis-inspired Gloucestershire at Bristol. Responding to an imposing total of 437, Somerset were given the run-around by Lewis, a recent England reject, who grabbed a magnificent 7 for 38 in 14.3 overs, including Trescothick in both innings. Following on, Somerset would scarcely have improved on their miserable total of 143 had it not been for a defiant 153 not out from the Australian legspinner, Cameron White, as they closed on 267 for 8.Alastair Cook’s 88 and 51 from Andy Flower, did not seem enough to save Essex from the follow-on at Chelmsford after they slid to 180 for 7 in reply to Northants’ 397. Darren Gough polished off the Northants tail to finish with 5 for 82, but Essex slipped until James Middlebrook and Graham Napier added an unbeaten – and vital – 54 for the eighth wicket to steer them to within 14 of temporary respite.Surrey’s hopes of a winning start to life in the second division looked less than likely when they closed on 256 for 4 at The Oval, still a long way behind Derbyshire’s 492. Fifties from Scott Newman and Mark Ramprakash were the foundation of Surrey’s innings after Ant Botha had completed his third first-class hundred in the morning.

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The Australian and New Zealand cricket boards both expressed disappointment after losing out on the right to stage the 2011 World Cup. An ICC board meeting in Dubai today voted to award the tournament to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, looked to draw comfort from the news that the two countries would jointly host the 2015 World Cup as well as the 2009 Women’s World Cup.”The Australian women’s team won the 2005 World Cup and winning the rights to host the next global women’s tournament is exciting news for the growth and development of women’s cricket in Australia,” Sutherland said. “It’s disappointing to miss out on the men’s 2011 World Cup, but I am pleased that the highly professional bid we made, which complied with a long list of strict criteria, and which was supported by governments, venues and others such as our member state cricket associations, has demonstrated to the ICC that Australasia will host a world-class tournament in 2015.”Speaking on behalf of the Australasian bid, Creagh O’Connor, Cricket Australia’s chairman, said: “Obviously we are disappointed to have narrowly missed out on 2011 but I think we can be proud of the submission we produced. We accept the decision of the ICC board and send good wishes to the four Asian nations that will host the 2011 World Cup.”Martin Snedden, New Zealand Cricket’s CEO, echoed those sentiments. “I believe our joint 2011 bid with Australia was of the highest possible standard and demonstrated that we could host a world-class tournament in 2011, so I am naturally disappointed that we were unsuccessful,” he said. “We will work with Cricket Australia, our stakeholders and the Government to ensure that cricket in New Zealand and New Zealand itself gains the maximum possible benefit from co-hosting the tournament.”

Richie Richardson, former West Indies captain, u-turned on his earlier criticism of Brian Lara’s captaincy, attributing West Indies’s success in the ODI series against India to his imaginative leadership. West Indies won nine out of their eleven home ODIs this season, which included a 5-0 drubbing of Zimbabwe and a 4-1 victory against India.Richardson had earlier criticised Lara’s appointment as captain for the third time in his career, saying that he lacked support from his players. Instead, he supported elevating vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan to the post, but was convinced the West Indies board reverted to Lara for the sake of getting instant results, with no long-term objective.”A lot of people thought they should have annihilated Zimbabwe”, Richardson told . “It didn’t happen. Maybe there was a concerted effort to try and do something different [against India], and have a different approach.”I really don’t know what transpired, but I believe Brian Lara had a part to play in that. Just the way he went about his job, especially in the field. He was there with a purpose.”Richardson also believed that Lara would have been spurred by negative comments, after Sir Vivian Richards also stated that his appointment was based on commercial considerations ahead of next year’s World Cup. “Maybe something like that inspired Brian Lara. He is the sort of guy that if you criticise him, he’s going to want to prove you wrong.”

The Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India is all set to take assistance from Microsoft, the IT giant, for software solutions that will evaluate and help improve the performances of its umpires.The poor standards prevalent in Indian umpiring has been a growing concern, with not a single Indian umpire part of the Elite Panel. The recent efforts come in the wake of the recent statement by Dave Richards, the General Manager-Cricket of the International Cricket Council (ICC), that Indian umpires were not upto international standards.”The deal is not finalised yet, but we are in the final stages of negotiations with Microsoft,” Lalit Modi, the vice-president of the Indian board, was reported as saying in a Press Trust of India report. “We zeroed in on Microsoft after looking at several technological solutions.”Microsoft’s task will be to provide a software that will help evaluate the performances of the men in white coat whose every decision in the domestic circuit will be under scrutiny from the next season. Based on the recommendations of the Umpires Committee, the BCCI had earlier decided to record all domestic championship matches – from the Ranji Trophy league level to the championship final and the Challenger Series.Six cameras will be employed at every match and the video footage will be analysed by the software. MP Pandove, a member of the Marketing Committee of the board, added that S Ramakrishnan, the Indian team analyst, will also help out in this regard.No Indian has been on the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires since former Test captain S Venkataraghavan retired in 2003. Whether these new steps will change the situation remains to be seen.

Matthew Hayden’s year out of the one-day side has not diminished his desire to win back his spot during the jammed lead-up to the World Cup. And Hayden, who is prepared to use his Test platform to re-confirm his limited-overs qualifications, has rated Monty Panesar as a low priority for Australia’s batsmen in the Ashes.Panesar, the left-arm spinner, emerged as a potential danger for Australia after collecting 16 wickets in the first three Tests against Pakistan, but Hayden said he would not be assisted by the conditions, except at the SCG, and the more serious worries would come from the quick bowlers. “Monty Panesar will be under pressure from the moment he arrives in Australia, just simply because of the way we play spin bowling,” he said. “As a left-hander I’ve got a natural advantage over Monty because the ball is spinning into me. It’s the same for the other aggressive left-handers we’ve got in our order.”Before the Ashes begins Hayden will attempt to add to his 119 one-day appearances, which include five centuries and an average of 40.10. If he misses a spot on next month’s mini-tour to Malaysia, where Australia will play India and West Indies with their probable squad for the Champions Trophy, he will push for selection through the Tests in the hope of earning some action in the VB Series, Chappell-Hadlee Series and World Cup.”The message is loud and clear – I want my spot back,” Hayden said while attending a junior clinic at the Tewantin-Noosa Cricket Club. “I still want to play. I’ve been training hard in the off-season and it’s just a matter of getting an opportunity in both forms of the game.”Hayden was dropped from the limited-overs side after the England tour last winter, but he retained his Cricket Australia one-day contract and was selected in the 30-man preliminary squad for October’s Champions Trophy. However, he must force his way ahead of Simon Katich, who is employed with an often frustrating stabilising role alongside the power hitters, and Adam Gilchrist.”When you’re not playing you do miss it,” Hayden said. “It wasn’t my decision to be out of the side. It wasn’t me who retired. I was dropped. So I had to look at ways to improve on my game.”More careful shot selection boosted Hayden towards “one of my best years” in 2005-06, which began with a run of four centuries in consecutive matches after his Test spot was in danger at the end of the Ashes tour. “I proved to the selectors while under pressure in England that I’ve still got the goods,” he said. “Sides haven’t been trying to get me out in the last 18 months – they’ve pretty much let me do that. They’ve bowled to keep me out of play more than anything, so I had to be a bit more patient.”England’s restrictive bowling attack limited Hayden to 180 runs in the first four Tests of the series, but he escaped with a career-saving 138 at The Oval. He expects another strong opposition unit this summer and is confident he has developed a plan to cope with Flintoff, Harmison and Co. “The main threats are their quick bowlers, whoever they are,” he said. “They were what made them perform in England and it will be no different here. It’s challenging when you play a good attack, but I’m confident. Confident that I’ve found a game plan that nullifies what they’ve got in their mind.”

John Reid, the New Zealand Cricket president, believes a lack of video evidence will not harm the allegations of ball-tampering against Pakistan. Reid, speaking to in his capacity as a match referee from 1993 to 2002, said there were “quite a number of occasions” during his career as an official that there were concerns over the tactics of Pakistan’s bowlers.In 2000 Reid fined and suspended Waqar Younis for a game for tampering and was called “racist and biased”. “It’s obvious he was in the wrong but the umpire or referee gets the blame,” he said.Reid said in the current case the only evidence Hair needed to prove the allegation was the ball. “Everyone is saying there is no video on this,” Reid said. “You don’t need video evidence. You’ve got the ball … They would have had the ball at the meeting [when the charges were laid]. They wouldn’t do that unless the ball showed a lot of evidence of ball tampering.”Reid told the paper Hair had “done a good job” but had gone “one step too far” with his request for a payout of $US500,000. “It’s going to be very difficult for Darrell Hair from now on I would imagine,” he said. “He’s a well respected umpire. OK, he’s a tough old bloke but you’ve got to be a tough old bloke every so often.”Reid said Imran Khan, who last week labelled Hair a “mini-Hitler”, was one of the pioneers of tampering. “He wrote a book about it,” he said. “Have a look at the book. There was a chapter in there saying how to do it. It’s a joke, I’m afraid.”

Sussex took the honours on the opening day against Kent at Canterbury after dismissing the hosts for 241. In reply, they reached 102 for 2 and trail by just 139 runs. Somewhat inevitably it was Mushtaq Ahmed to the fore once more for Sussex, ripping out the middle-order and ending with the impressive figures of 6 for 58; in the process he took his 82nd wicket this season. The only man to stand in his way was Martin van Jaarsveld who struck 20 fours and a six in his third hundred of the season. But Kent subsided dramatically, losing their last seven batsmen for just 26 runs in 11 overs. In reply, Sussex lost Richard Montgomerie and Carl Hopkinson cheaply before Murray Goodwin steadied the ship with an unbeaten 49.