Players warned against joining rebel US league

The ICC has warned players against signing up for a new unauthorised league being established in the USA.

The American Premier League, the brainchild of local entrepreneur Jay Mir, is a Twenty20 tournament scheduled to be held in October on a converted baseball field in Staten Island, New York City. Although there remains some uncertainty about the whole venture, it is believed that a number of current and former players have been approached to take part.

The ICC issued a statement earlier this week cautioning that the event was unauthorised, and in effect would have the same status as the rebel Indian Cricket League, whose players have been banned from international and much domestic cricket. That could mean that anyone taking part in the APL would face similar sanctions, and any team fielding such an individual would be barred from the Twenty20 Champions League.

To date, the only named signings have come from Pakistan, but rumours, many emanating from the organisers, have linked the league with several current county players. The Daily Telegraph claimed that David Collier, the ECB chief executive, had warned county chairmen, about their players signing up.

John Aaron, the secretary of the USA Cricket Association, confirmed to Cricinfo that the board's "blessing was not sought in promoting the tournament". He added that "the entrepreneurial sprit is alive and well in the USA, therefore many individuals continue to seek opportunities to arrange events".

The ICC were less concillatory. "The organisers have not sought the approval of the USA Cricket Association or the ICC, although I understand that the APL is approaching players directly to participate in the event. Members are therefore precluded from releasing their players to play in this event until such time as ICC confirms that the event has been approved."

There was some good news, however, for the APL with the announcement that Sir Richard Hadlee had joined as an executive consultant.

A further question mark over the whole venture is the timing, as the weather in New York in October is not really suitable for cricket. One veteran administrator in the USA told Cricinfo that "unless they have plans to play indoors, this whole idea is, to put it mildly, ambitious".

Martin Williamson is executive editor of Cricinfo and managing editor of ESPN Digital Media in Europe, the Middle East and Africa

Flintoff returns home to undergo surgery

Allrounder out of IPL

Flintoff returns home to undergo surgery

Cricinfo staff

April 24, 2009

	Andrew Flintoff's time with the Chennai Super Kings was all too brief. He will now miss England's series against West Indies © AFP

Andrew Flintoff has returned home from the Indian Premier League to undergo surgery on a torn meniscus in his right knee.

Flintoff had been appearing for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL when he felt discomfort in his right knee. The Chennai medical staff immediately contacted ECB's chief medical officer Dr Nick Peirce. Scans were taken of the right knee in a Durban hospital and they detected a slight medial meniscal tear and after these were viewed by Peirce it was decided that Flintoff should return to London.

He will undergo an operation early next week and surgeons are confident that he should recover from the keyhole surgery within three to five weeks.

"Clearly this is a huge disappointment for both the player and the IPL team," Peirce said. "This sort of degenerative injury though is one that could have happened at any time any where. The procedures we put in place meant that the ECB medical staff were alerted about the problem immediately and we thank Chennai for their co operation."

Hugh Morris, the ECB's managing director of cricket, added: "Andrew has been extremely unlucky with injuries but if there is one saving grace it is that the injury has occurred now rather than on the eve of either the ICC World Twenty20 or the Ashes.

"Having the surgery now means that Flintoff should be available for both those events although he is certain to miss the Test series against the West Indies."

Flintoff, who along with Kevin Pietersen commanded the highest auction price in IPL history earlier this year, endured a difficult few weeks since joining the Chennai franshise. His return of 0-50 against Delhi was the most expensive of any IPL bowler through Thursday, and his 1-44 against Mumbai barely better. In all, Flintoff claimed two wickets at 52.50 (and an economy rate of 9.54) in three games with the Super Kings. He fared better with the bat, averaging a respectable 31.00 at better than a run-a-ball in three innings

Flintoff's torn knee meniscus represents the second major injury to befall a veteran Chennai Super Kings player in as many seasons. Matthew Hayden tore an Achilles tendon during his four-game stint in the inaugural IPL, and was subsequently ruled out of Australia's tour of the West Indies

All-round Symonds sees Australia through

Australia 208 for 4 (Symonds 58, Hopes 48, Afridi 2-38) beat Pakistan 207 (Butt 57, Afridi 41, Hauritz 3-41, Symonds 2-12) by six wickets
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	Afridi scored a responsible 41 and took two wickets, but was not the best allrounder on the night © Associated Press

Andrew Symonds may have cut his Rastafarian beads, but he showed tonight there had been no cutback on his competitive spirit or his aptitude, as Australia levelled the series 1-1. His two-wicket over, in the face of a marauding Shoaib Akhtar, first kept Pakistan down to a par total, but his bigger contribution came with the bat when Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal threatened to run through Australia for the second time in a row.

Afridi and Ajmal had undone James Hopes' good work at the top, bringing the game right back into the balance, when Andrew Symonds came in to bat. Hopes, filling in for the injured Shaun Marsh at the top of the order, had put Australia on their way to a chase of a tricky 207, before Ajmal and Afridi struck in back-to-back overs.

The contest was always going to come to life when the spinners came on. Before that Hopes had weathered the storm from hostile and accurate Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul. That initial spell resulted in the early wicket of Brad Haddin, but Hopes counterattacked and brought the run-rate within manageable proportions.

From 19 for 1 in six overs, Hopes cut and drove Gul and Shoaib for three boundaries and a six in the next three overs. Australia reached 70 for 1 in 14 overs, when spin was first introduced.

Australia tried to play the mind game, going for the batting Powerplay immediately, and trying to delay the introduction of the dangerous spinners. Pakistan played ball, and went on with Afridi and Ajmal anyway. From 70 in 14 they moved to 91 in 20 in a tense period of play.

In the 21st, Ajmal got Watson with a doosra, the batsman looking to pull without reading the spin. In the end Watson tried unsuccessfully to pull out of the pull, and top-edged. In the next over, Afridi beat a Hopes sweep with a straight and full delivery.

Batting was not easy then, what with Test fields in place and the ball turning big, and Australia coming off a monumental collapse in the previous game. Ajmal and Afridi attacked, but Symonds tackled them superbly. Even early on in the innings, he picked Ajmal's doosra. For good measure he let Ajmal know every time he saw the away-spinner. His 58 comprised only four boundaries and a six, the first of which was the team's first boundary in 17 overs.

The value of Symonds' knock grew when put in comparison with his partner Michael Clarke's effort. Clarke struggled to pick the spin, and was patchy all the way through. At one point, out of a 58-run stand Clarke had scored only eight.

Symonds' sensible batting also coincided with Pakistan gradually running out of the spinners' quota, and with a small total to defend they had to bring back the pace bowlers on. Once that happened it was a cruise for Australia, with close to four an over required.

Even that small target was thanks to Symonds' effective over at the death. Shoaib's 14-ball 25 had lifted Pakistan from 176 for 7, but just when it looked he would take Pakistan to a more competitive total, Symonds struck with two in the 46th over to not even allow them a full quota of 50 overs.

That was not the last twist of a slow yet dramatic first innings of the game. A disciplined Australia had done well to pull Pakistan back after they had threatened twice to move out of their grasp.

First it was Younis Khan who recovered from a sluggish start to get into fluent mode only to be dismissed for 28. Then Shahid Afridi played an uncharacteristically responsible innings, but when he looked set to launch Pakistan into the safe zone, Hopes got him with seven overs to go.

Following the early run-out of 17-year-old debutant Ahmed Shehzad, Pakistan made an edgy start. Salman Butt and Younis were literally edgy against Nathan Bracken and ODI debutant Doug Bollinger, both left-arm seamers. They troubled both the batsmen with their angle and movement both ways. By the end of the ninth over Pakistan had crawled to 28 for 1, having faced a maiden each from both the bowlers.

With Hopes came the change of angle, and Younis helped himself to three boundaries in his first two overs. In the next seven overs Pakistan doubled their score, mainly via Younis who scored 20 off 14 during that period. The sight of Ben Laughlin lit his eyes up, a short loosener first up widened them further, and an edge resulted as he went to cut the leather off the ball.

Two more wickets, punctuated by an especially asphyxiating spell by Bollinger, meant Pakistan were struggling in the middle overs, five down for 122. Bollinger went for 26 in his 10 overs, including a middle spell of four overs for five runs.

But then Afridi lifted them, not looking to hit the ball out of the ground every time he faced up. The main feature of his innings was his late-cuts, and placement for quick runs. He actually faced 40 balls, the most he has since his 52-ball 85 against Zimbabwe last January. Afridi also read the game well, picking a slower ball early during the Powerplay, when Australia had both third man and fine leg up in the circle. That was his only six. Afridi, along with Ajmal, provided Australia with a tough examination, but he was not the best allrounder on the night.

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Bermuda facing elimination

Group B

Bermuda's loss to Kenya at Potchefstroom, coupled with UAE's win over Denmark, has left them on the brink of elimination from the competition and the loss of their ODI status. They need to beat the in-form Dutch in their final game and hope Afghanistan lose to UAE to remain in the tournament.

David Hemp's unbeaten century carried them to 259 for 5 but it was no match for Kenya, who won by seven wickets with five overs remaining. Maurice Ouma (57) and Kennedy Otieno (63) put on 98 for the first wicket, after which the captain Steve Tikolo hit an unbeaten 60 and added 88 with Collins Obuya, who made 43 not out. Kenya faced few difficulties in their chase and sit at the top of their group with three wins from four games.

At Potchefstroom, the UAE completed a 112-run win over Denmark, who suffered their fourth straight loss. The opener Amjad Javed hit a blistering 164 from 117 balls, laced with 17 fours and eight sixes, and there were handy contributions from Khurram Khan (56 from 37 balls) and Nithin Gopal (35) to go with a clutch of smaller scores. From 233 for 4 in the 37th over - thanks to Michael Pedersen (60), his older brother Carsten (58), and Freddie Klokker (77) - Denmark were all out for 267 in 44.4 overs. It was a dramatic collapse and Denmark had only themselves to blame for there were four run-outs along the way.

Netherlands won their third match by defeating Afghanistan by five wickets at Vanderbijlpark. Having chosen to field Netherlands kept Afghanistan to 204 for 9, with Ryan ten Doeschate and Mudassar Bukhari sharing six wickets. Only one Afghanistan batsman crossed fifty, the opener Karim Khan with 72. Netherlands stumbled a bit at the top of the order before Daan van Bunge took them home with an unbeaten 65 from 87 balls, aided by two key stands for the fifth and sixth wickets.

Group A

Scotland registered their third win of the tournament, beating Uganda by 45 runs in Johannesburg, and booked a spot in the Super Eights. They were boosted by a collective bowling display - five of their bowlers took two wickets each - as they managed to defend a competitive, yet chaseable, score of 209. Uganda faltered in their run-chase from the outset as John Blain and Dewald Nel provided their team the early breakthroughs, restricting the opposition to 56 for 4. The Uganda batsmen failed to measure up to the Namibian bowling - only their captain Junior Kwebiha offered any resistance. After Blain and Nel had their done their job the others stepped in to complete the formalities and skittle Uganda out for 164. Scotland had earlier squandered a dominant position at 164 for 3 to lose their last seven wickets for just 46. Neil McCallum, however, held one end together with a defiant 101 to help his team salvage a defendable score, which, as his bowlers proved, was adequate.

Namibia picked up their first win after beating last-placed Oman at Krugersdorp. Put in to bat, Namibia made 291 with Craig Williams, Gerrie Snyman and Nicholaas Scholtz posting fifties. Oman's chase faltered from the start when they slipped to 6 for 3, and there were hardly any notable stands thereafter. Awal Khan's 62 was the only half-century as Oman struggled to counter Sarel Burger's tidy medium-pace. Burger finished with figures of 10-1-44-5 and Oman were bowled out for 172 in 43.4 overs.

Shoaib included in squad to face Australia

Shoaib included in squad to face Australia

Cricinfo staff

April 6, 2009

	Shoaib Akhtar has recovered from the knee injury which had ruled him out of the scheduled tour of Bangladesh © AFP

Shoaib Akhtar, who has recovered from his knee injury, has been included in the 15-man Pakistan squad for the five-match ODI series and a Twenty20 against Australia in the UAE, scheduled to begin on April 22. Shoaib was left out of Pakistan's squad for the tour of Bangladesh - which was suspended following unrest in the country - as he was declared unfit despite not requiring surgery. Shoaib would be returning to the side after three months; he last played against Sri Lanka in the three-match ODI series at home, and was dropped for the decider following failures in the first two games.

Shoaib, after learning of his inclusion, said he was looking forward to the Australian series. "I can't wait to take the field against Australia," Shoaib told AFP. "I am fit and am gaining rhythm, and once I play the first match I will be at my best rhythm. I know this will be an important series for me, both form and fitness wise, so I will do my best to play all the matches and keep fitness."

Abdul Qadir, the PCB's chief selector, said the decision to select Shoaib was made after the board's medical panel, including the team trainer David Dwyer, approved of his fitness. "He did well in the fitness tests conducted by the board and appears match fit. He is an experienced bowler and he is a big boost for the team," he said. "Now it's up to [Shoaib] Akhtar to not only remain fit but also perform. I have been saying this and I repeat that a fit Akhtar is an asset for Pakistan's team."

The squad also features batsmen Nasir Jamshed - he'll be making a return to international cricket after ten months - and Ahmed Shehzad, who averages an impressive 45.18 in 12 List A matches.

Australia were expected to tour Pakistan for a Test and ODI tour this year after their scheduled visit in 2008 failed to materialise over security fears. The PCB has sent a two-man security team to the UAE to assess the arrangements for the tour, in the wake of the Lahore attacks last month.

Dubai Sports City - which has never hosted an international match before - will be the venue for the first two one-dayers, starting April 22, and the Twenty20 on May 7. The remaining three ODIs will be played in Abu Dhabi between those dates.

Pakistan squad: Younis Khan (capt), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad, Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk), Fawad Alam, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Yasir Arafat, Saeed Ajmal.

ICC World Twenty20 2009 No place for Strauss in England's Twenty20 squad

squad

Cricinfo staff

April 6, 2009

	Andrew Strauss has a chance to focus solely on the Ashes © Getty Images

Andrew Strauss, England's Test and one-day captain, has been left out of the squad for the ICC World Twenty20 this summer. A preliminary squad of 30 players was named today which will be cut to 15 for the 16-day tournament, which starts on June 5 in England.

"Andrew Strauss had an outstanding tour of the West Indies during a difficult winter," said Geoff Miller, the England selector. "Andrew and the selectors believe his game is better suited to Test and one-day international cricket and it is for that reason he has not been selected in the preliminary 30-man squad for the forthcoming ICC World Twenty20. Andrew is focused on the Test and ODI format of the game despite not being included in the 30-man Twenty20 squad."

Strauss, 32, has only played four international Twenty20s for England. He has now been given an opportunity to focus on a busy summer that also includes Test and one-day series against West Indies, the Ashes and a seven-match one-day series against Australia. Strauss's one-day career looked to be over after he was dumped following England's calamitous campaign in the Caribbean two years ago, but after being appointed captain he scored a century during the recent ODIs against West Indies. However, the selectors still feel he is not right for cricket's shortest format.

The preliminary squad includes the offspinner Shaun Udal, who turned 40 last month, as well as Samit Patel, who was recently left out of the Twenty20 and ODI games in the West Indies after failing to "reach acceptable standards of fitness for international cricket".

It also contains five uncapped players for England - Kent's Joe Denly, Middlesex's Eion Morgan, who has played for Ireland, the exciting Essex allrounder Graham Napier, Chris Woakes, who was Warwickshire's leading wicket-taker last year with 49 scalps, and Adil Rashid, the spinner from Yorkshire who toured with the senior side in the Caribbean.

The Yorkshire allrounder Tim Bresnan, who last played for England in August 2008, has also been included along with Kabir Ali, Liam Plunkett, Chris Tremlett, and Sajid Mahmood, all fast bowlers with international experience.

The England selectors have decided against naming a captain yet as they feel it is more important to review the recent tour of the West Indies. They hope to gain valuable input from the players and support staff. "Once these processes have been achieved the selectors will name England's Twenty20 captain in due course," Miller said.

England squad:
Kevin Pietersen, Kabir Ali, James Anderson, Gareth Batty, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Stephen Davies, Joe Denly, James Foster, Andrew Flintoff, Stephen Harmison, Rob Key, Sajid Mahmood, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Eoin Morgan, Graham Napier, Samit Patel, Liam Plunkett, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, Shaun Udal, Chris Woakes, Luke Wright.