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The U.S. men's national team have scheduled a June friendly against Colombia in a stern test as part of their pre-Copa America warmup.

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USMNT schedule pre-Copa America friendlySet to take on CONMEBOL heavyweights ColombiaBig test for Berhalter and CoGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

The USSF announced that the match will take place on June 8 at FedEx Field in preparation for this summer's blockbuster tournament. It will be the 21st all-time meeting between the two nations, but Los Cafeteros are in brilliant form, with Colombia on a 19-match unbeaten streak heading into the March international window.

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"As we continue to build toward this summer's Copa America and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, we relish the challenge of competing against the best possible opponents and Colombia checks that box. They have been a standout team in World Cup Qualifying and showcase some of the world’s top talent,” USMNT head coach Berhalter said. “We are thrilled to have the U.S. Men's National Team back to FedExField and the DMV, a place with an incredible history of support for our team and for soccer overall."

GettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Colombia currently sit third on CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying and are looking to earn top honor's at Copa America this summer. They last topped the podium in 2001, and have yet to find themselves there since. As for the USMNT, they last appeared in the 2016 edition of the tournament, where they crashed out in the semifinals.

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The USMNT is 3-15-5 all-time against Colombia, a foe they have struggled with for years on end.

England’s determination to play a more adventurous brand of cricket in one-day cricket encourages captain Eoin Morgan to suggest they are finally on the right track

George Dobell08-Jun-2015As England’s World Cup campaign came to its premature end, the team sat in the dressing room in Sydney and held what they term as “an honesty meeting”.After an initial – and by most accounts somewhat awkward – silence, one of the players started to talk. And while versions differ a little, the general consensus is that Ravi Bopara then delivered some home truths that cut to the heart of England’s problems.Despite all the brave talk of how aggressively England were going to play at the World Cup, Bopara said, they still played the same timid cricket that had failed in the past. And, if they were going to improve their record – they have a wretched World Cup history since reaching the final in 1992 – things had to change.Bopara’s words did not please all his colleagues. But there was a great deal of truth in them and they were largely echoed by Eoin Morgan on Monday as he looked ahead the Royal London ODI series against New Zealand.”For a long time now, we’ve been behind the 8-ball in one-day cricket,” Morgan said. “We’ve fallen behind by a long way and it’s time for a catch-up.”After the World Cup we’ve come back and said we need to change the way we play and the proof in that is the selections that we have made. We’ve selected guys who play a different brand of cricket and we don’t want that to change once they put the England shirt on.”The guys we have brought in do something different and we want that to continue. If they play as well as they have done in county cricket then it will be very exciting.”It was the senior players who disappointed most at the World Cup. Morgan struggled for runs, Ian Bell struggled to bat the tempo required and failed in the key games, while both James Anderson and Stuart Broad were unable to bowl the full length required to utilise the new ball. The last three, and Bopara, have all been dropped and may struggle to win a recall.Morgan hails Reeve insights

Eoin Morgan has hailed the contribution of Dermot Reeve, the former England all-rounder, who spent a day with England’s limited-overs squad in an advisory capacity.
The news of Reeve’s involvement with the squad – revealed by ESPNcricinfo on Sunday – surprised some, but Morgan countered that Reeve’s experience as a hugely successful and innovative limited-overs players rendered him an ideal voice in the dressing room.
Morgan also explained that Reeve’s perspective on the role of the game in players’ lives, could also prove beneficial to young men who the management hope will relax and enjoy the experience.
“We are trying to connect as much as we can with past players and to have someone like Dermot around is very good,” Morgan said. “He is a very knowledgeable character. It’s important – particularly for the younger guys coming into the squad – to recognise that there is a lot more to playing for England than just pulling on the jersey and he emphasised that. Simple points coming from him to younger guys who have looked up to him as kids hold a lot of weight.”

There may be a temptation to return to them in time, though. The next two global ODI tournaments (the 2017 Champions Trophy and the 2019 World Cup) are both to be staged in relatively early season in England when a case could be made to select batsmen with a tight defensive technique and bowlers with experience. And, with such an aggressive batting line-up, there will surely be times when this young England side come unstuck.But Morgan, who will have a voice in the selection of both limited-overs squads while he remains as captain, is adamant that this squad is more than a reaction to the World Cup debacle and instead represents a brave new era.”It’s very important to recognise that it won’t come off all the time,” Morgan said. “But the intention of playing in the right manner is key and has to be key for a long period of time. Otherwise, if you ditch it after a few games, it won’t work.”In the new-look side, there will be more opportunity given to the likes of Ben Stokes, who is expected to bat at No. 4, and Jos Buttler, anticipated at No. 6, which could well mean no place for James Taylor.Morgan, who has scored only 491 runs in his last 29 ODIs (including nearly 25% of them in one innings) at an average of just 18.88, needs a decent series, or Taylor could be pushing for his place in the side and as captain.Jason Roy and Alex Hales will open the batting, which could threaten the long-term position of Moeen Ali, who was omitted from the squad to gain some red ball bowling time ahead of the Ashes, with Joe Root expected to bat at No. 3. Buttler remains vice-captain.Morgan insists that he feels “a lot more comfortable” with the bat than he did during the World Cup and credits his spell at the IPL for the improvement. That led him to suggest, not for the first time, that English domestic competitions had to be improved if more young players were going to graduate to the international teams prepared for the standard of cricket.”For some reason I always go to the IPL and come back a better player,” he said. “That has been the case this year. I feel a lot more comfortable with where I’m at.”In the ideal world we would have our own world-renowned domestic tournament that everybody wants to play in and you would see our younger guys flourish in what would be a very high standard of cricket. They would be put under pressure the majority of times they go out to bat, bowl or field. And that’s what we want.”We have heard much of this before, of course. But this time, as the ECB look at rescheduling the domestic season, it looks almost inevitable that the County Championship will be reduced to 12 games each per county with more emphasis given on limited-overs formats. Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket, favours 10 gamesBut Morgan, at least, feels that, in partnership with Trevor Bayliss and Strauss, there is a common accord which can bring an improvement in England’s one-day performances.”Speaking with Strauss, he feels there is to be a difference between Tests and one dayers and a bigger priority on white ball cricket,” Morgan said. “That is the change that made me think, ‘hold on, we are actually going to make some progress here.’ I think there are plans being put in place to prioritise tournaments in the future instead of making overloading with Tests the priority.”Trevor’s strategy revolves around having athletes in your side – gun fielders – and then a couple of specifics: guys being able to turn the ball both ways and having your quicks looking constantly to take wickets and being aggressive with the bat. My experience with him has been brilliant.”We’re all on the same page as over the direction that we want to take this team and the brand of cricket we want to play. It might still take a bit of time but I’ll certainly be involved in selection, so I’ve got the squad I wanted.”

Alastair Cook admitted to the “lowest moment” of his career as England slumped to Ashes defeat in Perth and said several members of his side would be “playing for their future” in the remaining two games of the series.

George Dobell at the WACA17-Dec-20130:00

‘Australia batted England into submission’

Alastair Cook admitted to the “lowest moment” of his career as England slumped to Ashes defeat in Perth and said several members of his side would be “playing for their future” in the remaining two games of the series.The England captain said conceding a 3-0 lead in the five-match series “hurts like hell” and described the dressing room as “a tough place to be”. It is Cook’s first series loss as captain and England’s first Ashes loss in four series stretching back to 2006-07.But while accepting that “inquests” into the defeat were inevitable, Cook appealed for calm before conclusions are made about the reasons for the loss. In particular, Cook was keen to defend Andy Flower and refuted any suggestion that the England coach should step down.”I want him to carry on,” Cook said. “He’s an outstanding coach and an outstanding person. He’s a great person to have around, especially for me, as a captain and the advice he gives me. It’s not down to him why we’ve lost this. It’s down to the fact we haven’t had enough players in form.”Cook, who has averaged just 26.93 in his last eight Tests against Australia, also reasserted his determination to continue as captain, though he accepted he needed to reflect on some of his tactics and that there would be “people questioning my place”.”There’s always going to be theories,” he said. “There’s always going to be inquests when you lose. The simple fact of the matter is we haven’t had enough players in form with either bat or ball. People in the dressing room know that.”It’s a tough place my batting. I’m putting the work in but not quite getting the results. You can see the feet aren’t always going in the right place. I’ve had a couple of very good balls as well, which doesn’t help. And when I have got in at Brisbane and here, I haven’t gone on to make a bigger score.Alastair Cook admitted that senior players hadn’t performed so far in this series and will be playing for their places in the rest of the series•Getty Images”But I don’t think the captaincy is affecting my batting. There’s always a strain, but the challenge of being a captain is trying to deal with it. I can honestly say that when I go out there as a batter, I’m thinking as a batter. My mind is not thinking about what’s going on elsewhere.”Of course, if other people who make the decisions don’t think that way, we have to go by that decision. When you lose the Ashes in the way we’ve lost, there will always be people questioning my place and all that kind of stuff. That’s the first place you always look when you lose. As a captain, the buck stops with you. I have to look at am I managing the players right? Am I doing the right things out in the middle? We have to have some honest chats.”Cook also defended his players, despite admitting that several senior figures had endured undistinguished series and that many would be playing for their futures in the remaining two games of the series.”The first thing you do when you lose is look at the hunger and the desire. I can honestly say in our dressing room, both are there. We just haven’t had the skills to match it. Sport is not about trying at all; it’s about delivering. We know we tried as hard as we could and we haven’t delivered.”It’s not just Anderson and Swann who haven’t performed. A lot of us senior batters haven’t performed as well. It’s incredibly frustrating – I know as a batter when you’re not delivering what you’re capable of – there’s not a worse place to be as a player.”I’ll never feel let down by any of the lads that go out there and put on an England shirt. I look into their eyes and I see what they do in training. The way they go about their business and the effort, you don’t see all that.”I’m never going to be embarrassed. We haven’t been good enough, that’s the reason we lost. I’ll never be embarrassed for the way we go about things and the effort the lads put in. It’s a hard thing to say when you’ve been beaten and you deserve to get beaten. It’s never good to admit it, but we have.”When you lose, or even when you win, there’s so many good players around in England wanting to be in the 11 spots we presently hold. So we are always playing for our future. There’s always a balancing act with sides when you lose with trying to introduce new players. Are they better than the players you have?”

ESPNcricinfo previews the second Test between Bangladesh and West Indies in Khulna

The Preview by Mohammad Isam in Khulna20-Nov-2012Match factsNovember 21-25, Khulna
Start time 0930 (0330 GMT)
Tamim Iqbal passed his fitness test and will open in Khulna•Associated PressBig PictureWest Indies will press for a 2-0 win, having come back hard against Bangladesh in the final two sessions of the Mirpur Test and seizing the momentum. Though they weren’t defending a big total, with enough overs for the opposition to chase it down, they were tactically far ahead of Bangladesh when it mattered. The use of the short delivery worked wonders, as Tino Best completed a maiden five-for in Tests with some hostile pace and by bowling bouncers at well. Ravi Rampaul’s control and Sunil Narine’s performance in the second innings, together with debutant Veerasammy Permaul’s accuracy, made taking 20 wickets possible.With the bat, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kieran Powell and Denesh Ramdin got big runs, and the failures of Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels didn’t have a serious impact on the team.The major highlight for Bangladesh was debutant offspinner Sohag Gazi’s returns of nine wickets in the game. Rubel Hossain fought back in the second innings and Shahadat Hossain and Shakib Al Hasan had their moments, but they were inconsistent.Bangladesh, however, will be watchful of how their batsmen react after their capitulation in the second innings. They posted their first-ever 500-plus score, in the first innings, and even gained a small lead, but the chase went poorly. Just as Bangladesh faced the prospect of a Test victory, their feet froze and West Indies took advantage. Bangladesh’s plan would be to make West Indies work hard for wickets, but it still could be a stiff task on a track on which not a lot of cricket has been played recently.Form guideBangladesh: LLLLD (Completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies: WWWDL
Players to watchMahmudullah got a half-century in the first innings but his effort in the second stood out. He withstood a barrage of short balls from Best, was hit thrice in the space of two overs, but ultimately replied with a hooked six. He survived for 83 minutes, as was the need of the hour, and made his team’s highest score in the second innings.Chris Gayle will be expected to come back hard against Bangladesh, after he was thwarted by spin in the first innings and pace in the second in Mirpur. A fast start with his strokeplay could diffuse Bangladesh’s plans.Pitch and conditionsBy accounts from players and the scorecards of the last two first-class matches played here, the pitch at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna has generally been batting-friendly but is likely to offer turn on the last two days.The weather has been unpredictable over the last two weeks. There was a cold spell earlier this month but ahead of the Test it has been hot and sultry with a threat of rain due to a depression at the Bay of Bengal nearby.Team newsTamim Iqbal had an elbow injury but passed a fitness test on Tuesday and will play the second Test. The team management may likely replace Junaid Siddique, the other opener, with Nazimuddin on the account of the former’s struggle against the short ball and problems with slip-catching. Still, one will not be too surprised if Tamim and Anamul Haque, the batsman flown in as his cover, go out to open.Bangladesh (possible): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Nazimuddin/Anamul Haque, 3 Shahriar Nafees, 4 Naeem Islam, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), 6 Shakib Al Hasan, 7 Mahmudullah (vice-capt), 8 Nasir Hossain, 9 Sohag Gazi, 10 Shahadat Hossain, 11 Rubel Hossain.Darren Sammy has hinted at continuing with the same line-up that played in the first Test. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who didn’t field for much of the previous game, is fit, and the likelihood of using Fidel Edwards as a third pace bowler has diminished due to Permaul’s impressive debut.West Indies (possible): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 7 Darren Sammy (capt), 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Ravi Rampaul, 10 Veerasammy Permaul, 11 Tino BestStats and trivia Khulna will be Bangladesh’s seventh Test venue. The last time West Indies won four Tests in a row was between January and April of 1993 when they beat Australia home and away.Quotes”We had a plan to play session-by-session, take one day at a time without keeping the result in mind, although we had one poor session and that cost us the match. I hope we can do this in the Khulna Test, as it will help us in gaining consistency.”

“Last year we drew the first Test, this year we won it. We have one more Test to go and we’d do everything to win this Test match. We want to win the series 2-0.”

A round-up of the Faysal Bank Super Eight T-20 Cup matches that took place on March 28

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Mar-2012Junaid Zia and Taufeeq Umar led Lahore Eagles to a comfortable 34-run win over Rawalpindi Rams in Rawalpindi. Zia scalped three wickets, two of which came in his first over, and made the chase even tougher for Rawalpindi by giving away only 14 runs in his spell. By the time Lahore had bowled ten overs, Rawalpindi had lost half of their side. Opener Awais Zia scored a half-century and was the eighth wicket to fall in an otherwise underwhelming batting performance, where the next highest score was 14. Rawalpindi were all out for 124 in 17.5 overs. Batting first, Lahore had set a strong platform with a 64 run partnership between Taufiq Umar and Imran Farhat in 6.4 overs. But Rawalpindi controlled the second half of the innings with regular wickets. In fact, except Umar and Farhat, no other batsman managed a double-digit score. Umar, who scored 76, was run out in a dramatic last over by Sohail Tanvir, where including Umar, four wickets (three run-outs) fell off the last three legal balls.Shoaib Malik’s five-wicket haul wrecked Karachi Dolphins’ top-order as they lost to Sialkot Stallions by nine wickets in Rawalpindi. Karachi chose to bat and made steady progress in the first ten overs, losing only one wicket. In the twelfth over, however, Malik removed both Shahzaib Hasan and Asad Shafiq, the two set batsmen, in two balls to dent the scoring-rate. He sparked another collapse in the sixteenth over with two wickets, as Karachi lost six wickets for 20 runs to finish with 123. In reply, Sialkot only lost their opener, Shakeel Ansar, as they chased down the target in 16.1 overs. Imran Nazir was particularly aggressive as he smashed 76 runs off 47 balls with five sixes, while Haris Sohail held up the other end with a solid 43.

Four wickets in five overs at the end of a keenly contested day almost put hopes of a surprise Somerset victory to bed

David Hopps at Hove06-Sep-2012
ScorecardMurray Goodwin received warm applause for what is likely to be his last innings at Hove•Getty ImagesSomerset have finished second so often that Brian Rose resigned as director of cricket this week by mutual consent, in the belief that a fresh approach is needed at first-team level, but for a few fleeting moments they must have fondly imagined they could yet pull off an improbable runners-up finish in the Championship as a powerful testimony to the quality he has assembled during his eight years in charge.Four wickets in five overs at the end of a keenly contested day almost put those hopes to bed. Ah well. “This is for you, Brian, another runners-up gong,” might not have been the most subtle parting speech. But Somerset have made substantial progress under Rose’s leadership, developing young players, playing attractive cricket and furthering the sense of pride that is never far beneath the surface in Somerset cricket.To steal that second place from Sussex, Somerset would first have to chase down a target of 396 to win here. When Marcus Trescothick and Arul Suppiah assembled 147 in 43 overs without too many alarms, there was definitely a game on. The excellent Steve Magoffin had been repelled and Chris Nash, the potential partnership breaker, had come close but ultimately broken nothing other than the faith of the Sussex members. “Silly season,” muttered one as the ball disappeared to the boundary.If Somerset could have survived unscathed until the close, the final day would have been evenly balanced. They were half-an-hour away from doing just that. Warwickshire had been confirmed as champions and perhaps a collective gloom would have descended as a result over the south coast. But then Sussex’s players would share more than £150,000 for finishing second so perhaps not.Marcus Trescothick and Arul Suppiah fell on the same score, Trescothick dragging on as he envisaged clumping Monty Panesar over long-on and Suppiah caught by Matt Prior, a rebound off his chest at first slip off Magoffin, seven balls later.Magoffin, a rangy Queenslander of immense reliability, began with five successive maidens up the slope before having a rare outing downhill in an attempt to change his luck. It came off, first Suppiah then Chris Jones, bowled for a single, and the nightwatchman, Steve Kirby, softened up with a blow on the helmet and then caught at short leg. By the close he had 3 for 15 in 14 overs. He concedes runs in Division One at 2.30 per over; few can match such economy.Somerset fought with commendable spirit before lunch to keep their target of 396 down to such proportions. Assumptions had been that Sussex would grind towards a tea declaration but the Great Alfonso came to the fore, Thomas taking 4 for 7 in 28 balls (two with the old ball, two with the new) and Sussex’s last eight wickets were spirited away for 78 in 29 overs.There was no farewell hundred for Murray Goodwin, although he did fashion his best Championship score of a meagre season, 78 from 187 balls, before Thomas had him caught at the wicket. His Sussex career finishes with 14,573 first-class runs at 49.23 with 48 centuries.Sussex have retired Goodwin’s No. 3 shirt as a mark of respect to “a great cricketer and a fantastic team man”. But whether they have retired Goodwin is another thing. Another county might yet come looking. He certainly wants them to. He is even clinging to the “slim chance” that Sussex might change their mind. He said only found out on Sunday that his contract would not be renewed after indications six weeks earlier that he would be retained. As for the collapse in form that has caused his release, he blamed the abysmal English weather.”Not many batsmen have made runs this year,” he said. “I started with a broken wrist and then there were light issues and wet wickets. When you are on and off the field all the time, it plays with your preparation, your mindset and your rhythm. I have struggled with the weather, maybe more than most. But I still think I have more to offer the county game.”If he had to leave Sussex, and he has no wish to, this was not far short of how he might have imagined it: another glorious late summer’s day, a standing ovation from a decent, appreciative crowd and his young sons, Jaydon and Ashton, dashing to greet him as he crossed the boundary rope. Sussex even flew his parents over from Australia for the occasion.”I had been doing some fielding and I came off the field and saw them there,” he said. “It was a nice touch although I was hoping it would happen next year when they could also come over for the Ashes,” he said. Jaydon, 10, is already playing Sussex age group cricket and his father remarked with a grimace: “Jaydon has been giving me stick that he has more hundreds this season than I have.”Goodwin was treated to a gracious lunchtime speech in his honour and, even more impressively, it didn’t go on as long as the rival speeches blaring out of a marquee adjacent to the media centre. Corporate support is necessary for the survival of the county game, and it was all for an excellent good cause apparently, but by the time the auctioneer began to boom “Going… going… gone,” there could barely have been a soul within earshot who did not mutter, “Oh I do wish you were.”Not many at Hove have ever said that about Murray Goodwin.

USMNT stars Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams & Brenden Aaronson were present for a brutal defensive assessment from Sam Allardyce at Leeds last campaign.

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Whites struggled throughout 2022-23 campaignAmerican stars unable to steer them to safetyEx-England boss oversaw slide into the ChampionshipWHAT HAPPENED?

None of that trio are at Elland Road in 2023-24, with McKennie returning to Juventus at the end of his loan spell, while Adams has joined Bournemouth and Aaronson is spending the current campaign at Union Berlin. Their departures were sparked by relegation out of the Premier League, with Allardyce unable to pull off a great escape after taking in just four games at the helm.

AdvertisementGettyWHAT BAMFORD SAID

He inherited a squad that was stuck in a rut, and did not hold back when offering an opinion on those at his disposal during a brutal first squad meeting. Patrick Bamford has lifted the lid on that chat, telling the podcast: “Honestly, he was brilliant. We had a meeting, we're all sat there, he's come in, just walked in, just stood at the front with his cup of tea, and just basically told us we're sh*t at defending. Just told us we need to sort this out. And that's what he did. There was no beating around the bush.

"The lads who didn't really know much about him, in terms of they'd been playing abroad or are foreign lads, are a bit taken aback. But obviously us English lads, who even growing up have watched him as a manager, you know what he's like. We're just like 'this is brilliant'. Tell it to us how it is and we can deal with it. It was simplifying it and just going back to the basics, which obviously last year we weren’t very good at. So he had a job on his hands. He definitely got us tighter at the back and if he’d been there a little but longer, we would’ve been fine.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Leeds finished five points adrift of safety last season, with Allardyce picking up just one from the 12 available to him. United States international Adams, who captained his country at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, was among those unavailable to the vastly experienced former England boss through injury.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR LEEDS?

Leeds have, following a mass summer clearout, moved on to Daniel Farke in the managerial department and are looking to bounce back into the Premier League at the first time of asking – with the Whites currently sat third in the Championship table.

India’s Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the BCCI and all its 29 member units for details about the land and buildings occupied by them and the Commission will hear the matter on July 25 and 26

Jasvinder Sidhu24-Jul-2013India’s Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the BCCI and all its 29 member units for details about the land and buildings occupied by them, including information on stadiums allotted by state governments, the annual rent paid by the BCCI, and its units and copies of lease deeds as part of their agreement. The Information Commissioner has constituted a full bench of the CIC to hear the case on July 25 and 26 in New Delhi.The CIC is a government body formed to effectively shed light on the working of India’s traditionally opaque public institutions by entertaining petitions from the public under the country’s relatively new Right to Information Act (RTI); a ruling earlier this month sought to bring political parties within its purview. Under the law, the Central and State Information Commissions have the same powers as a civil court.The CIC’s issuing of a notice to the BCCI is yet another step by the Indian government to establish the BCCI as a public body. The BCCI is currently registered as a private society. In its notice, dated July 10, the CIC has directed the BCCI and all of its affiliated units to attend the hearing either personally or through authorised representatives.The CIC’s deputy registrar K L Dass, who is the signatory on the notice to the BCCI, said: “The question here is whether the BCCI is a public authority or not and [to this end] the CIC wants to check if the BCCI is getting any government funding? This is why [the] CIC has asked the BCCI and its units to provide details.”The CIC has also instructed the BCCI and its member units to provide information regarding income tax, customs duty, entertainment tax exemptions, if any, for the last five years from the 2007-08 fiscal year. The full bench is also expected to examine the security expenses incurred by states government for organising cricket matches during the same period.The petitioner, Delhi resident Madhu Agrawal, says that bringing the BCCI under the RTI Act is a matter of national importance because the BCCI conducts cricket matches with various teams under their purview, and utilises facilities offered by the federal and state governments.Agrawal’s petition is a redrafted version of an existing petition filed by her husband Subhash Agrawal, a well-known RTI activist. That petition is pending before a one-member bench of the CIC. Agrawal told ESPNcricinfo that it was filed in his wife’s name because RTI rules give priority to petitions filed by women senior citizens – a full bench of the CIC is required to take up such cases “sooner than any other case.”The CIC has also been hearing a petition against the BCCI, following a 2005 case concerning its public function. The BCCI has submitted a copy of the Supreme Court’s judgment of 2005 in the Zee Telefilms v Union of India & others, which said the BCCI was not defined as a ‘state’. The BCCI also argued it didn’t take any financial help from the Indian Government. In February, 2011 though, the Supreme Court upheld a Kerala High Court decision and stated that officials of the Kerala Cricket Association are ‘public servants’.

The long-awaited BCB elections were held in Dhaka on Thursday, with two former Bangladesh captains, Naimur Rahman and Khaled Mahmud, being elected directors from their respective categories

Mohammad Isam10-Oct-2013The long-awaited BCB elections were held in Dhaka on Thursday, with two former Bangladesh captains, Naimur Rahman and Khaled Mahmud, being elected directors from their respective categories.Nineteen directors were already elected unopposed last Friday and Monday after Saber Hossain Chowdhury’s panel pulled out of the election, citing irregularities. That left incumbent BCB president, Nazmul Hasan’s panel, to sweep the election.In addition, Hasan and incumbent ad-hoc committee members Ahmed Sajjadul Alam and Ismail Haider Mallick are automatic BCB directors in the National Sports Council’s quota.The BCB president will be elected by 25 directors on Friday afternoon. As a result, and since Hasan is set to be the only presidential candidate, his position will be filled by someone else at a later time.Meanwhile, with only three posts to be contested, it left a rather empty feeling on election day at the National Sports Council headquarters.Mahmud, who captained nine Tests and 15 ODIs in 2003, defeated Gazi Ashraf Hossain in category 3 by a margin of 25-18 votes. In this category, former cricketers, education boards, the BKSP (sports institute), different armed forces, and some other institutions are councillors eligible to vote.Ashraf is also a former Bangladesh captain and had been a board director between 2009 and 2012 as well as an ad-hoc committee member since November last year.Mahmud was elated with the victory but said he would not give up his coaching career. He had earlier quit as member of the BCB ad-hoc committee to coach BPL side Chittagong Kings, but while he may not hold this position, he will continue to coach Dhaka Premier league side Prime Bank Cricket Club.”I was confident that I would win,” Mahmud told reporters. “I would be inclined to work in the development of the game. I am ready to give up BPL coaching but have to stay with Prime Bank in the domestic competition as that is my profession. I think if you are honest, you can do both.”Naimur, Bangladesh’s captain in their inaugural Test, won as a director from category 1 alongside Manzur Kader and Saiful Alam.

Jacques Rudolph and Ashwell Prince, the two most under-pressure South Africa batsmen, have been put on notice after Alviro Petersen was retained in the squad for the deciding Test

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Dec-2011South Africa squad

Graeme Smith (capt), Jacques Rudolph, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Ashwell Prince, Alvrio Petersen, Mark Boucher (wk), Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Marchant de Lange.

Jacques Rudolph and Ashwell Prince, the two most under-pressure South Africa batsmen, have been put on notice after Alviro Petersen was retained in the squad for the deciding Test against Sri Lanka in Cape Town, following the visitors’ historic series-levelling victory in Durban. But the selectors have resisted more dramatic changes despite the hosts being bowled out for 168 and 241.Rudolph was recalled to the Test side against Australia after an absence of nearly five years but, in four matches since, has failed to take his opportunity with a top score of 44 from seven innings. Prince has managed one Test half-century this season and a useful 39 in Centurion, but endured a poor match in Durban with 11 and 7 which included falling to the reverse-sweep in the first innings. He then was involved in a horrid mix-up that resulted in Hashim Amla’s run-out on the fourth day.One option available for South Africa is to move Rudolph down the order and recall Petersen to accompany Graeme Smith in the opening partnership. Petersen certainly has form behind him after scoring 115 for the Lions in the current round of SuperSport series matches and has made 659 runs at 59.90 this season. However, Smith warned against any knee-jerk response to the 208-run defeat at Kingsmead. “A good reflection and good solid decisions are needed, not emotional ones,” he said.Elsewhere the selectors will have to decide how to accommodate Vernon Philander back in the team after he made good progress from the knee injury he picked up on the eve of the second Test. With Marchant de Lange having taken 7 for 81 on debut it will require a tough call over who to leave out although Morne Morkel has been below his best in the series. “It will come down to a tactical decision,” Smith said. “To have the stocks is great. It’s a nice challenge to have. The selectors like to remain consistent.”Smith, though, indicated his desire for the selectors to resist any temptation to field an all-pace attack and leave out Imran Tahir despite the legspinner being considerably outbowled by Rangana Herath at Kingsmead. Durban was the first time Tahir had been severely tested in the first innings of a Test and, unlike his predecessor Paul Harris, didn’t always offer Smith control.”It’s the first game that Imran has had a good bowl,” Smith said. “He is developing every game. He is still an exciting option for us and I would like to see the selectors stick with that for as long as possible.”