Group A

Azharullah’s 6 for 35 prompted a collapse in the Pakistan Customs batting order and they crumbled to 73 inside 35 overs against Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) at the Jinnah Stadium. Bilal Shafayat, the Nottinghamshire batsman playing for Customs, top scored with 20, while nine batsmen registered single figures. WAPDA gained a 50-run lead by the end of the day, with Aamer Sajjad scoring 52 before he was bowled by Yasir Shah, who took 2 for 30 in his ten overs.Habib Bank Limited (HBL) couldn’t hold on to the advantage they had gained by bowling out Faisalabad for 144, when they ended day one of their match at 0 for 2 at the Sargodha Stadium. Shahid Nazir, Fahad Masood and Dilawar Khan took three wickets each, as the highest partnership for Faisalabad was 35 for the fourth wicket. Captain Ijaz Ahmed jnr top scored with 33. Faisalabad’s new-ball pair Ahmed Hayat and Ali Raza then removed HBL openers Rafatullah Mohmand and Khaqan Arsal for ducks in the seven balls bowled before stumps.At the Multan Cricket Stadium, Sui Southern Gas Corporation (SSGC) batted the day for 206 for 7 against Multan. Opener Mohtashim Ali got a half-century and added 94 with Imran Abbas before he was caught behind off Zulfiqar Babar. SSGC took 82 overs for their 206, scored at 2.51 runs an over. Babar was among the most economical bowlers, giving away two runs an over for his two wickets.Hyderabad medium-fast bowler Naeem-ur-Rehman took six wickets as Lahore Ravi was bowled out for 187 at the Lahore City Cricket Association ground. Lahore Ravi had stumbled to 81 for 6 before Junaid Zia, unbeaten on 52, and Waqas Ahmed, who scored 35, staged a recovery with a 63-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Zia and Ahmed followed it up with two wickets each as Hyderabad closed the day on 57 for 4.Half-centuries by Asad Shafiq and Afsar Nawaz took Karachi Whites to 218 for 5 against National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) at the NBP Sports Complex in Karachi. Shafiq made 51 off 98 balls but did not receive any support from the other top-order batsmen. Nawaz, though found a worthy partner in wicketkeeper Javed Mansoor and the two came together for an unbeaten partnership of 121 after Karachi Whites stumbled to 97 for 5. Wahab Riaz took three of those wickets for 44 runs.

Group B

Rawalpindi opener Umar Amin made a memorable first-class debut with 89 in his side’s day one total of 215 for 8 against Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) at the Khan Research Laboratory ground in Rawalpindi. The hosts were at 97 for 5 before Amin added 45 for the sixth wicket with Usman Saeed (19). For PIA, medium-fast bowler Aizaz Cheema took 3 for 44.Quetta were well-placed at 311 for 7 in their match against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) at the Bugti Stadium in Quetta. While opener Shoaib Khan jnr was unlucky to miss out on what would have been his fifth first-class hundred, after he was caught behind off Bilal Asad for 98, Nasim Khan, the No. 7 batsman, is likely to reach his century tomorrow, having closed the day on 96 not out. Nasim’s 99-ball 96 included 12 fours and a six. Both Shoaib jnr and Nasim had scored big hundreds in Quetta’s previous game . Offbreak bowler Saeed Ajmal was KRL’s most successful bowler with 4 for 101.Yet another low first-innings total in the fifth round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy came from Lahore Shalimar who were bowled out for 172 by Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) at the Gaddafi Stadium. Lahore Shalimar began well, with a 53-run opening partnership between Asif Khan and Kashif Ali. But after Junaid Nadir removed Asif for 19, Mohammad Khalil got stuck into the Lahore batting order, taking 5 for 48, including the wicket of Kashif, who made a fighting 41 off 99 balls. ZTBL openers batted out the one remaining over in the day for one run.Peshawar gained a first-innings lead of 24 after they made up for their low total of 117, by bowling out Abbottabad for 93 at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. While left-arm fast bowler Junaid Khan took 6 for 31 for Abbottabad, the Peshawar opening bowlers – Riaz Afridi and Nauman Habib – bowled unchanged and shared nine Abbottabad wickets between them in the space of 31 overs. Peshawar ended the day at 4 for 0 in their second innings.Opener Raheel Majeed’s 75 powered Islamabad to 295 for 9 against Karachi Blues at the Diamond Club ground in Islamabad. Majeed and Umair Khan added 122 for the first wicket, but after that wickets fell steadily and the next highest partnership was the unbeaten one for 40 runs by the No. 10 and No. 11 batsmen Shehzad Azam and Mir Usman. Tariq Haroon, who dismissed the two openers, and Azam Hussain took three wickets each.

Scorecard

Uttar Pradesh shot Bengal out for 149 within the first two sessions at Eden Gardens and then their batsmen proceeded to knock off those runs in a hurry. Bengal, who opted to bat, had a 40-run opening stand before twin strikes from the Kumars – Bhuvneshvar, the debutant, and Praveen. The big wicket of Manoj Tiwary followed soon as Bengal found themselves down at 43 for 3. Wickets fell regularly after that and only a 39-run ninth-wicket stand between Saurasish Lahiri and Ranadeb Bose took them past 100. Praveen, Bhuvneshwar and Piyush Chawla took three wickets each. They didn’t even require the services of Praveen Gupta, the specialist left-arm spinner.Rohit Prakash and Tanmay Srivastava gave UP a brisk start, which was taken forward by Suresh Raina at the fall of Srivastava’s wicket on 30. By the time Rohit fell for 58, just before stumps, UP were only 28 behind Bengal’s total. Raina, who batted at a furious pace, was unbeaten on 55 off 67 deliveries.
ScorecardS Badrinath scored his third century of the season and M Vijay his second, as Tamil Nadu took the Rajasthan attack apart to finish day one in Chennai at 302 for 3. Badrinath joined Vijay after Abhinav Mukund was dismissed in the second over, and by the time they were separated, TN were at 242. Rajasthan, without Pankaj Singh and Mohammad Aslam in this match, suffered while the two made merry.Badrinath fell for 138, while Vijay was unbeaten on 112. Badrinath has now moved on to No. 2 on the run-getters’ list in this year’s Ranji Trophy, and Vijay follows him at No. 6.
ScorecardAmol Muzumdar missed a century and Ashok Thakur stretched his lead at the top of the Super League wicket-takers’ list as Mumbai squandered a good start, and then came back with lower-order partnerships to finish the first day in Dharamsala at 324 for 9. After Ajinkya Rahane and Vinit Indulkar took them to 82 for 1, Mumbai lost both of them at the same score. Muzumdar then scored a majority of the runs, as wickets kept fell consistently at the other end.When Muzumdar fell for 90, Mumbai were 254 for 7, after which they lost two wickets and added 70 more runs by stumps. Vinayak Samant, who ended the day unbeaten on 31, added 55 for the ninth wicket with Iqbal Abdullah. Thakur, the left-arm medium-pacer, took 4 for 99.
Scorecard
Sandeep Jobanputra and Ravindra Jadeja ran through the Maharashtra batting order to give Saurashtra the perfect start at Nagothane. After having skittled Maharashtra for 136, Saurashtra recovered from early strikes from Samad Fallah to end the day at 73 for 2.Maharashtra’s opening woes continued as Jobanputra took out Vishant More in the third over. This was followed by the wicket of Hrishikesh Kanitkar four overs later, and Maharashtra never recovered from the early blows. Sairaj Bahutule’s 46 down the order took them to 136. Jobanputra and Jadeja took four wickets each.Fallah, Maharashtra’s left-arm medium-pacer, gave them a good start with two early wickets, but Sitanshu Kotak and Cheteshwar Pujara ensured Saurashtra ended the day right on top. Fallah bowled eight overs, and took two wickets for 7 runs.
ScorecardAndhra played out a solid day at Visakhapatnam as they scored 214 for 4 against Baroda. LNP Reddy and Y Gnaneshwara Rao scored half-centuries to keep the Baroda bowlers at bay. Gnaneshwara Rao was unbeaten at stumps, while Reddy was run out for 67 in the 55th over. Baroda were without Irfan Pathan and struggled to take wickets, but they managed to keep the scoring-rate down.

Scorecard
Halhadar Das, Orissa’s wicketkeeper, scored his maiden first-class century as Orissa – reduced to 50 for 4 – finished the first day against Punjab in Mohali at 273 for 8. It was Rashmi Parida initially who stopped the rot with a 72-run fifth-wicket partnership with Pininti Jayachandra. Parida and Halhadar added 68 for the seventh wicket. Parida scored 52, and Halhadar fell to what turned out to be the last ball of the day to 17-year-old debutant Siddarth Kaul. Kaul took 4 for 58.Delhi 337 for 2 (Kohli 154*, Dhawan 148) v Karnataka
Scorecard Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli feasted upon a weak Karnataka bowling attack to put up 266 runs for the second wicket, as Delhi amassed 337 for 2 on the first day in Bangalore. Dhawan fell just short of 150, while Kohli, replacing Virender Sehwag, remained unbeaten on 154 at stumps. Both of them have scored a century each earlier in this season.Dhawan hit 24 boundaries in his brisk 148, which was scored at a strike-rate of 70.14. Kohli was more sedate, with 154 off 292 deliveries. The two had come together after the early fall of Aakash Chopra, who scored 6.

Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan captain, needs a further three weeks to recover fully from the ankle injury that curtailed his tour to India. It also means that he faces a race against time to be fit for Pakistan’s next assignment, an ODI series against Zimbabwe, which begins from January 26.Malik missed the final two Tests against India recently after injuring his ankle during a post-Test warm-up and now begins an injury rehabilitation programme at the National Cricket Academy.”Doctors have removed the plaster from Shoaib Malik’s ankle today and have advised him to undergo a rehabilitation programme for the next three weeks,” Ahsan Malik, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman, told .Malik will be working with Sohail Saleem, the PCB’s chief medical officer, and trainer Abdul Saboor. “He (Malik) is feeling much better and is confident of regaining full match fitness ahead of the series against Zimbabwe,” Ahsan said.Another vital player, Mohammad Asif, also begins his comeback from the elbow injury that has nagged him over the last year. Asif underwent surgery in Australia earlier this month to rectify the problem and is now hoping to recover in time for the home series against Australia to be held in March-April.”Asif will work at the NCA according to plan prepared for him by David Dwyer (the Pakistan team trainer),” said Ahsan. He added that Asif will undergo physical training sessions for several weeks before he even begins to bowl. Fellow fast bowler Umar Gul has also recovered from his back problem and will start bowling in the nets at the NCA from January 1.

Lee’s rewind
India had lost a couple of quick wickets in the first session when Brett Lee steamed in to VVS Laxman. Lee was about to leap into his delivery stride when Laxman, possibly distracted by a fly or something behind the sightscreen, backed away. Lee stood surprised for a few moments before pretending to run backwards, as if he was rewinding the film. Laxman, who is never too far from an apologetic look, was one of many who let out a hearty smile.Friends reunited
It’s the first Test visit to Perth for Matthew Hayden since Justin Langer retired and Hayden’s leg injury has meant the pair has had plenty of time to spend together. They had dinner together on Thursday and shared something that has not been seen publicly for 12 months – a hug. The former partners embraced after a brief stint in the ABC commentary box so the moment could be caught on camera and posted on the broadcaster’s website.RP’s mighty swish
It was the penultimate ball before tea and RP Singh, who was facing Andrew Symonds, was expected to down the shutters. RP, though, decided it was time he smashed an international six. Planting his front foot out, he teed off like a golfer, lofting the ball over long-on. It was something he hadn’t managed in eight previous Tests, 38 ODIs and eight Twenty20s. The next delivery, pitched on leg stump, was kicked away nonchalantly before RP proudly strode back to the pavilion.Tortoise and hare
Mahendra Singh Dhoni had shelved his attacking shots in the national interest, taking 43 balls over 5 before his fire ignited briefly. India were pushing ahead cautiously when Dhoni broke free, launching himself at Michael Clarke and collecting a straight six which was more in tune with his usual method. However, he slipped back into a sombre mood until breaking out to hit his second six, which came off Symonds.Ishant digs it out
Australia had just broken through a nagging 51-run stand when Ishant Sharma, India’s No.11, walked in. His first-innings cameo in Sydney showed he could hit, but few would have expected him to dig out a dart-accurate yorker from Stuart Clark first up. Faced with one at 131kph, he juddered his bat down and the inside edge raced away to fine leg for four. Clark might have felt the effort was good enough to get a wicket; he saw Ishant grinning instead.Local relief
Australia had to take quick wickets in the first session and after a slow first half hour things looked up for the home team when Virender Sehwag sliced a drive to Michael Hussey at gully. Except he dropped it. At the time it felt like a costly miss, but Clark bowled Sehwag in the next over as India lost 4 for 46.

The Indian Premier League, the BCCI-backed Twenty20 tournament, continues to gather steam – the eight cities in which the teams are to be based will be revealed when the bids for the franchises involved are opened on Thursday.A clutch of corporates are in the race to own a team in the tournament, which is slated to begin on April 18. Besides business houses such as Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), India’s largest private sector company, the Videocon group, a US$2.5 billion conglomerate, the UB group, the Hyderabad-based infrastructure major GMR, real estate giant DLF, media group Deccan Chronicle, and fast food chain Nirula’s, Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan and London-based betting firm William Hill are reported to be interested in owning a team.Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot, whose group is bidding for the Delhi and Mumbai teams, was enthusiastic about the prospect of becoming a franchisee. “It’s a great brand equity,” he told the business daily . “We see it as having great valuation.”The revenue streams for franchises include media rights (80% for the first two years, gradually tapering to 60%), IPL sponsorship money (60% for ten years), gate receipts, franchise sponsors and uniform merchandising. “Our clear focus in designing the league has been to maximise the value of the team owners,” Balu Nayar, the managing director of the International Management Group India, the sports management and marketing firm working with the BCCI on IPL, told .The base price for owning a team for ten years is US$50 million, but the intense competition and the fact that a large chunk of revenues from IPL’s lucrative media deal with Sony Entertainment and WSG will accrue to franchisees is likely to see much higher bids than the base price.Twelve cities satisfy the BCCI’s eligibility criteria – including having a stadium with floodlights and at least 25,000 seats – for hosting a franchise but the IPL is to initially have only eight teams. The twelve cities in the running are: Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Cuttack, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Mohali, Mumbai and New Delhi.”The choice of cities is based on market forces,” Nayar told . “Cities having the highest value will be selected.” Bidders are not allowed to own more than one team. The IPL hopes to grow the eight franchises to 16 by 2010.The player auctions are expected to be held around February 7, when the franchises can choose from a pool of at least 78 players with international experience the IPL has signed on. Shane Warne is the most expensive player, costing US$400,000 for one year while the next highest fee, of US$350,000, is for Glenn McGrath and Stephen Fleming.The IPL, sanctioned by the International Cricket Council, is a Twenty20 competition whose inaugural season will feature eight franchises participating in a 59-game season. Each franchise will play the others on a home-and-away basis, with the top four sides going through to the semi-finals.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is planning measures, including staging additional Twenty20 internationals, to keep the country’s top players from being lured towards the Indian Premier League (IPL). England’s stars earn basic salaries of approximately ₤ 400,000, in addition to endorsement deals, but stand to gain enhanced win bonuses and appearance fees from additional Twenty20 internationals that the board plans to arrange, the reported.It is also believed that the 18 counties and leading venues, who have also been warned against hosting unofficial events, stand to gain financially. In an attempt to prevent players from flocking overseas to profitable Twenty20 tournaments the ECB has urged the counties to put their players on 12-month contracts rather than season-long ones. The ECB may also accept an offer from Allen Stanford, the American billionaire and brains behind the lucrative Stanford 20/20 in the Caribbean, who is reportedly willing to pay big bucks for a match between England players and his all-star XI.The ECB chairman, Giles Clarke, arrived in New Zealand after a meeting of the 12-man management board in London on Wednesday and is expected to brief the touring party on the details of the plans.The news came a day after Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, indicated that dates for future events could be altered to accommodate England players. Nobody from the country has joined the IPL yet because it clashes with their domestic season. The ECB however, has decided to prevent that scenario from cropping up.Another idea under consideration is that the ECB changes the one-overseas-player-per-country rule to four for the next year, where Twenty20 matches are considered.Kevin Pietersen has reiterated his commitment to England and Matthew Hoggard, who said the IPL was a topic of discussion within the team, followed suit. “There’s a lot of stupid money flying about and I understand why a lot of people have gone to India to ply their trade,” he said. “If you are getting four or five times your salary for six weeks’ work, it can’t be a bad job.”But I want to play for England and play as many Tests as I can. Most of the guys want to play as much as they can for England, so I don’t think it’s going to be a massive draw on talent. But the IPL has got a lot of clout and maybe the International Cricket Council has realised that fact.”

Trendsetter of the day
Tim Southee’s first delivery of the day, to England’s overnight stalwart, Stuart Broad. Broad’s 42 had helped rescue England from their mid-innings nadir of 147 for 6, but in a portent of collapses to come, he was unable to push on when play resumed. Southee found the perfect line and length, and a hint of away movement, and Brendon McCullum did the rest. Twenty-four balls later, England’s innings was all over, and the teenaged Southee led his side from the field with figures of 5 for 55, the best by a New Zealand debutant for more than 50 years. As he did so, he was thrown the match ball for safekeeping, which he rammed deep into his pockets. As well he might after that sort of effort.Misjudgement of the day
There is a bet doing the rounds among the Kiwi journalists that Matthew Bell will not pass 30 at any stage in the series. Today he batted as if he was in for a cut of the winnings, with the most ludicrously awful misjudgement since the England media manager losthis middle stump to Matthew Hoggard on the eve of the Test. The ball did swing appreciably, but quite why Bell thought it wise to shoulder arms to a straight one is anyone’s guess. In the event, he was cracked on the kneeroll plumb in front of middle, and sent on his way for a second-ball duck.Flighty fifty of the day
Stephen Fleming’s fifty-to-hundred conversion rate has been a source of wonder, frustration and bemusement all throughout his 14-year Test career. He’s somehow managed to pass 7000 Test runs (and rack up three big double-centuries) without taking his centuries tally into double figures. Today’s innings, however, showed just how this could be possible. For the best part of a session, Fleming was invincible. He cut and drove the new ball with disdain, and threatened single-handedly to carry New Zealand to an impregnable total. But then, just as thoughts began to drift to a fairytale finish, Fleming wrenched the situation back to reality. A half-cocked waft outside off stump, and off he ambled for a microcosmic 59.Bowling spell of the day
Amid the mayhem, one man stood tall like a beacon of rectitude. Ryan Sidebottom has been the stand-out seamer on either side in this series. Defiant in defeat in Hamilton, quietly competent while the young guns starred in Wellington, and now the indisputable leader of the line in Napier. He bowled without a break all the way from lunch to the close of the innings, taking 6 for 37 in 14.4 overs, and 7 for 47 all told. They were the best figures by an England bowler since a certain Steve Harmison took 7 for 12 in Jamaica four years ago, and they carried his series tally to a remarkable 23 wickets at 14.21, more than double the next most prolific bowler, Chris Martin (10).Catch of the day
It was an unremarkable lob to mid-off from an unremarkable tailender, Jeetan Patel, but the man beneath the catch was relieved nonetheless. Monty Panesar has had nothing less than a shocker in the field this series, and the roar that greeted his achievement was not merely English excitement at another wicket falling. Even in his moment of triumph, however, Monty managed to mess it up a touch. As his long fingers closed around the ball, he somehow managed to cut the tip of his left index finger – which could prove troublesome when his turn comes to bowl. Off he sprinted to the dressing-room to see the medics, almost before the batsman had managed to leave the crease.Swipe of the day
England’s positive intent was their downfall in the first innings, but Michael Vaughan wasn’t about to let any such bad vibes cloud his judgment. This pitch was a belter when he assessed it on the first morning, and despite a five-session scoreline of 421 for 20, a belter it remained. So when Chris Martin banged in a good-length delivery just outside off stump, Vaughan had a monstrous mow at it, and almost swung himself off his feet as he aimed towards the midwicket floodlights. Unfortunately for him, the ball zipped a little quicker off the track than he’d expected, and brushed the shoulder of the bat to complete an underwhelming Test for England’s captain.

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

A blazing 76 by Salman Butt led Pakistan to a comprehensive seven-wicket win in a rain-curtailed match at the Iqbal Stadium. Heavy rain after 48.2 overs in Bangladesh’s innings kept the players off the field for more than two hours and the target of 226 was reduced to 158 in 25 overs by the D/L method. Pakistan made easy work of the target, despite an asking-rate of more than six an over, and extended their lead to 2-0 in the five-match series.Despite the heavy defeat, Bangladesh had something to write home about, especially their lower-order revival. Mahmudullah’s unbeaten half-century pushed Bangladesh to a respectable score of 225 for 8 after a characteristic top-order wobble. Tamim Iqbal piloted the early charge with an attacking 60 but the excitement was rather shortlived, with half the side back in the pavilion by the 25th over. Mahmudullah then proceeded to add 37 with Farhad Reza, doubled that effort with Dhiman Ghosh, and those stands were significant in ensuring Bangladesh didn’t fold up before the allotted overs.Tamim set the pace with some gorgeous drives through extra cover and controlled flicks off the pads, making it fairly obvious from the start that the margin for error on this surface was minimal. The high elbows were a feature of his technique as he punched crisply through the off side and back past the bowler.Shahriar Nafees wasn’t as technically correct and like a repeat offender, perished in identical fashion to the Lahore game, swatting at a wide delivery away from the body. Aftab Ahmed’s dismissal was unfortunate as replays indicated the ball struck him above the knee roll off Gul, who picked up his 50th ODI wicket in the process.Ashraful walked in and went on the offensive with an exquisite cover drive off Tanvir to go past Habibul Bashar as the highest run-getter in ODIs for Bangladesh, before taking Gul to task with three fours in a single over. However, Bangladesh lost two quick wickets against the run of play – including Ashraful – and Tamim fell shortly after bringing up his fifty.Mahmudullah and Reza got together for damage control after Tamim’s wicket, and the pair brought some stability to the innings. With spinners bowling from either end, the pair grafted – staying back and waiting for the turn, pushing the ball into the gaps and fetching the odd boundary. The partnership was worth 37 before Reza lunged forward to Shahid Afridi and was trapped lbw just after a drinks break, in the 34th over.Luckily for Mahmudullah, he found an able partner in Ghosh and the pair strung together the most fruitful stand of the evening. In the five overs after Reza’s dismissal, Bangladesh added 34. Pakistan lost the plot, and the introduction of Younis Khan to break the stand only leaked more runs. Mahmudullah never got tied down at any stage, and shortly after the pair added 50 runs, he brought up his own half-century, giving Sohail Tanvir the charge and punching him through extra cover and then glancing one down to fine leg the following ball. Rain intervened with ten balls left, leaving Mahmudullah unbeaten on 58.The overcast conditions mattered little for Pakistan as the openers blazed away in a stand of 46 in just over seven overs. Butt took to Mashrafe Mortaza early, punching him through extra cover and followed it up with a pull over midwicket in the same over. His innings was a suitably classy affair, full of proper cricket shots, drives, cuts and the odd pull.The early pounding forced Ashraful to bring his slow bowlers on in the fifth over and the move worked as the left-armers, Abdur Razzak and Shakib Al Hasan, plugged the scoring for three consecutive overs. Nasir Jamshed fell after attempting one ugly heave too many, bowled by Shakib.Younis Khan walked in and carted Mahmudullah for a huge six over midwicket before a swing and a miss off Reza sent him back for 13. Yousuf joined Butt, and during his cameo knock of 32 became the second Pakistani to go past 9000 ODI runs behind Inzamam-ul-Haq. Butt brought up his fifty in the 18th over, launched Mahmudullah for a six over long-off before he was run-out off a direct hit for 76. His 72-ball knock had all but sealed the victory, with Pakistan needing just seven to win.

Senator Enver Baig, a member of the Standing Committee on Sports that is currently probing the bank accounts of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has accused its chairman Nasim Ashraf of ‘deliberately avoiding’ a meeting with the committee in Islamabad on Thursday.”He [Ashraf] was supposed to appear before the committee and answer important questions but he conveniently proceeded to Dubai to avoid us,” Baig told .”The worst part is that we were given a false excuse for his absence as a top PCB official told us that Ashraf had gone to Dubai to meet ICC president Ray Mali. But I’ve confirmed with the ICC headquarters in Dubai that no such meeting took place. In fact Mali had left Dubai two days ago for South Africa,” said Baig, who has been a major critic of the PCB top brass in recent years.Baig added that Shafqat Naghmi, the PCB’s chief operating officer, told the committee during an “on-camera” session that Ashraf had to rush to Dubai to meet with Mali and discuss some important issues related to the ICC Champions Trophy which Pakistan are to host this September. “He [Naghmi] told us that Ashraf had to leave in a hurry because Mali had told him that he was in Dubai just for a day on Thursday.”Baig said that it all turned out to be a “pack of lies”. “I believe that Ashraf flew off to Dubai to avoid the committee that was supposed to ask him some probing questions.” Baig also said that he and some Senators had requisitioned another meeting next month to discuss the PCB’s finances and have asked the Senate committee to make Ashraf’s presence mandatory.The committee, according to Baig, found out an “astonishing” fact from the details of the PCB bank accounts provided by the board that the it spent Rs 1.2 billion (US$17,788,340) during a short span of the last six months. “We were really surprised because that means that the PCB has been spending 12 crore a month. We’ve asked them to provide details and now they are supposed to submit balance sheets within the next three weeks.”

Derbyshire have signed Charl Langeveldt, the South African fast bowler, on a two-year Kolpak contract. Langeveldt could be in action for Derbyshire as early as Sunday’s Friends Provident Trophy match against Yorkshire at Headingley.”Charl is an excellent addition to our squad and brings real quality and experience to our side,” John Morris, the head of cricket at Derbyshire, said. “He has proven ability at the highest level of the game and just as importantly is exactly the sort of character we are looking for.”We have managed to bring him to Derbyshire ahead of several other options he had and we are delighted to have him on board.”Langeveldt, who has played 59 ODIs and six Tests, last turned out for South Africa in the one-day series against Bangladesh last month. He pulled out of the subsequent tour of India after being picked ahead of Andre Nel in a move many perceived to be driven by Cricket South Africa’s transformation policy.He was in sensational form for the Cape Cobras in the recently-concluded Standard Bank Pro20 series, taking 18 wickets in six matches, including a five-wicket haul and a hat-trick. His previous county experience includes short stints with Somerset in 2005 and Leicestershire in 2007.