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The Decision Review System (DRS) should be made mandatory and India’s resistance to the system must be overcome by a majority vote in the ICC, Geoff Boycott, the former England batsman, has said. The BCCI has consistently opposed the DRS, claiming it is not willing to implement a system that isn’t 100% foolproof. Even though this may be a minority view, Boycott said India’s clout in international cricket meant many countries would fear offending the BCCI before anything came up for a vote in the ICC.”If a majority of the ICC countries believe that the DRS is a good improvement for international cricket, they should vote for it and say, ‘Sorry India, you are in a minority.’ It’s supposed to be a democracy around the world, where the majority takes precedence,” Boycott said on ESPNcricinfo’s fortnightly audio show . “But there is fear to offend, and some countries are totally afraid to offend India. The sooner they get around to it and say, ‘No. Since a majority of us believe it is good, we’re going to do it,’ the better. Simple as that. India won’t like it, but you can’t be run by one country.”The ICC cricket committee, in May, made a series of recommendations that will be discussed and voted on during the ICC’s annual conference in Hong Kong later this month. Among them is the proposal to implement the system in all Tests, and in ODIs as well but with a limit of one failed review instead of two. Even if the DRS had widespread approval, Boycott said the decision to vote in favour of it was not going to be easy for many member boards. “Many countries that play cricket are frightened to death of India’s financial power. You’ve got to understand that before you get to voting on anything at the ICC.”The Decision Review System will be a major item on the agenda at the ICC annual conference later this month•Getty Images

India are a major draw whenever they play and wherever they tour. The last decade has transformed this phenomenon into the BCCI’s financial leverage in cricket. The potential television revenue to be gained by hosting India was something cash-strapped boards would hesitate to risk losing by taking an opposing stance against the BCCI, Boycott said. “When you play international cricket, every country has its own television rights with its home broadcaster. When India come, you’ve got a number of TV stations queuing up in India to get the rights to beam the coverage in India and they pay a lot of money for that. Other countries don’t have the same financial buying power.”So nobody wants to offend India. Nobody wants to create a situation where they say, ‘We’re not going to tour.’ I’m not saying India say that, and I’m not saying India are putting the pressure on and blackmailing; they don’t. But, underneath, these countries are frightened to speak up.”Boycott conceded that the game’s traditional decision-makers, England and Australia – two strong supporters of the DRS – had an unfair say in the governance of cricket for a long time, but that didn’t mean India should follow suit just because the balance of power has tilted. “If you believe it was wrong earlier… and there are some people like my friend Sunil Gavaskar. He says that England and Australia ran the Imperial Cricket Conference, when it was called that, and he’s right. They used to have two votes each, the other countries had one. That wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right. Now everybody has one vote.”If it wasn’t right back then, two wrongs don’t make a right. It’s about time the other countries stood up and said, ‘We’re going to have the DRS because it’s made more accurate decisions for cricket and it’s all players ever want.'”

Rahul Dravid has said the upcoming England-India Test series will throw up an interesting contest between offspinner Graeme Swann and India’s batsmen. Apart from Swann, he picked fast bowler James Anderson as being key to the series’ outcome.Since his Test debut in 2008, Swann has established himself as one of the top spinners in the world, rising to No. 2 in the ICC Test rankings on the back of 140 wickets at 27.72.”We first saw him [Swann] in England bowling here last time [in 2007] and the boys rated him,” Dravid told the magazine. “He’s come on in leaps and bounds from then, and has become one of their lead bowlers.”He’s an attacking bowler and that’s one of the things that is different. He’s not just looking to contain, he’s looking to take wickets. He’s not scared to toss the ball up and gets turn with good sideways spin. It will be a good contest against batsmen who are good players against spin, who will not be scared to take him on. Swann and Anderson are the key. Anderson has bowled really well. He’s been their trump card.”While England hold the home advantage, Dravid said India – who go into the series that begins on July 21 at Lord’s as the No. 1 Test side – would provide a stiff challenge if their pace attack stays free of injury. India’s bowling will be strengthened by the return of Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth, both of whom missed the recent West Indies tour due to injury.”England are playing at home, so they have that advantage. We’re a good side, a settled side, and we’ve been playing good cricket over the last couple of years. If we can keep our fast bowlers fit, then we’ll be very competitive.”The hugely anticipated series pits two sides who have built formidable records in Tests over the past two years against each other; England haven’t lost a series since early 2009, winning seven of their past eight, and India last lost a series nearly three years ago.”It’s a series between two teams that have had good recent records, which gives it a bit more context. We won in England last time [2007], so from that point of view England will want to do better this time.”Dravid, who is currently at No. 3 in the Test-runs scorers’ chart – and only 49 shy of Ricky Ponting – said India’s success in the longest format is a highlight of his career. “I’ve seen Indian cricket since 1996, and to be part of this journey and to see India become the No. 1 Test team – not just for a short period of time, because we’ve now been there for more than a year – it’s something I’m very proud of.”

ScorecardFile photo: Abhinav Mukund has struggled in England so far, but found form in Northampton•Getty Images

On a tour where India’s cup has not exactly run over, a century from Abhinav Mukund in the two-day practice match against Northampton could have been a solution to a problem. All it is now is yet another nagging poser as the third Test at Edgbaston nears.India ended the day at 327 for seven, after the loss of two quick wickets after tea that took some of the air out of their innings and put Abhinav’s century into perspective.Abhinav is not the stereotypical left-hander whose dip in scores is offset by his flair or style. His first five Tests have been played on demanding wickets in the West Indies and England, fiery baptisms for all batsmen, never mind openers. Today Abhinav saw the first signs of daylight in weeks at No. 3, largely against a second-string county attack, and was alert enough to cash in.Unfortunately, the other batsmen who could have done with much-needed time in the middle were unable to do so. Gautam Gambhir’s elbow put in nearly 90 minutes of work against the new ball and a disciplined Northants attack before falling for 18. The two middle-order men who needed a strong dose of confident batting, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni, did not have the day they were hoping for either.Yet the irony is that Abhinav will not be an instant pick for Birmingham, despite the resolution he showed in his testy second innings in Nottingham and his smart batting today. His runs came at a good pace; the seamers were attacked when their width and length demanded it. He was secure on his backfoot off the quicker men and, nearing his 100, feasted on the spinner. The century came with a single to mid-on and was celebrated fervently, Abhinav driving his arms aloft and pulling off his helmet.His 132-run third wicket partnership with VVS Laxman came off 26 overs and upped the tempo of the innings. Had Laxman been rested for this game, like Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar were, it would have been understandable, but the crowd would have been deprived of some entertainment. Under a clear, sunny sky, Laxman cut and drove and had the crowd enjoying his private carnival. He had whistled to 49 before a pull so ugly it could have belonged to his nightmare ended up in square leg’s hands.Of the bowling, only medium pacer Lee Daggett has played a considerable amount of first-class cricket this season – nine out of 11 County Championship matches. He was the most economical of the bowlers but it was Luke Evans who picked up the two wickets that put a crimp into India’s plans just after tea.First Dhoni was left indecisively prodding at one that climbed just a bit, sending the Indian captain back for two. Nine balls later it was Raina’s turn. In his innings of 33, he had been given a few short-but-not-very-threatening deliveries and had played some attractive strokes against spinner Paul Best. But the four consecutive boundaries off the slow left-armer on loan from Warwickshire were wiped from memory by his dismissal. Just after tea, a loose half-pull, half upper-cut to a short and wide ball was nicked through to the keeper. At 237 for 5, the tail had come into play. The next two wickets did put on 90 but that wasn’t the point of today’s exercise. The lone benefit – if Amit Mishra, unbeaten on 48, is to play in Birmingham – is that at least he would have had some batting practice.The most anticipated of the India batsmen today was, of course, Virender Sehwag, who cracked open his season with a rapier cut off his first ball he faced. The crowd, instantly roused, cleared their throats but the shot fetched but a single. Sehwag then spent half an hour in the middle on a wicket, which while fresh and responsive to the new ball, was far from monstrous. He faced 25 balls, leaving plenty judiciously alone.Beaten twice by the opening bowler Dave Burton, who does not feature in the Northants first XI, he lashed him for his lone boundary through the covers.Burton then got one to jag back and Sehwag was gone, having spent much less time at the crease than he would have liked before he plays his first Test in eight months next week. Yet, no one should be running to the bookmakers sprinkled all over England’s high streets to put money on today’s innings effecting Sehwag’s frame of mind before the game in Edgbaston.Practice matches are never thought to be the true Test of a team’s ability or capacity to raise their game. But after two straight Test defeats, Dhoni’s team needed more than what they were able to give on Friday. By this match’s singular, somewhat flexible format, India have a maximum of ten overs of batting left on Saturday, though not enough batsmen who could make the most of it.After play ended, Zaheer Khan took to the field with bowling coach Eric Simons and physio Ashish Kaushik in attendance and bowled off his full run up for the first time since Lord’s. By a rough estimate, Zaheer bowled about five overs and did not appear to be in any discomfort either in his run up or delivery. It is his performance tomorrow that will be watched, as Sehwag’s was today.A goodly crowd filled in the small, almost intimate ground ringed by homes whose back gardens may share a wall with the cricket. A spectator with a megaphone blared out Hindi film tunes from his mobile phone, the song snatches going from nostalgia to kitsch. Right at the end they came accompanied by a stern query to the departing captain of India.”Dhoni, what was that?” It is a question India can ask some of its middle order about their day out with the bat today.

Zaheer Khan, AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Shane Watson, Jonathan Trott and Graeme Swann have been nominated in each of the three top categories for the ICC’s annual awards. The six players feature in the long-list of nominees for the Cricketer of the year, Test player of the year and ODI player of the year awards. In addition, there are 11 players who have been nominated in at least two categories.The long-lists were put together by a five-man selection panel chaired by former West Indies captain and current chairman of the ICC cricket committee, Clive Lloyd. The other members of the panel were Mike Gatting, Danny Morrison, Paul Adams and Zaheer Abbas. The players were selected based on their performances between August 11, 2010 and August 2, 2011, a period that includes the ICC World Cup.The winners of the individual player awards will be picked by “an academy of 25 cricket personalities” that includes a number of former players, representatives from the elite umpires panel, ICC match referees and members of the media.This year’s awards include 10 individual prizes, including the people’s choice award that will be decided by cricket fans online, and three team awards: the Test and ODI teams of the year and the award to the side that has adhered most to the spirit of cricket. The awards ceremony will be held in London on September 12ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the awards are “a chance to look back on some of the great cricketing feats witnessed in the past year, including from our flagship event, the ICC Cricket World Cup”.

The nominations

Cricketer of the year: Hashim Amla, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Zaheer Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kumar Sangakkara, Andrew Strauss, Graeme Swann, Sachin Tendulkar, Chris Tremlett, Jonathan Trott, AB de Villiers, Shane WatsonTest player of the year: Hashim Amla, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Zaheer Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kevin Pietersen, Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Dale Steyn, Graeme Swann, Sachin Tendulkar, Chris Tremlett, Jonathan Trott, AB de Villiers, Shane WatsonODI player of the year: Hashim Amla, Michael Clarke, MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Mohammed Hafeez, Mahela Jayawardene, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Lasith Malinga, Munaf Patel, Saeed Ajmal, Shakib Al Hasan, Kumar Sangakkara, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Tim Southee, Dale Steyn, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, AB de Villiers, Shane WatsonWomen’s cricketer of the year: Cri-zelda Britz, Jess Cameron, Sarah Coyte, Charlotte Edwards, Shandre Fritz, Jhulan Goswami, Lydia Greenway, Bismah Maroof, Laura Marsh, Sara McGlashan, Anisa Mohammed, Shelley Nitschke, Leah Poulton, Poonam Raut, Stafanie TaylorEmerging player of the year: Adnan Akmal, Azhar Ali, Hamish Bennett, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Kirk Edwards, Colin Ingram, Abhinav Mukund, Wahab Riaz, Kane WilliamsonAssociate and Affiliate player of the year: Saqib Ali, Ashish Bagai, George Dockrell, Ryan ten Doeschate, Hamid Hassan, Nawroz Mangal, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Mohammad Shahzad, Paul Stirling, Andrew White, Gary WilsonTwenty20 international performance of the year: CJ Chibhabha 52 runs v South Africa, GC Smith 58 runs v Zimbabwe, JP Duminy 96* v Zimbabwe, SR Watson 59 v England, TT Bresnan 4 for 3 v Pakistan, TG Southee 5 for 18 v Pakistan, SA Fritz 116* v Netherlands WomenUmpire of the year: Billy Bowden, Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Kumar Dharmasena, Billy Doctrove, Marais Erasmus, Ian Gould, Tony Hill, Richard Kettleborough, Asad Rauf, Simon Taufel, Rod TuckerPeople’s choice award: MS Dhoni, Kumar Sangakkara, Chris Gayle, Jonathan Trott, Hashim Amla

Scorecard
Glen Chapple struck early but soon suffered an injury•PA Photos

Hamstring injuries are not known to be fatal to the individual that suffers them. For Lancashire’s hopes of claiming their first outright Championship title since 1934, however, the injury sustained by their captain, Glen Chapple may well prove to be the final nail in the coffin of their hopes. Indeed, if you were looking for a metaphor for Lancashire’s title aspirations, the sight of Chapple limping in to bowl was as accurate as it was painful.The Lancashire captain, now aged 37 but still the side’s leading seamer, sustained a hamstring injury in just his fifth over that reduced him to bowling off a few paces for much of the day. Clearly in great discomfort, it says much for his perseverance that he continued. His effectiveness was, however, greatly diminished and there’s little chance of his bowling playing much of a role in the rest of the game.It was not atypical of a day on which Lancashire endured little fortune. From the moment Chapple lost an important toss – the 13th time in 16 games he has done so and quite a blow for a side containing two spinners – little went the visitors’ way. Edges either dropped short of the slips or squeezed past the stumps and the scores filtering in from The Rose Bowl would have done nothing to lift the mood. When Jos Buttler drove Chapple to mid off only to see the ball bounce just in front of Luke Procter and travel to the boundary, it summed up Lancashire’s day.While it would be tempting to simply blame fate for their predicament, however, it would also be disingenuous. Lancashire also failed to accept a couple of important chances. Most obviously, Tom Smith, at second slip, could not hold on to an edge offered by James Hildreth off Procter when the batsman had just 21. It was not, by any means, an easy chance, but it should have been taken. A run-out chance, offered to Stephen Moore, was also missed when Hildreth was on 83. The fact that he ended the day unbeaten on 161 tells you all you need to know about the importance of such moments.Most of all, however, Lancashire came up against two high-quality batsmen on a good pitch. Hildreth and Buttler added 170 in 51 overs, both men producing some fine, positive strokes and Hildreth recording his highest score – and only the second century – of a disappointing season.Hildreth may never go on to represent England now. He has, it is widely suggested, shown too much frailty against pace and bounce and scored too many of his runs on the flat wickets of Taunton. Against modestly-paced bowlers, however, and on a pitch holding few terrors, he looks a very fine player. Here he played delightfully straight, caressing a series of boundaries either straight back past the bowler or through wide mid-on and the manner in which he reached his century – a drive over long-on for six off Gary Keedy – underlined his dominance.”He didn’t put a foot wrong,” Keedy said afterwards. “He played brilliantly. Obviously if you win the toss here, you bat. But we’re quite happy with that. Spin is going to play a major role in this game and we can still win this.”Buttler also impressed. While he is not the finished article, some of his shots bare the hallmark of real class: two lovely drives, one on the up off Chapple and another, after he skipped down the pitch and drove Simon Kerrigan through extra cover, spring to mind. On other occasions he was fortunate to survive after he came down the pitch to the spinners only to be beaten and just squeeze the ball away off pad or bat. Talk on the circuit also suggests he might be exposed by good-quality short-pitched bowling. It’s worth remembering he celebrated his 21st birthday only four days ago, however. He is an outrageous talent and surely has a golden future.In the shorter term, Somerset supporters could also be encouraged by the sight of Marcus Trescothick running on the outfield at lunchtime. No decision has yet been taken on whether he’ll be fit for Saturday’s CB40 final but, on this evidence, it’s looking good.That Lancashire’s title Championship hopes remain alive is largely due to the continuing excellence of their two spinners. Despite gaining little help from the pitch, Keedy and Kerrigan bowled with superb variation and control and, by frustrating the batsmen, dragged their side back into the game with a couple of important wickets.Indeed, so successfully did they restrict the scoring that Somerset failed to hit a boundary for 41 overs at one stage and added only 63 in 40 overs in late afternoon. That pressure brought wickets. First Buttler tapped a full-toss – perhaps the only poor ball Keedy delivered – straight back to the bowler, before Peter Trego, who took 22 balls over his one run, attempted to drive one not quite there for the shot and gifted a catch to cover. It was, by any standards, impressive bowling.Hildreth, however, refused to give anything away. His first 50 runs occupied 66 balls; his second just 52 and his third 134. But, by keeping his head and retaining his patience, he survived to take full advantage of the benign pitch and take some consolation for a season that started with an England place within reach and has ended with him unlikely to even win selection for the Lions tour.”I haven’t scored the runs I wanted this year,” Hildreth admitted afterwards. “I don’t know why. I’ve done all the same things as last year, but it just hasn’t happened. But I wanted to cash in here. They have two very good spinners, but it’s a really good pitch.”Lancashire had started well. Alex Barrow was caught behind prodding tentatively at one on off stump, before Chris Jones’ inside edge on to his pads looped up to gully. When Chapple found a way to nip the ball back through the gate of a perfectly reasonable forward defensive from Arul Suppiah it left Somerset on 89 for 3 and precariously placed. Instead of being able to attack with Chapple, however, they were obliged to utilise Smith and Procter. It allowed Buttler and Hildreth to settle in and build Somerset a decent platform in the game.It would be quite wrong to suggest that Lancashire’s title aspirations are over, however. Hildreth reasoned that a score of 400 wasn’t enough to be considered par on this wicket and, given fair weather, Lancashire could yet win this match. Both sides anticipate that the pitch will provide more assistance to the spinners as the game progresses and the Somerset tail is not the strongest. It’s not over.

John Aaron has been suspended as the secretary of the USA Cricket Association by Gladstone Dainty, the board’s controversial president, for what Dainty claimed were “comments damaging to the good standing and well-being of USACA”.In a move which brings into the open the battle between Dainty and those seeking to make him accountable, he claimed he had consulted “many of the USACA board members”, he told Aaron he was suspending him “immediately and indefinitely”.Aaron has been openly challenging Dainty over many aspects of the way he runs USACA in the wake of cancelled elections, the failure to replace Don Lockerbie, who Dainty sacked as CEO ten months ago, and a complete failure to communicate with factions of the board opposed to his actions as president. Dainty unilaterally cancelled a board meeting called by Aaron last weekend, even though it had been arranged in accordance with the constitution. The board has not met face-to-face for ten months.Aaron replied to Dainty that his action was “without basis and merit and is unconstitutional, and it impinges upon my right of free speech … in addition your reference to “consultation with many of the USACA board members,” is also unfounded and unsubstantiated, and at best refers to a minority”.The ICC, which has twice suspended the USA from international competition while Dainty has been in charge, has yet to comment, but it is likely it will be watching the unfolding events with increasing concern.

Group BA clinical bowling performance coupled with some steady batting gave Baroda complete control of their match against Madhya Pradesh at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara. Madhya Pradesh were bundled out for 63 – only two batsmen reached double figures – before Baroda reached 207 for 4 at the end of the first day, a lead of 144. Firdaush Bhaja, playing in just his third first-class game, and India allrounder Irfan Pathan did most of the damage, helped in part by some poor shot selection, as the visitors slumped to 32 for 8 in just the 18th over. A ninth-wicket stand of 29 delayed the final blow but the run-out of last man Amit Sharma typified Madhya Pradesh’s poor approach. Having driven the ball down the ground, Sharma needlessly took on Yusuf Pathan’s arm in attempting a third run, and a direct hit found him well short of his ground. Irfan ended up with figures of 3 for 23 while Bhaja took 4 for 19.Kedhar Devdhar fell for a duck and Rakesh Solanki for 15, but Aditya Waghmode and Ambati Rayudu ensured Baroda pressed home their advantage with a 144-run partnership. Waghmode narrowly missed out a century, falling against the run of play for 99, and an over later Yusuf Pathan holed out to mid-on off the last ball of the day to give Madhya Pradesh some late joy, but the visitors will be hard pressed to avoid defeat from here.After their first game was all but completely rained out, Tamil Nadu got their 2011-12 Ranji Trophy campaign up and running with a disciplined bowling performance against Haryana at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk in Chennai. Haryana made a positive start after choosing to bat, reaching 83 for 1, but L Balaji struck twice in the same over as the visitors stumbled to 90 for 5. Priyank Tehlan led the rebuilding effort with 95, adding 81 with Prateek Pawar, before he fell short of a hundred with 9.3 overs left in the day. Balaji took three wickets, while Aushik Srinivas and Sunny Gupta split the other four to fall on the first day, leaving Haryana on 264 for 7.The two Patels, Parthiv and Niraj, both made centuries to steer Gujarat to 358 for 6 against Delhi at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in Valsad. Parthiv made exactly 100, his second successive century to start the season, and it came in aggressive fashion – he faced only 120 balls and struck 12 fours and a six. Niraj was more circumspect, as he played the anchor role, needing 203 deliveries for his unbeaten 111. Young left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra was the pick of the bowlers on the day and picked up four wickets.Group ARobin Uthappa made a typically aggressive ton while Murali Kartik took five wickets to leave honours even on the first day between Karnataka and Railways at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. Uthappa blazed away from the start, smashing 10 fours and five sixes, but he received little support from the rest of the top order, who struggled against Kartik’s left-arm spin. Uthappa retired hurt on 100 with the score at 140 for 3, but returned after Karnataka had stumbled to 259 for 6. Unfortunately for the visitors, he was caught off the last ball of the day, having made 117 off 141 deliveries. “It is my natural style,” Uthappa told . “That’s the pace I like to play at.” Kartik, who was wicketless in the opening game, ended the day with 5 for 76.A lower order fightback helped Orissa recover from 56 for 5 to 246 for 9 after seamers Brainder Sran and Sandeep Sharma had struck the early blows for Punjab at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali. It was a bit of a procession after Orissa were put in to bat, as Sran struck three times to reduce the visitors to 23 for 3 before Sharma picked up two wickets to leave Orissa reeling. Their revival was first led by Subhrajit Sahoo, who added 49 with Lagnajit Samal and 47 with Deepak Behera, before becoming Sharma’s third victim after making a fighting 56. It was then carried on by Behera and Basant Mohanty, who put on 83 together, by far the highest partnership of the innings.Behera ultimately fell to Sharma two short of his half-century, having spent three hours and three minutes at the crease, but Mohanty was still battling on 58 at the close. India offspinner Harbhajan Singh, who was left out of the squad for the second Test against West Indies, had figures of 1 for 44 from 18 overs.Tanmay Srivastava batted through the first day to guide Uttar Pradesh to 266 for 4 against Saurashtra at the Cantonment Board Ground in Meerut. Srivastava made Saurashtra regret their decision to field as he posted his first-century of the season, and shared three substantial partnerships in the course of anchoring the innings. The visitors were boosted by the two wickets they took in the last session, as Sandip Maniar struck off consecutive balls to remove Parvinder Singh for 47 and India batsman Suresh Raina for a golden duck.

Medium-pacer Ishwar Pandey put Madhya Pradesh on top against Gujarat at the Emerald High School Ground in Indore with his maiden haul of five or more wickets. Pandey was supported by fellow seamer TP Sudhindra, who picked up 3 for 33 and the pair shared nine wicket while bowling out Gujarat for 130. Asked to bat, openers Avi Barot and Priyank Kirit Panchal added 44 but the innings fell apart not long after. Sudhindra started the slide, dismissing Barot in the 16th over and Pandey did the damage from the other end. Only Bhavin Thaker offered any significant resistance in the middle order, top-scoring with 38, and the innings folded in 66.3 overs. MP lost their openers inside the first four overs but Mohnish Mishra and Devendra Bundela steadied the ship, reaching 51 for 2 at stumps.Rakesh Solanki’s fifth first-class century helped Baroda reach a strong position against Delhi at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Solanki was unbeaten on 109 at stumps, after adding 154 in a still ongoing stand with captain Pinal Shah, who’s batting on 83. Baroda, after being put in, lost their openers early but Solanki, along with Ambati Rayudu, helped their team recover. The pair put together 88 before Rayudu was dismissed by Rajat Bhatia for 39. Solanki and Pinal, from the 31st over onwards, built a solid partnership – Pinal struck 15 fours, just as many as Solanki. Prior to the start of fourth round, the Baroda coach Sanath Kumar had backed Solanki, 26, to delivery after he’d been dismissed on several occasions after getting starts but without scoring big.Honours were shared on the first day of the game between Haryana and Bengal at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Rohtak. Haryana, presumably, would have retreated to their dressing rooms thinking that shouldn’t have been the case- they were going along well at 198 for 1, with centuries from Rahul Dewan and Sunny Singh, but lost their way after that, eventually finishing on 258 for 5 at stumps. Opener Nitin Saini fell early, in the 13th over, but Dewan and Sunny guided their team to a position of advantage, adding 161. Their stand ended when Ashok Dinda had Dewan caught behind, and Haryana had a hiccup when they lost three more wickets before the close. Left-arm spinner Iresh Saxena got two of those, dismissing Abhimanyu Khod and Priyank Tehlan. In the interim, Sunny was bowled by Laxmi Shukla for 111. Three wickets fell for 29, marking Bengal’s comeback.A wet outfield delayed the start of Karnataka‘s game against Saurashtra considerably at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Only 24 overs were possible, and an attacking start by Robin Uthappa, who made 70 in 64 balls, helped Karnataka reach 104 for 1 at the close. Uthappa struck 12 fours in a 95-run opening stand with KB Pawan. He was trapped in front by Jaidev Unadkat.A patient, unbeaten maiden first-class ton from Kaustubh Pawar put Mumbai in control against Orissa at the DRIEMS Ground in Cuttack. Pawar was part of a 123-run stand with the in-form Abhishek Nayar, who made 71 at a fair clip, off 99 balls, with eight fours and a six. The captain Wasim Jaffer, batting at No.4, contributed 35 and Suryakumar Yadav gave Pawar company in an ongoing stand of 111, making 69 himself. Pawar dropped anchor at one end, striking 17 fours in the process, and was assisted ably by his partners as Mumbai reached 311 for 3 at stumps. Mumbai’s leading fast bowler Ajit Agarkar flew back to Mumbai on the day of the match, and subsequently said he was disappointed at being dropped from the final XI.The going was slow at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali but Punjab laid the foundation for a big score against Railways. They reached 212 for 3 at stumps, and were 97 for 3 in 51.3 overs at one stage. Their captain Uday Kaul led them to a position of advantage, making an unbeaten 83, in the company of Mandeep Singh, who made 61 in a stand of 115 that’s yet to be broken. The pair also infused the innings with some fluency, striking 19 fours between them. Prior to their getting together, opener Inder Singh had made 20 in 93 balls and Karan Goel, 36 in 142.A series of steady contributions from their batsmen gave Uttar Pradesh the upper hand against defending champions Rajasthan at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Asked to bat, Eklavya Dwivedi fell for a first-ball duck but the others chipped in to guide the innings. Tanmay Srivastava made 50, adding 115 with Mohammad Kaif, who scored a half-century himself. There was a minor hiccup when Kaif and Prashant Gupta fell in quick succession, within a space of five runs, but Parvinder Singh and Arish Alam made unbeaten half-centuries, at a healthy run-rate, to take their team to 292 for 4 at stumps from 176 for 4.

The BCCI has moved on its decision to scrap the broadcast rights deal with Nimbus Communications by asking it to stop providing the live feed of the Ranji Trophy on Neo Cricket. This is the first direct fallout of its decision on the rights deal, understood to have been taken on Monday but not yet formally made public by the BCCI.On Tuesday, Neo Cricket had broadcast live the first day’s play of the Ranji Trophy match between Gujarat and Tamil Nadu in Motera, Ahmedabad, but there was no broadcast today. A BCCI official said the Board had “instructed Nimbus Sports Production not to give the feed to Nimbus Sports Media (Neo Cricket) from Wednesday.”Nimbus Sports Production is the production arm of Nimbus Communications and holds the rights for producing domestic cricket till 2014 in India. The BCCI pays Nimbus a fee to produce all matches televised in India, and holds the rights to decide as to whether the matches are in fact telecast.The BCCI has made no formal announcement of the termination of its contract with Nimbus, nor did it issue any instructions to the production company on the first day of the Ranji match, due to which the first day of the match was telecast live. “Even if BCCI says do not give the feed to anyone, the production company will oblige,” the official pointed out.At the moment, there is no clarity on whether the telecast would be resumed. During the second day’s play at the Motera though, it looked as if it was business as usual, with cameras in place and commentators speaking into microphones. The production team went about its business with the footage of the game and the views of the commetators were being being formally recorded, even if only for the BCCI’s archives.The dispute between the BCCI and Nimbus will have an immediate impact on the coverage of the Ranji Trophy, currently in the last two rounds of its league phase with the knockout matches beginning on January 2. A BCCI official said the live coverage was a “priority” and a decision on to how to handle the live coverage of the remaining matches of the Ranji Trophy would be made soon.

Javed Miandad, the former Pakistan captain, has questioned England’s status as the No. 1 side in the world Test rankings after their defeat inside three days against Pakistan in Dubai.Miandad, one of England’s most redoubtable opponents in his playing days, always relishes a chance to revive battles of old and he did so again when he suggested England’s rise to the top of the rankings owed much to home advantage and took little account of their perennial weakness in Asia.”I don’t believe much in rankings because it doesn’t give a clear picture of the team’s overall performance in the world,” Miandad said. “England is mainly the top side without playing in Asia and you must give credit to Pakistan that they have been playing with no home advantage and still they are winning. England are now the No. 1 team because they had the home advantage and never lost in their backyard.”Miandad, who made 260 against England at The Oval in 1987 as Pakistan piled up 708, freely admitted that victories against them had a special piquancy.”I always feel an extra sense of satisfaction when Pakistan beat England or Australia – it always carries a special importance,” he said. “Practically everything clicked against England. A circle that includes every aspect of the game rotated smoothly. Batsman scored runs; bowlers did accordingly to the expectations.””We experienced a very bad time in 2010 and because of that our cricket was suffered a lot. Our victories always were overshadowed by the controversies. But the victory against England was a special one.”More criticism of England’s performance came from Abdul Qadir, a former Pakistan legspinner and selector. He expressed surprise that England had lost in such an “unprofessional manner”.”I was never expecting that England could go that low, to be packed up in just three days,” Qadir said. “The most pathetic things I observed about the England batting was that on the first day, when fast-bowlers were supposed to take wickets they were exposed by spinners and later on in the second innings, when the spinners were supposed to dominate they fell into the hands of fast bowlers.”This is a buzzer for the English think tank, about their strategy. It’s like they didn’t do their homework and that fact was exposed cheaply. I always deemed England a very professional side but the way they played [casts] doubts [on] my views about them.”Waqar Younis, Pakistan’s former fast bowler and coach, said that the spot-fixing scandal had made the players stronger and was a driving force behind their consistency over the last 18 months.”I’m really proud of the way they’ve responded to all the criticism and scepticism that they had to deal with after the spot-fixing scandal,” he said. “The players were determined to show everyone what Pakistan cricket is all about after the scandal. They realised that the only way to respond to the crisis was to perform well and let the results speak for themselves.”