England flops have to take charge, says James Anderson

London: England pace bowler James Anderson admits he and his team-mates must take more responsibility as they look to bounce back from a woeful Ashes defeat against Australia.

Anderson and company will be led by a new coach this season, with the new man set to be appointed next month and charged with revamping a squad that slumped to a dismal 5-0 whitewash in the Test series in Australia before crashing out of the World Twenty20 at the group stage.

However, Anderson, one of the team`s senior figures, believes the onus should be on the players rather than the coach to ensure England return to the form that saw them win the Ashes on home soil last year.

"As important as a head coach is, I feel it`s the players that have to try and turn things round," Anderson wrote on his personal blog, www.jamesanderson613.com.

"I honestly believe the group of players that are selected have to take responsibility to try and get the team out of the trough we find ourselves in.

"A successful team is not led by one man. The captain is also important, of course, but a successful team has a group of leaders within the team. We will need a nucleus of four or five leaders who can drive the team in the right direction."

England descended into chaos during the long tour to Australia, which prompted Andy Flower to step down as team director before star batsman Kevin Pietersen`s controversial axing.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are due to announce Flower`s replacement in the next month, with limited-overs boss Ashley Giles and Lancashire coach Peter Moores tipped as the men most likely to get the job.

Anderson has worked under both and is confident either would be a suitable fit to help reinvigorate the national team.

"Ashley Giles and Peter Moores have been named in the shortlist of candidates and, having worked under both, I think they are each well equipped for the job," he said.

"Peter Moores has played a big part in my career and I have always enjoyed his enthusiasm and skill for coaching. Likewise, I have enjoyed working with Ashley Giles, particularly during last year`s Champions Trophy (when England reached the final)."

'Heartbroken' Kaneria slams ECB for 'taking away bread and butter' with life ban

London: Former Pakistani spinner Danish Kaneria has reportedly slammed the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for banning him for life in 2012 after he allegedly introducing then Essex teammate Mervyn Westfield to illegal bookmakers.

Although Kaneria was never charged, but his role in suggesting and organising the spot-fixing plan, as well as his influence over Westfield-acknowledged during the latter`s trial- resulted in the spinner receiving a lifetime ban from the sport by the ECB.

According to the BBC, Kaneria said that he does not believe he has done anything wrong to deserve a punishment from the ECB and will not show any remorse as he has not pressurised Westfield or done anything to bring the game into disrepute.

Kaneria, who played 61 Tests for Pakistan between 2000 and 2010, is making another attempt to have his ban overturned by filing a case against the ECB, saying that the board has taken away his `bread and butter` cricket.

The former player, who took 261 Test wickets between 2000 and 2010 to become the most successful Pakistan spinner in history, added that if he met Westfield, he would ask him as to why did he put a knife in his back and destroy a wonderful career.

Kaneria has accused the ICC of treating him differently from Westfield, who was given a five-year ban from professional cricket and has recently been cleared to play club cricket in Essex, although the ECB stated that it is happy that Kaneria had been treated fairly and endorsed both panels` decision to impose a life ban in this instance.

My explosive batting, result of clarity in thinking: Sammy

Castries (St. Lucia): West Indies Twenty20 captain Darren Sammy says his blistering batting in the recently concluded World Twenty20 in Bangladesh has stemmed from clarity in thinking.

Speaking to CMC Sports in his first interview after returning from Bangladesh with the West Indies team, Sammy said that he had taken a new approach to his batting in T20s.

"Right now, when I go to the wicket I have a clear idea of how I want to play," said the Windies skipper, while witnessing the finals of the Secondary Schools Under-19 competition at the Gros-Islet Playing Field.

"It`s something I have developed. In the absence of Kieron Pollard, my role is to finish the innings whether we are batting first or chasing runs."

Sammy played two scintillating innings as he helped West Indies advance to the semi-finals of the tournament.

He smashed an unbeaten 34 from 13 balls against Australia to get the Caribbean side home with two balls to spare and returned against Pakistan to belt a career-best 42 not out off 20 balls, to lay the groundwork for the Windies` 84 run triumph.

They lost to eventual champions Sri Lanka by 27 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis method in the first semi-final, after a rain and a hailstorm ended play prematurely with West Indies 80 for four off 13.5 overs, chasing a target of 161.

"I am very proud of the team. We went to Bangladesh with the mission to retain the title and although the weather played a part which we had no control over, yet still we lost by 27 runs and had 27 dot balls," he pointed out.

"I still believe we would have gotten home. That`s the kind of self belief we have in the dressing room at this present moment. I am very proud to see how we went about playing in this tournament.

"But it is not only the cricket but the team spirit. The unity was very evident out there on the cricket field."

Sammy finished the tournament with a strike rate of 224.44 and was included in the ICC World Team of the Tournament.

Not eyeing IPL 7 to prove critics wrong, says Pietersen

New Delhi: Axed from England`s set-up earlier this year, Kevin Pietersen on tuesday said he will not use the upcoming Indian Premier League to "prove anything" to his detractors.

A little more than two months after being dropped from England`s international set-up, Pietersen said he has already accepted the harsh reality that he won`t be playing for his country again and was trying to move on in life.

"The break away from cricket has been fantastic and I`m really looking forward to playing in the IPL. What transpired in March has nothing to do with what I`m about to do now. I`m not out here to make any point and neither do I play cricket for that reason," he said at a media interaction here.

"I find the opportunity of again playing in the IPL really nice especially because I missed the last season due to injury and also due to the fact that I absolutely love the competition. I`ve played in every part of the world and after playing for almost a decade, I don`t think I need to prove anything to anyone," added Pietersen, who will lead Delhi Daredevils in the seventh season of IPL.

The 33-year-old all-rounder, who is Delhi`s second costliest purchase (USD 1.5 million) after his deputy Dinesh Karthik (USD 2.08 million), is confident of a good showing by his team.

"We`re bringing together a talented side. It comprises a good blend of experience and youth - all international, Indian and domestic players. The most important task is to make everyone feel like it`s their own team," Pietersen said.

"According to me, the key to success this time around would be to make sure that the management, the captain and the coach understands each player and let every single individual be themselves. Also, the idea will be to train well in whatever way we can and try to perform to the best of our abilities." 

Delhi, who finished at the bottom in last year's IPL, will be under the guidance of World Cup-winning India coach Gary Kirsten, and Pietersen said he has and the former South Africa opener have already started working together.

"I flew to Cape Town a couple of weeks ago to meet Gary and we went through the whole schedule. We both synced on many levels and our ambition is to get every player to be at their best," he said.

"Both him and I are aware that some players will do well and some won't. But that's understandable in this format. So if we have a few players not performing well, the others will and we're looking forward to it and grooming them in the best possible way," Pietersen said.

Pietersen, who represented England in 104 Tests, doesn't believe having an entirely new-look squad will work against Delhi in this year's IPL.

"Once we reach Dubai on Saturday, we have a good three or four days during which we will play a few practice matches in order to help us get into the groove. I think this would give us a nice little opportunity to build a team together over the next 10 days and then set a platform from where we can proceed further," he said.

For the first time, the IPL is heading to the UAE, a place which is completely a new territory for most of the Indian players. But Pietersen feels the conditions in Dubai are similar to that of India.

"Dubai is fairly similar but the wicket in Abu Dhabi tends to be slow and low. I've played on that wicket a few times and it's a bit tricky," he said.

"In terms of conditions, Abu Dhabi is totally different from Dubai. Although I haven't played in Sharjah but Mushi (Mushtaq Ahmed) says it's the flattest wicket in the world. Hence, our batsmen will fancy their chances; can't say the same for the bowlers though."

Srinivasan set to attend ICC meeting in Dubai

New Delhi: Under-fire N Srinivasan is all set to attend the ICC executive board meeting in Dubai on April 9-10 as BCCI`s "representative" despite being sidelined from the Cricket Board`s affairs following a Supreme Court directive.

A senior BCCI official confirmed that Srinivasan "will attend the ICC Board meeting", according to `ESPNcricinfo`.

While the Supreme Court had shunted out Srinivasan from all affairs of the board, the two-judge bench had declined to pass an order in relation to his role in ICC affairs, saying it was an "internal" matter of the BCCI.

Normally, the BCCI president is inducted onto the ICC board as a Director and the secretary attends the ICC Chief Executives Committee meetings.

At every Annual General Meeting, it is the BCCI president who nominates the Board`s representative at ICC meetings, and at the last meeting held in Chennai on September 29, 2013, it was verbally decided that "Srinivasan will continue to be in the (ICC) executive board and Sanjay Patel (secretary) in the CEC."

Hours after the Supreme Court order, Patel had said that Srinivasan will remain BCCI`s representative at the ICC.

But since then the Federation of International Cricketers` Associations (FICA) has requested the ICC to sideline Srinivasan from the executive board and to not allow him to take over as the ICC chairman in July, at least until the time he is cleared of all the charges.

The ICC has remained tightlipped over the issue ever since the Supreme Court had Srinivasan removed from his official position of BCCI president.

"No comments at this stage," ICC has been repeatedly saying.

The BCCI has expressed confidence that it has not only acquired the apex court`s approval for Srinivasan to continue with his ICC responsibilities but claimed there will also be no protest from within the ICC Board towards his chairmanship.

Malinga attributes his success in World T20 to IPL

Colombo: Pacer Lasith Malinga, who led Sri Lanka to the World T20 title, the country first major crown for 18 years, has attributed his success in the just-concluded event in Bangladesh to IPL.

"My experience of playing in the IPL for 6 years helped", Malinga told reporters on arrival here.

The team was given a hero`s welcome at the international airport before being driven in an open bus to the central Colombo`s Galle Face promenade for a civic reception.

Explaining the IPL experience, Malinga said Sri Lanka`s success was mainly due to Indian batsmen`s inability to make runs in the last four overs of the summit clash.

"Indian batsmen are good at making a lot of runs in the final overs. I knew from my IPL experience which side to bowl to them which field to set for them," Malinga, who consistently played well for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL said.

"In the final I was executing the plans we had discussed before the game. It helped having the seniors (Kumar) Sangakkara and Mahela (Jayawardene)."

Malinga had earlier faced criticism from local fans and media that he had put the IPL before country as his performance against India had been left much to be desired.

Malinga`s poor performance was cited as the main reason for Sri Lanka losing the 2011 World Cup final to India.

Malinga became the first Sri Lankan captain since Arjuna Ranatunga to win a World Cup for Sri Lanka.

The pacer was thrusted into the role after regular captain Dinesh Chandimal wasa rendered unavailable for the last two games through an ICC suspension and later being dropped for poor form.

Chandimal said he was happy to make a sacrifice for the betterment of the team.

"What was important was to win the Cup so I was happy to let inform Lahiru Thirimanna to take my place," he said.

BCCI to be represented by secretary Sanjay Patel

Mirpur: With most of the top BCCI officials busy with preparations for the Indian Premier League, the Cricket Board will be represented at the ICC World T20 final tomorrow by its secretary Sanjay Patel, who reached Dhaka this evening.

Whether Interim president of the BCCI-IPL Sunil Gavaskar would be present during the final could not be confirmed.

Gavaskar`s manager, however, said that there are no plans of the former India captain as of now to attend the event.

Incidentally, Patel is a `lucky mascot` for Team India as he was also present during the final of the Champions Trophy in Birmingham. At that point of time, he had just been appointed the interim-secretary.

English woman cricketer `proposes` Kohli via twitter:

English woman cricketer Danielle Wyatt has no clue about who Anushka Sharma is but he definitely had the micro-blogging site twitter abuzz as she proposed marriage to India`s top batsman Virat Kohli. 22-year-old off-spinner Wyatt, who is not a part of England`s current women`s T20 team, has played 32 ODIs and 50 T20 Internationals for her country.

Yesterday, she tweeted: "Kholi (sic) marry me," and had the twitter world abuzz. A few fans reminded her that Kohli is rumoured to be dating Bollywood actress Sharma. She was not ready to give up and replied, "nah, he ain`t".

Wonder if her doosras can fox a dasher like Kohli!

BCB issues showcause notice to Shakib Al Hasan

Mirpur: There seems to be no end to the troubles of Shakib Al Hasan. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has issued a showcause notice to country`s premier all-rounder for making critical remarks about the national team during an interview with a local vernacular newspaper.

Shakib has been given time till the weekend to give a satisfactory reply on why he had spoken about Bangladesh`s poor campaign in the ongoing World Twenty20.

Bangladesh won two and lost five of their matches (including a qualifier against Hong Kong) and after the team`s last match, Shakib gave an interview to leading Bangla daily Prathom Aalo.

In the interview, Shakib had apparently said that "it was a mistake on the part of BCB, fans as well as the media to expect that Bangladesh would perform well."

The all-rounder had also said things like Bangladesh "should not play home series for at least two years" that he succeeded at the highest level despite the system and "Bangladeshi players can?t hit big sixes regularly as most of them have grown up eating only khichdi and not orange juice!"

BCB has sought an explanation from the player as to how to spoke to a media organisation without taking the board`s permission.

There was an emergent meeting of the BCB at its headquarters here today and president Nazmul Hasan informed the mediapersons about the latest development. The BCB has sought reports from the support staff as to why the team?s campaign went from bad to worse.

Interestingly, BCB had suspended Shakib from three ODIs after a TV camera caught him making an obscene gesture sitting in the dressing room during an ODI against Sri Lanka. Shakib missed out on the first two matches of the recently held Asia Cup.

However with Bangladesh`s bare cupboard of talent, it is expected that Shakib will again be let-off with a warning. The reason being that despite Bangladesh?s poor show, Shakib was their best performer scoring 186 runs in seven matches, including a half-century against Australia and took eight wickets at an economy rate of under six runs per over.

He is now the only Bangladeshi player whose freelance services are hired by T20 leagues across the world. He is on the payrolls of Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL and Barbados Rockets in CPL. He has also played in Big Bash for the Adelaide Strikers.

Dhoni wary of Sri Lankan spinners in World T20 final

Mirpur (Bangladesh): India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has pointed to Sri Lankan spinners as the ones to watch out for when the two teams clash in the final of the World Twenty20 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here Sunday.

Spinners Rangana Herath and Sachithra Senanayake have done exceptionally well in the tournament and add to that Ajantha Mendis`s exploits against India.

"Sri Lanka are a very good side and have a fantastic team. They have got the spinners that are needed on a track like this at the same time they have a good mix of young and experienced players," Dhoni said at the pre-match press conference here Saturday.

India are on the cusp of a momentous record and if Mahendra Singh Dhoni`s boys win the final they would become the first team to hold all three major limited overs titles, having won the 50-over 2011 World Cup and the Champions Trophy last year.

But the captain is not concentrating on any such records and said that the team are just focussing on doing well on the day.

"We are not thinking of any records or stats, we are more focussed on doing well in the final," said Dhoni.

Speaking about his team, Dhoni said,:"The players who play for India most of them are multi-dimensional. If you look at our squad only a few are T20 specialists other than that the rest are good enough to play all the formats of the game.

"There is also a negative side to it. We play so much cricket throughout the year and its the same set of players that feature in all the international matches and then they play the IPL so its a very congested international calendars we go through."

Sri Lanka ended runners-up in the World T20 2012, losing to the West Indies, and in the 2009 edition when Pakistan beat them. They were also on the losing side when the two teams met in the 50-over 2011 World Cup final in Mumbai.

Dhoni quashed any claims that his side held a psycological advantage over their opponents.

"There is no psychological advantage one can have in this format. The difference between the good sides is very little."

The Indian skipper praised star batsman Virat Kohli, calling him one of the most consistent performers in the team.

"Virat has done very well in the last few years. He has grabbed the opportunities with the best potential he has. He`s somebody who wants to improve in each and every game. He is a consistent performer for our team and rarely throws his wicket away and at the same time he scores at a pace that is very difficult to match," said Dhoni.

MS Dhoni wins Asian award for sports in UK

London: On a roll in the ongoing ICC World Twenty20 where his team has entered the finals, Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has another reason to smile as he has won the 2014 Asian award for outstanding achievement in sports here. Dhoni, currently in Bangladesh leading India in the ICC World T20, was honoured last night.

Former England cricketer Ramprakash, who was to present the award at the glittering ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, read out a message from Dhoni "dedicating the award" to his fans in Asia and all over the world. The citation said, "Dhoni is widely regarded as one of the greatest finishers in limited overs cricket. Under his captaincy, India has won numerous awards including the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the CB Series of 2007-08, the 2010 Asia Cup, the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.

"In 2013, Dhoni became the first captain to win all the three ICC trophies. Dhoni was ranked 16th on the Forbes list of highest paid athletes."

Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, Chairman of Poonawalla Group which includes Serium Institute of India, won the Asian Business Leader of the Year award for his outstanding contribution to the field of medicine. G P Hinduja, Co-Chairman of the Hinduja Group presented the award to Poonawalla and hailed his achievements. ???? Indian film and TV actor Irrfan Khan, the first Bollywood actor to star in two films that won the Academy Award for Best Director -- Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and Life of Pi (2012) -- was chosen for the Asian outstanding achievement in Cinema award.

Venkatraman "Venki" Ramakrishnan, who shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas A Steitz and Ada E Yonath, received the Asian outstanding achievement award in Science and Technology.

Saying that he was touched by the award, Ramakrishnan said, "it is not often scientists are recognised by the society." He said the Asian diaspora generally prefer their children to go for studies which is "financially rewarding." Salil Shetty, Secretary General of the Amnesty International, received the Asian Public Servant of the Year award.

Norah Jones, daughter of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, received the outstanding achievement in music award. Ahmed Kathrada, who?suffered imprisonment for 26 years along with Nelson Mandela in South Africa for his involvement in the anti-apartheid movement, received the Founders Award.

Kathrada dedicated the award to "those comrades who did not live to see freedom in South Africa." Other recipients of the awards were Jackie Chan, MBE (The Fellowship Award), Sir David Tang (Outstanding achievement in the arts), Gok Wan (outstanding achievement in Television award), Lui Che Woo (Entrepreneur of the Year Award).

Paul Sagoo, Founder of the Asian Awards, said the awards have come a long way since their inception in 2009. "My vision for these awards was simple - to create an event which would recognise exceptional achievement from those within the global Asian community, on a scale which had never been seen or done before."

Ponting awarded 'Honorary Life Membership' of 'illustrious' MCC

Johannesburg: Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting was reportedly awarded with life membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) as a tribute to his illustrious career.

Ponting, who had retired from all forms of cricket in October last year, had established himself as one of the best batsmen in the history of the sport by scoring over 26, 000 runs in all forms of the game and averaging 51.85 in 168 Test matches.

According to Sport24, Ponting, who hit 41 Test centuries and won three World Cups with Australia, is the 33rd Australian to receive the honour, joining the likes of Dennis Lillee, Allan Border and Glenn McGrath on a coveted list of former international cricketers.

Ponting was presented with his membership pass and tie during a recent visit to Lord`s, the world-famous London ground owned by MCC and regarded as the home of cricket.

Expressing his gratitude at receiving the honour, Ponting said that as he devoted his life to playing cricket so it feels great to be recognised by a club as proud as MCC, adding that to be able to sit amongst MCC members and watch a Test match is a great honour for him.

Honorary Life Membership is awarded by the MCC Committee to individuals in recognition of the service they have given to the cricket and projects surrounding the game, the report added

India, Sri Lanka set for intriguing World T20 final

Mirpur: Sri Lanka face a daunting test of nerves from dominant India in Sunday`s all-Asian World Twenty20 final in Dhaka that is rich with incentives for both teams.

If Mahendra Singh Dhoni`s Indians win, they will become the first team to hold all three major limited-overs titles, having won the 50-over World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy last year.

Sri Lanka will seek an end to an inexplicable losing streak in title matches, after being beaten twice in World Cup finals in 2007 and 2011 and the World Twenty20 finals in 2009 and 2012.

A fitting farewell to veterans Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene in their last T20 international game and a million-dollar winning bonus offered by officials back home will further inspire the Sri Lankans.

Sri Lanka`s English coach Paul Farbrace said past results counted for little in T20 games and pointed to his team`s victory in the Asia Cup one-day tournament in Dhaka last month as a turning point.

"We`ve done really well in most competitions and got to finals," he said. "That`s where teams want to be. We had a big win here in the Asia Cup a few weeks ago where we beat India pretty convincingly, and also beat Pakistan twice.

"T20 is about whoever turns up on that particular day. Form goes out of the window. It`s about making sure we`re ready and focused. What happened two years ago won`t even be talked about."

Sri Lanka reached Sunday`s final with a 27-run win over defending champions West Indies through the Duckworth-Lewis calculations in a rain-hit semi-final on Thursday.

The West Indies, chasing Sri Lanka`s 160-6, were 80-4 in 13.5 overs when a heavy downpour forced the match to be abandoned at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka.

It was undecided if Sri Lanka`s T20 captain Dinesh Chandimal will again opt out of the final, as he did on Thursday, to allow the winning combination to stay with pace bowler Lasith Malinga at the helm.

India have enjoyed an amazing run in the tournament, winning all four Super-10 league matches before beating South Africa by six wickets with five deliveries to spare in Friday`s semi-final.

Virat Kohli smashed an unbeaten 72 off 44 balls as India chased down South Africa`s challenging 172-4, making the prolific right-hander the tournament`s leading scorer with 242 runs from five games.

India have also been served well by opener Rohit Sharma, whose 171 runs are far ahead of the 134 runs compiled by Sri Lanka`s top-scorer Jayawardene.

India also has the bowling edge with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin`s 10 wickets and leg-spinner Amit Mishra`s nine outshining Sri Lankan seamer Nuwan Kulasekara (seven) and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath (five).

"There is a good feeling around the team, but we have to make a fresh start in the final," said Kohli. "Sri Lanka is never a team to take lightly."

Meanwhile, defending champions Australia will take on England in the women`s final at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium a few hours before the men take the field on Sunday.

FICA wants Srinivasan to step aside from ICC functions

Mumbai: The Federation of International Cricketers` Associations wants the under-fire N Srinivasan to stand aside from all ICC functions after being forced out as BCCI President owing to the IPL betting scandal.

Srinivasan has been forced to step aside following the Supreme Court`s direction that former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Shivlal Yadav perform split duties as BCCI president in his place.

While Gavaskar has been made in-charge of the Indian Premier League, ex-off spinner Yadav has been directed to look after non-IPL related issues.

FICA Executive Chairman Paul Marsh today said it was imperative that the ICC Board also acted strongly in response to the situation involving Srinivasan who is scheduled to take over as the first
chairman of ICC Board in June.

Marsh called on the ICC Board to take note of the Supreme Court`s recent orders and apply the same principles to ICC activities.

"Serious allegations of betting and spot fixing in IPL 2013 have been made against Mr Gurunath Meiyappan as the alleged Team Principal of Chennai Super Kings and these remain the subject of proceedings before the Indian Supreme Court," said Marsh in a media release.

"While we are pleased that Mr Srinivasan, at the behest of the Supreme Court, has agreed to step down from his duties as BCCI President, we are of the firm belief that he should not be exercising any functions on behalf of the ICC either, while any investigations concerning his conduct or that of his company are pending or unresolved," he said.

Noting that Srinivasan is the MD of Indian Cements Limited that owns IPL team Chennai Super Kings and also the father-in-law of betting accused Gurunath Meiyappan, Marsh pointed out the apex court`s directive asking all persons connected with the cement firm, barring players and commentators, to stay away from BCCI.
"The Supreme Court order from last Friday noted that Mr Srinivasan had made a written offer through his legal counsel to step aside from his functions as BCCI President until investigations into the allegations against him were completed.

"The Supreme Court has issued an interim order prohibiting any employees of India Cements Limited (other than players or commentators) from performing any duties for the BCCI. FICA understands that the order applies to Mr Srinivasan, as Managing Director of the company," Marsh said.

"While we are pleased that Mr Srinivasan, at the behest of the Supreme Court, has agreed to step down from his duties as BCCI President, we are of the firm belief that he should not be exercising any functions on behalf of the ICC either, while any investigations concerning his conduct or that of his company are pending or unresolved," Marsh said.

"The cricket world has been told time and again by the ICC that corruption is the game`s biggest issue and that the game has a zero tolerance approach to it," said the FICA Chief Executive.
"For our game to survive we need it to be not only free of corruption but free of any suspicion of corruption.

"The ICC needs to put the reputation of the game and confidence in its procedures first. The players, and other stakeholders in the game, are entitled to expect this from the ICC`s Executive Board.

"Under the current circumstances, the prospect of Mr Srinivasan taking the highest posting in world cricket while these matters are unresolved, is an impossible one," Marsh added.

FICA is the umbrella body for players around the world but no Indian cricketer is its member.

The BCCI and FICA have been at loggerheads over several issues in the recent past and the latter had opposed the structural changes, perceived to be spearheaded by the Indian body, effected in the ICC Board recently.

Marsh had called ICC Board`s decision to approve changes to its governance, competition and financial models as "a very sad day for our game."

"FICA and its members will continue to oppose these changes in the interests of the game`s future," Marsh had concluded.

Vaughan hails De Villiers as 'best batsman in world cricket'

Johannesburg: Former England captain Michael Vaughan has hailed South Africa`s AB de Villiers as the best batsman in world cricket.

De Villiers scored 69 not out off just 28 balls as South Africa amassed 193/7 in 20 overs in their ICC World Twenty20 clash against England in Chittagong last weekend, winning by three runs to qualify for a semi-finals against India on Friday.

According to Sport24, amazed by De Villiers` performance, Vaughan hailed his performance on Twitter, saying that De Villiers is a `freak` and the best batsman in the world, adding that he saw a `genius in action` when De Villiers batted with some `outrageous` shots.

De Villiers is currently ranked at No 1 on the ICC official Test rankings for batsmen, second in ODIs behind India`s Virat Kohli but only 37th on the T20 rankings, the report added.

Afridi leading contender to replace Hafeez as Pak's new T20 captain

Karachi: Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi is reportedly the leading contender for the team`s captaincy following Mohammad Hafeez stepping down as the Twenty20 captain after Pakistan`s early exit from the World T20 Cup.

Hafeez reportedly stepped down from his captaincy within a day after Afridi expressed his interest in leading the national team, but Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Najam Sethi said that the board is not in a hurry to look for Hafeez`s replacement.

Sethi has called for an extensive meeting to be held on April 15 to consider changes in the team as well as management, the Express Tribune reports.

However, Afridi has reportedly come up as the front-runner to take over as captain, as Hafeez has resigned and the Test and ODI captain Misbah-ul Haq is not playing T20 internationals anymore.

An official close to the PCB`s Management Committee said that Afridi is the `favorite` for captain if the board preferred experience, but added that he is not the only one who will be in contention.

The official also said that players like Ahmed Shehzad , who can resolve the captaincy issue for a longer duration, may also be considered.

The official also hinted on the possibility of changing the ODI captain with an eye on next year`s world cup and said that the PCB chairman will return from the International Cricket Council meeting next week, where he will tackle the issue of the Big Three, the report added.