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Cricket Australia has called on the ICC to commission an independent review on corruption in the sport, in the wake of the allegations of spot-fixing by some Pakistan players. The ICC has started a review of the game’s existing anti-corruption measures but the CA chief executive, James Sutherland, wants a worldwide investigation to be run independent of the ICC.There have been a number of inquiries in the past, including the Condon report in 2001, Qayyum in Pakistan in from 1998-2000, Australia’s O’Regan report in 1999 and the King Commission in South Africa in 2000. However, Sutherland questioned the longevity of such investigations, given the changing nature of cricket and society.”There were a whole lot of recommendations that came through from that,” Sutherland said on Cricket Australia’s website. “How many of those recommendations have been put in place, are they absolutely relevant to this day and age? The world has changed a lot in ten years. We’re in far more of a digital age to where we were before.”All of those things need to be assessed and I don’t think it’s appropriate for them to be assessed by some internal person. I think a highly-credentialed external expert could do a full-blown review around the world – the time is right for that.”In the days that followed this year’s spot-fixing allegations, Malik Mohammad Qayyum, the retired High Court judge in charge of the Pakistan inquiry that led to Salim Malik being banned for life, complained that his findings in the late 1990s were not fully implemented. One of his recommendations was for players’ assets to be examined annually, a process that had not been implemented.Sutherland said he was “shocked and saddened” to hear of the reports that Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif had deliberately bowled no-balls for financial gain during the Lord’s Test against England. However, he said it could be a good thing that cricket administrators would now be forced to act on corruption in the game.”If these charges are proven, we find ourselves in a position where we’ve got clear evidence of international cricket having been corrupted,” Sutherland said. “That in itself, I actually see that as a positive, that it comes out on the table and is clear. It’s positive in a sense that we can’t deny it – we have to face the facts.”With that on the table we can – ‘we’ being cricket administrators around the world and the ICC – can take a serious look at the processes and the controls and the education we’ve put in place in the last few years, where they may have fallen down, where there are ways in which we can improve that.”

ScorecardThe Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan took a career-best 7 for 32 to send woeful Middlesex spinning to a remarkable 111-run defeat at Lord’s and keep Worcestershire firmly in the County Championship Division Two promotion race. Middlesex, set 178 to win when Worcestershire were bowled out after an hour’s play on the final morning for 256 in their second innings, crumbled to 66 all out in 31.1 overs.Shakib took three wickets in an over at one stage, and the turn he got from the wearing surface was just too much for the Middlesex batsmen. Only the first-innings centurion Owais Shah, with 25 in his final innings for the county, seemed to have any idea of how to flourish against Shakib’s left-arm spin – until, that is, he holed out to mid-on.Gareth Berg was then caught at slip two balls later, pushing forward, and the last ball of Shakib’s sixth over saw Tim Murtagh slice a wildly optimistic drive to point. That burst left Middlesex reeling at 54 for 7, but they had already been in deep trouble. Alan Richardson, playing against the county he left at the end of last season, had struck twice with the new ball while Shakib had removed Dawid Malan just before lunch and Dan Housego just after the interval.Richardson had John Simpson lbw for a first-ball duck during his opening over, before angling one across Scott Newman to have the left-hander caught low down at second slip by Daryl Mitchell in his fifth over. Malan, having scored the single which completed his 1,000 first-class runs for the season, fell for 2 when he moved across his crease and had his leg stump clipped as he missed an attempted flick off his pads.Housego was lbw on the back foot as he tried to defend against Shakib, and Shah’s rush of blood – which produced a simple catch to Jack Shantry – merely hastened the end as the Middlesex lower order surrendered with barely a whimper.Toby Roland-Jones was lbw to Shakib, going back to a well-flighted ball when he should have been forward, and Neil Dexter – the home side’s last hope – was brilliantly caught for 21 by Vikram Solanki at backward short leg off Moeen Ali’s off-breaks. Fittingly, Shakib picked up the final wicket when Steven Finn attempted a mow to leg but succeeded only in skying a catch to wicketkeeper Ben Cox.The day had begun with Worcestershire just 116 ahead on 195 for 7 in their second innings and when Moeen fell for 81 – having added just 10 to his overnight score – and Shantry quickly followed for a duck, caught at the wicket off Pedro Collins, it seemed as if the match was going Middlesex’s way.But Gareth Andrew more than doubled his overnight 34 by going to 73 with some cleanly-struck blows and Richardson hung around to help him add an important 34 for the last wicket.Yet the victory target still seemed well within Middlesex’s reach – until Shakib began to weave his web of destruction. Worcestershire are now at home to Sussex in next week’s final round of Championship matches, and could yet pip Glamorgan for the second promotion place.

ScorecardGordon Muchall engineered a spirited Durham recovery with his first century ofthe season in an entertaining match against Hampshire at Basingstoke.Muchall hit an undefeated 140, and Ben Stokes contributed an emphatic 99, asDurham recovered from 40 for 4 to declare on 320 for 7 when play resumedin damp conditions on the third day.Hampshire then moved on to 41 for 2 in their second innings by stumps, a leadof 142. With much of the second day washed out by rain, Hampshire declared their firstinnings on their overnight total of 421 for 5 and Durham were soon introuble.The wicket at the May’s Bounty ground had been affected by the moisture and theswinging conditions aided Hampshire pace bowler’s Dominic Cork and JamesTomlinson. Michael Di Venuto was out to the fourth ball of the innings and his openingpartner Mark Stoneman was leg before to Tomlinson for 30.Durham’s position worsened when Dale Benkenstein was caught behind in DavidBalcombe’s first over and Tomlinson struck again when he had Ian Blackwell legbefore in the 18th over. But then Muchall, whose last century was in the early part of last season, was joined by Stokes in a crucial stand of 176 in 40 overs for the fifth wicket.Teenage prospect Stokes was in superb form striking 13 fours in his 99 and wasdenied a century only by a tumbling catch at leg-on by Sean Ervine. Durham captain Phil Mustard was picked up at second slip by Neil McKenzie off Balcombe to put his side in trouble again at 218 for 6 and still needing another 59 to avoid the follow on.But Muchall found another willing ally in Scott Borthwick and another 102 wereadded in 22 overs for the seventh wicket as Durham completed theirrehabilitation. Borthwick smashed 10 boundaries in a 74-ball 54 before going for another bighit and giving Michael Lumb a catch on the midwicket boundary and providing Corkwith his second wicket of the innings.With Borthwick’s demise, Mustard declared leaving Muchall to get a standingovation for his undefeated innings which came off 240 balls and included 16fours and a six. Durham’s enterprising declaration 101 behind gave Hampshire 11 overs to add to their lead which they did by 42 for the loss of Jimmy Adams and Tomlinson.Spinner Blackwell dismissed them both, bowling Adams when the score was 19 andthen from the penultimate ball of the day having Tomlinson caught by LiamPlunkett for two.Michael Carberry, who hit 162 in the first innings, was 22 not out at the closeand with eight wickets left Hampshire led by 142.

Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka captain, has asked the ICC to step in and make the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) mandatory for all Test series, following India’s refusal to use it for the upcoming series. Sangakkara also said the ICC should perhaps pay for the technology needed to implement the system successfully, because it is something the ICC wants to introduce and the broadcasters have usually paid exorbitant monies for their rights and might not be able to afford extra costs for sophisticated tools such as Hot Spot.”I was under the impression that the ICC has set the standards on this by saying that everyone should use the DRS system,” Sangakkara said, suggesting he was not aware of the results of the latest discussion on UDRS at the ICC’s annual conference. “I think last year in India also, the entire team felt a little hard done by when we came to know that we couldn’t have the DRS.”The ICC’s directive, too, was as ambiguous as the body’s role is in international cricket. “The host member would determine whether to use DRS in home Test series (following consultation with the visiting country),” said the ICC release, in one sentence giving the home board the power to “determine” whether the UDRS should be used, and also empowering the visiting team to contest it.”The role that ICC has to play here is to make sure that all boards are bound to have the DRS,” Sangakkara said, “Rather than when one side refuses, the other side can’t enforce the DRS, as is under the current playing conditions.Sangakkara reiterated how the absence of DRS hurt his side on its tour of India (“It cost us close to 500 runs and lots of wickets”), and also how the presence of the same system proved to be an advantage when they hosted India in 2008. Then, Sri Lanka successfully challenged 11 decisions as opposed to India’s one.”There were of course complaints by the Indian team, which led to – I think – subsequent series’ being played without the review system,” Sangakkara said. “Having reviewed all the matches, there are flaws. You need Hot Spot and all, but even with the existing technology in place, we can still have a very fair DRS.”MS Dhoni explained his side’s decision with what has been a genuine concern with the UDRS: why challenge decisions when the best available technology is not being used? “DRS is still not a 100 % correct system,” Dhoni said. “We have seen that, in spite of having the DRS, not everything goes correct. Most of the teams have played a series under the DRS, so it is important now to come up with a foolproof plan. See what exactly works. In a bat-pad scenario, Hot Spot really works, it is close to over 98 % correct. Even on LBW decisions, we need to have something like that.”Which brings us to the present conundrum: Several broadcasters pushed themselves to the commercial brink to secure telecast rights, and they obviously hadn’t budgeted for the extra cost to make the UDRS successful. Which is what makes the ICC’s role important, because essentially the DRS is its baby. “That’s another option [paying for the technology] maybe the ICC should look at,” Sangakkara said. “Provide the technology, make everything standard, if the costs the exorbitant, subsidise the costs. These are all the things we can look at. Maybe the broadcasters – they of course pay such a lot for cricket, but they also make sure they earn almost as much – maybe they could work out ways of subsiding it.”

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Fourteen wickets tumbled on the second day at Sophia Gardens but Glamorgan held the edge with a lead of 236 runs with four wickets in hand. The hosts had the experience of Robert Croft to lead the way with a four-wicket haul to bundle out West Indies A for 151 and then score a crucial unbeaten 33 to rescue his team from a top-order collapse.Resuming on 11 for 2, the West Indies top order failed to get any partnerships going as the seamer Chris Ashling made early inroads. Andre Fletcher resisted patiently before he was trapped lbw by Ashling for 26. The seventh-wicket stand of 68 between Chadwick Walton and Imran Khan was the best for West Indies A. Croft broke the stand by dismissing Walton before Will Owen claimed Imran. Croft bagged two more lower-order wickets to finish with 4 for 39 while Owen and Ashling took three apiece.Having conceded a lead of 110, the West Indies seamers came out firing, removing four top-order wickets for 27. Gavin Tonge and Lionel Baker were on target, getting four lbw dismissals in their favour, and by the 21st over, Glamorgan were struggling at 46 for 5. Croft and Nick James began the recovery stand, adding an exact 50 and extending the lead past 200 to make it competitive for the tourists when they begin their chase.

Cricket Australia officials are still lobbying to gain enough support to install John Howard as the ICC’s vice-president in Singapore over the next two days. The appointment of Howard, the former Australia prime minister, is supposed to be a formality but it has become increasingly uncertain following complaints raised by Zimbabwe and South Africa.Howard’s vice-presidency will be a key issue at the ICC’s executive board meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, which occurs before the elevation of India’s Sharad Pawar to the top job. James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, and the chairman Jack Clarke are in Singapore for various talks this week and are attempting to secure the seven votes required for Howard to get the deputy’s role. “There are still discussions taking place,” a Cricket Australia spokesman said on Monday.In an effort to improve relations with Zimbabwe, Howard, who as prime minister was critical of Robert Mugabe’s regime, met with senior cricket officials there last week. A similar approach to speak with South African administrators was rejected while Howard was in the country for the football World Cup.Despite the claims of Zimbabwe Cricket’s managing director Ozias Bvute that reports of its influence were “maliciously incorrect”, its senior officials raised the initial protest through its South African counterparts outside ICC meetings in Dubai in April. The issue has continued to simmer and there are concerns India will side with the African countries in the executive meeting to block the appointment.David Morgan, the out-going ICC president, supports the Howard nomination, which was proposed by Australia and New Zealand following a drawn-out selection process. Under the ICC’s guidelines Howard should become president in 2012, replacing Pawar, the Indian politician.

ScorecardScotland batsman George Bailey gave Hampshire a scare with an aggressive 90 before his team subsided to a 31-run defeat at the Rose Bowl in Clydesdale Bank 40 group C. Bailey, who captains Tasmania’s side when he goes home, put on 118 for the second Scotland wicket with Omer Hussain to unsettle Hampshire.But once Bailey had gone, caught at the wicket by Nic Pothas off James Tomlinson, Scotland lost their way and the momentum he had created. Pothas chose to bat first and Hampshire compiled 237, overcoming the early loss of Michael Lumb without scoring and Michael Carberry with only six on the board.Consistent James Adams led Hampshire’s recovery in a stand of 84 for the third wicket with Sean Ervine. Adams was Hampshire’s top scorer with five fours and a six in his 57 and there were useful middle-order contributions from Neil McKenzie, Pothas and Dominic Cork.Pace bowlers Gordon Goudie and South African-born Richie Berrington were the pick of the Scottish attack, Goudie taking 3 for 54, plus a run out of Ervine. Berrington finished with figures of 4 for 47 as Hampshire completed their revival from a shaky start.But for a time it did not look as if Hampshire’s total would be enough as Bailey and Hussain put on 118 in 23.1 overs for the second wicket. Bailey was in rampant form, striking six fours and two sixes, before his dismissal led to a Scottish anti-climax.Tomlinson removed Berrington one run later and four wickets fell for the addition of 10 runs with a middle order collapse. Tomlinson finished with 3 for 33 but Hampshire were held up by a brave stand of 32 for the eighth wicket between Gordon Drummond and Majid Haq.However, Hampshire never allowed Scotland to threaten to do to them what they had done to Leicestershire earlier in the campaign. Scotland battled to the end, needing 32 off the last over, but left arm pace bowler Chris Wood removed Goudie and last man Ross Lyons to leave Haq marooned on 27 not out when the last wicket fell at 206 from the penultimate ball of the match.Earlier Hussain had kept pace with Bailey in making a useful 42 but Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Rangana Herath made the breakthrough when he had the Scotland opener lbw and then soon afterwards Herath put pressure on Bailey by sending back Gregor Maiden without scoring.Scotland have now lost four of their five matches and travel to Kent on Monday for their next fixture badly needing another win.

Defending champions Pakistan suffered a major blow less than a fortnight from the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean when Umar Gul and Yasir Arafat were both officially ruled out of the tournament, having failed to recover sufficiently from injuries picked up in the ongoing training camp.But the announcement of replacements was a typically muddled process, with a lack of communication between the team management and the chairman PCB, Ijaz Butt, resulting in the former naming two replacements and the latter hurriedly issuing a press release clarifying that “the decision for the replacement of two players in Pakistan Team for ICC T-20 World Cup has yet to be approved by the Chairman PCB. The Final decision will be released after approval. All statement made earlier in this regard are not correct.”The ‘statement’ the release referred to was made by Shahid Afridi, Waqar Younis and then chief selector Mohsin Khan, all of whom told reporters that fast bowlers Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Irfan would be the replacements. “In mutual agreement with captain and coach, we have decided that we will not take a chance with half-fit players,” Mohsin said in Lahore. “We have approved the names of Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Irfan as replacements.” The chief selector later confirmed to Cricinfo specifically that approval had been given.But Cricinfo understands that the board chairman hadn’t been informed of the names at that point; senior officials in the board were bewildered that the trio had announced the names without any consultation with the chairman. “There has been some miscommunication over this but the names have not been approved,” Butt told Cricinfo. “They will be announced later today.”The confusion initially overshadowed the magnitude of Pakistan’s loss. A calf injury had ruled Arafat out some time ago and it was only his departure from the tournament last year and Abdul Razzaq’s arrival that settled Pakistan’s line-up.But Gul will be a significant blow, especially as he was thought to be recovering from a shoulder injury he picked up during a fielding drill. Medical assessments held over the weekend weren’t bright. Gul had been their leading wicket-taker in both the 2007 and 2009 editions of the World Twenty20. His death bowling was a key component of the 2009 success in particular, a record spell of 5-6 against New Zealand, sparking a turnaround in the team’s fortunes. He is currently the world’s leading wicket-taker in the format.Sami’s name was widely being touted as a possible replacement in any case, so impressive has his comeback into the national eye been since he led Karachi to a Quaid-e-Azam trophy title last year and was called up to Australia. Afridi has always been a fan and at the ICC trophy unveiling earlier this week, informally spoke very highly of Sami’s commitment and energy in the field.If both replacements are approved by the chairman, Irfan’s will be one of the stories of the tournament and not only because he will be the tallest bowler there: his official height, with typical confusion, is recorded as anywhere between 6’8″ and 7’2”. The left-arm paceman’s rise to national selection is nothing short of remarkable.He made his first-class debut this season, for Khan Research Laboratories, only after huge interest was created around him on the popular Pakistani fans’ website, PakPassion.net. One of their writers was told of Irfan by a former first-class fast bowler Nadeem Iqbal, who was running an academy in Multan; Irfan hails from Gaggu Mandi, a nearby town which also produced former Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Zahid.The writer, while subsequently interviewing Aaqib Javed – then with the National Cricket Academy in Lahore – mentioned Irfan’s name to him and Aaqib immediately asked for Irfan to come to the academy. He was spotted by KRL captain Mohammad Wasim, the former Pakistan opener, and an impressive debut season brought him to the attention of the selectors.Though he wasn’t in the reserves of the 15-man squad announced by the PCB, his performances in the RBS Twenty20 Cup and the potential surprise value his height brings have thought to have persuaded the management to prompt for him.

England’s women will rely on a blend of youth and experience as they seek to retain the World Twenty20 title that they claimed last summer when the 2010 tournament gets underway in the Caribbean next month.Claire Taylor and Holly Colvin return to the squad after missing the recent tour of India, but there is no place for the veterans Isa Guha and Caroline Atkins, nor Ebony Rainford-Brent, who was also in the squad last summer. Heather Knight, Danielle Wyatt and Danielle Hazell come into the reckoning instead.”We believe we have selected a squad of players with the necessary skills to retain the ICC World Twenty20,” said the head of England Women’s Cricket, Clare Connor. “Whilst this will be no easy feat given the strength of our group (Australia, West Indies and South Africa), the Twenty20 series win in India in February has prepared the squad well for the challenge.”In order to make way for the return of Claire Taylor and Holly Colvin, who missed the India tour due to other commitments, the selectors have had to make some tough decisions. Young Academy graduates Heather Knight, Danielle Wyatt and Danielle Hazell all seized their opportunities in India and, as such, have retained their places in the squad.”A couple of senior players have missed out on selection but the door remains open to them with a huge summer ahead against New Zealand in July. It is exactly this sort of competition for places that we are always striving for. We wish Charlotte Edwards and her squad every success in their bid to retain their ICC World Twenty20 champion status.”Squad Charlotte Edwards (capt), Katherine Brunt, Holly Colvin, Lydia Greenway, Jenny Gunn, Danielle Hazell, Heather Knight, Laura Marsh, Beth Morgan, Nicky Shaw, Shrubsole, Claire Taylor, Sarah Taylor, Danielle Wyatt.

Mohammad Ashraful is in line for a recall to Bangladesh’s squad for the Test series against England later this month, after being named as captain of the Bangladesh A side that will take on England in their three-day warm-up match in Chittagong from Sunday.The call-up comes after Ashraful was granted permission to miss the current ODI series against England, following a torrid tour of New Zealand in which he managed 62 runs in six innings, across all three forms of the game.”Ashraful himself wanted a break and we also felt that the pressure on him had increased to the extent that his confidence was suffering,” said the Bangladesh chairman of selectors, Raqiful Alam. “We believe that a gap from international cricket would be beneficial for him and he will come back strongly soon and do justice to his calibre.”Since scoring a century on debut as a 17-year-old, against Sri Lanka at Colombo in September 2001, Ashraful has gained a reputation as one of the most naturally gifted batsmen in the world game, and is an established star in Bangladesh thanks to his rare moments of brilliance, such as his matchwinning century against Australia in June 2005.But his respective Test and ODI averages of 22.78 and 23.72 do his talent no justice whatsoever, and he has often been prone to long periods of fallow form. When England were last in Bangladesh back in 2003, he was omitted from the two-Test series as the then-coach Dav Whatmore decided that the constant scrutiny from his countrymen was proving detrimental to his development, and in 2009, he was relieved of the national captaincy for similar reasons.He will form part of a strong batting line-up including several Test hopefuls such as Junaid Siddique, who played in the opening ODI at Dhaka before making way for an extra spinner, and Roqibul Hasan. There is no place, however, for Mashrafe Mortaza, who told Cricinfo earlier this month that he was considering retiring from Tests to prolong his one-day career, but nevertheless left the ODI squad in acrimonious circumstances on Tuesday morning.Squad Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Junaid Siddique, Mehrab Hossain Jr, Shamsur Rahman, Roqibul Hasan, Shuvogoto Chowdhury, Shahagir Hossain (wk), Mahbubul Alam, 9 Robiul Islam, Syed Rasel, Dollar Mahmud, Nur Hossain Munna