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The Pakistan Cricket Board has allotted more than Rs 500 million to upgrade the facilities at the three Champions Trophy venues – Rawalpindi, Karachi and Lahore – ahead of September’s Champions Trophy, despite security fears over the tournament.”We are putting our best foot forward,” Mansur Sohail, PCB’s media chief, told the . “Whether its security arrangements or upgrading the facilities, nothing is being left to chance. We are confident of delivering a successful Champions Trophy to the cricket world and all possible steps are being taken to ensure it.”In 2006, Pakistan won the bid to host the Champions Trophy and decided to upgrade and expand the facilities at three of its major cricketing centres for the tournament last year.While the National Stadium in Karachi didn’t need any major changes, a lot of construction and renovation work had to be carried out at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.A total of Rs 240 million will be spent at Rawalpindi alone. Though a Test venue, it hasn’t staged an international match since December 2006. At the Gaddafi Stadium, the board will spend Rs 210 million. “The Gaddafi Stadium’s seating capacity will be raised by 6500 for the Champions Trophy,” Mansur said.The PCB had given six months to the contractors to finish work at the two venues and is now expecting the facilities to be fully ready at least ten days before the start of the tournament, which runs between September 12 and 28.

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Martin van Jaarsveld produced the kind of all-round day that would have England salivating if it came from Andrew Flintoff, as Kent turned the tables on Surrey at The Oval. Kent started the day simply trying to reduce a hefty deficit but they closed it 92 runs from victory with five wickets in hand and van Jaarsveld at the crease on 70 and Geraint Jones on 5.van Jaarsveld was almost singlehandedly responsible for the turnaround, although he had some assistance late in the day from Darren Stevens (63) as they compiled a 95-run stand that rescued Kent from 28 for 3 chasing 258. Earlier, van Jaarsveld claimed a scarcely believable career-best 5 for 33 as Surrey capitulated for 130, and even earlier again he had completed his second century of the season as Kent lost their final three first-innings wickets to finish with 270 and avoid the follow on.After the first two days brought 17 wickets on a flat pitch, the tally of 18 breakthroughs on the third day might have suggested to those not at the venue that overnight a confused groundsman had accidentally run over the pitch with a plough. In fact the surface was not that bad; certainly there was plenty of turn but as Scott Newman and then van Jaarsveld himself proved, runs were still available if the batsmen applied themselves.The tight contest had been set up by the bowling of van Jaarsveld, who in 191 previous first-class appearances had not managed more than two wickets in an innings and had not been called upon at all this season. But bowling his offspinners in tandem with the more familiar tweaker James Tredwell, van Jaarsveld soon discovered it was to be his day.Playing further back than he needed to against the gentle slow bowling, Matthew Spriegel stepped into his stumps while working the ball through the leg side, handing van Jaarsveld his first wicket. Then came Mark Ramprakash, who must have thought the cricketing gods were smiling on him as he continued to search for that 100th first-class century that has eluded him for nearly two months.Here he was at his home ground, facing a part-time offspinner on a pitch that looked innocuous enough, with his team nearly 200 in front. But perhaps too eager for that milestone knock, Ramprakash got slightly ahead of himself and tried to go over midwicket first ball, instead lobbing a catch straight to Ryan McLaren.Finding himself in the middle of a van Jaarsveld hat-trick would have provided Ramprakash with a career lowlight at the same time as he was looking for an all-time highlight. Fortunately for him van Jaarsveld’s next delivery was safely wide of off stump and left alone by Jonathan Batty.But the first-innings centurion Batty soon risked being another hat-trick contributor when he was bowled trying to drive a big-turning Tredwell delivery through the off side and was followed next delivery by Usman Afzaal. Again the hat-trick was not to be, but Surrey were soon 78 for 6 when Abdul Razzaq padded up outside off to van Jaarsveld.All this time Newman, who had belted Yasir Arafat into submission in the early overs, cruised and registered a comfortable half-century. As if to confirm in his own mind that it wasn’t really that hard, he lofted Tredwell beautifully over his head for six and must have wondered what his team-mates were finding so difficult. But he did have a life on 55, dropped at slip by Justin Kemp off Tredwell, and he was finally trapped lbw by van Jaarsveld.The scoreboard proved what a one-man show it had been for Surrey. When Newman was out for 72, his side was 99 for 7. From there a steady descent was inevitable and despite a late 20 from Chris Schofield, Surrey could only manage to set Kent 258 to win. It was a target that by the end of the day looked distinctly gettable.

Scotland’s first full-time training academy is being run at Edinburgh’s Telford College in partnership with Cricket Scotland. It is intended that the year-long course will become an integral part of the treadmill from school cricket to the national level.Bursary-funded, the course develops practical skills in all aspects of cricket, including speed development, strength and conditioning, flexibility, psychological skills, sports massage and physiotherapy, as well as offering academic SQA Higher National Units in fitness testing, resistance training and sports coaching theory. As part of the course students will also have the opportunity to attend an overseas academy.”We feel that the Cricket Performance Course, in conjunction with the Academy structure, will provide our best young cricketers with a well structured, varied and focused 12 month programme which will give them the best opportunity to maximise their potential and gain some valuable life experience at the same time,” said Craig Wright, the former Scotland coach who now heads development at Cricket Scotland. “On completion of the Academy year, players can progress in further education, into employment, or perhaps into careers as professional cricketers.”Eddie Pollock, Sport and Fitness Lecturer at Edinburgh’s Telford College, said: “We are delighted to team up with Cricket Scotland to offer Scotland’s first ever Cricket Performance course, and help the country’s talented young players develop their skills in the sport, while also gaining SQA qualifications at the same time. It’s an exciting prospect to potentially have the professional cricketers of the future in our midst.”

Cricket South Africa is considering ditching the MTN Domestic Championship after it proved a failure with the public.The 45-over competition attracted dismal crowds, and the future of the competition was discussed when the franchise CEOs met in Johannesburg. A number of reasons were cited, including the poor timing of the event and the burgeoning popularity of Twenty20 cricket.”MTN have been doing a lot of research into the matter and this is continuing,” Cassim Docrat, the CEO of the KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union, said. “We’re looking for some innovation, so that the crowds come back and get involved again. Hopefully, CSA will be able to consider some kind of blueprint at their meeting at the end of next month.”

Epsom Girls’ Grammar School successfully defended their National Secondary Schools’ tournament title in Palmerston North, but not before suffering a humbling defeat at the hands of Burnside High School.Epsom GGS and Napier Girls High School finished the tournament with two wins each, but because Epsom won the match between the two sides, they won the tournament.Day Two:Burnside High School 155 (Andrea Brown 29, Frances Clark 33 not out; Kelly Winkley two for 26) lost to Napier Girls’ High School 158/4 (Jemma Davies 64 not out, Kelly Tunnicliffe 23, Kelly Winkley 33; Laura Paine two for 17) by six wickets.Epsom Girls’ Grammar School 202/4 (Rosamond Kember 83 not out, Cathryn Bristow 28, Amy Hodgson 33; Ruth Franklin two for 36) beat New Plymouth Girls’ High School 118 (Jessica Haigh 40, Rachel Priest 25; Jessica Ryan two for 18, Cathryn Bristow two for 20) by 84 runs.Today:New Plymouth Girls’ High School 142/8 (Rachel Priest 27; Nikki Tunnicliffe four for 18, Lisa Hayes two for 30) lost to Napier Girls’ High School 144/5 (Nikki Tunnicliffe 45, Kelly Wingley 40) by five wickets.Burnside High School 113 (Kate Saunders 30; Jessica Ryan three for 27, Cathryn Bristow two for 23) beat Epsom Girls’ Grammar School 79 (Sarah Coghlan three for nine, Lizzie Buchanan two for 12) by 34 runs.

Let me begin by saying that, sadly, crowd invasions seems tobe an integral part of this West Indies tour of India. Inthe second one-dayer, which West Indies won easily by sevenwickets, once again bad behaviour by the crowd ruinedthings. At one point so much rubbish was thrown on the ropesthat the fielders all had to gather in the centre of theground for their safety. This resulted in a considerabledelay and an over was even lost in the process.Crowd trouble apart, the second one-dayer produced a greatwin for the West Indians. Their plan of pitching the ballshort of a length and directing it to the rib cage area paidrich dividends when it came to getting rid of Sehwag early.The explosive opener, who is a compulsive strokemaker,pulled the ball straight to deep fine leg and got out injust the second over.Although the West Indians enjoyed early success, they couldnot cash in on it, as Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman battedwell. To start with the pair played within themselves, butthen opened up. It must be said, though, that two decisionswent against the visitors, both involving Laxman and thishelped India wrest the initiative from West Indies.The promotion of Harbhajan Singh has been a cause for quitea bit of talk and conjecture. I can only say that it givesme the impression that either the Indians are so confidentthat they can retrieve any situation or are just practicinga rotation policy in the batting line-up.Another point that bears mention is the wicket at Nagpur. Itwas much better than the one at Jamshedpur where the firstone-dayer was played. It was superb for batting and I mustgive the groundsman full marks on this count.Two partnerships – first between Ganguly and Laxman andlater on between Laxman and Dravid – helped the Indians putup 279, by all accounts a fighting total.Overall, the West Indies bowling was good despite the factthat they could not really pick up wickets at regularintervals. This was the only thing that came in the way ofthe West Indies implementing their game plan. Although theywere restrictive in the middle overs, and that is alright,taking wickets is the bottom line if a side has to be in thegame.Nowadays limited overs cricket is primarily loaded in thebatsman’s favour, but unless bowlers change their attitudefrom a negative approach to an attacking one, the game willalways remain a batsman’s game.To the end, West Indies played like champions. Inparticular, I am very impressed with Marlon Samuels. Hisstyle reminded me of some of the great West Indian batsmen Ibowled to in my time. He is always calm and collected at thewicket and this is an important thing for any batsman. Heseems to be very confident when playing Harbhajan andKumble, while on the other hand, the Indian spinners do notseem confident at all of bowling to Samuels!

With Javagal Srinath not bowling well at all, compounded bythe fact that he has lost his pace and is bowling veryslowly, there is a problem at hand. I don’t know how Gangulyis going to handle this delicate situation. With our bowlingdepartment lacking in every angle, the Indian skipper andcoach John Wright need to come up with a quick-fix solution.Secondly, I have my doubts about whether Harbhajan’s arm isok. His bowling action seems to have changed and there isstrain at the time of delivery. For his part, Kumble is notthreatening and his bowling has become a little stereotyped.He has to vary his line and length and of course turn theball if he wants to continue succeeding.All said, having gone 2-0 down in this seven-match series,the Indians will have to do a lot of homework before thenext one-dayer in Rajkot.

Sussex Sharks scrambled a bye off the final ball of the game to get their Vitality Blast campaign off to a successful start with a three-wicket win over Gloucestershire at Hove.Chasing 168, the final over began with Sussex needing ten to win but Fynn Hudson-Prentice, whose 47 appeared to have taken them to the brink of victory, was caught behind to give Matt Taylor his third wicket. With eight needed off three deliveries, Jack Carson swung a six onto the pavilion roof and then scrambled a single to leave Nathan McAndrew facing the final ball.McAndrew failed to make contact, but James Bracey missed his shy at the stumps and Sussex, who only won once at the 1st Central County Ground in last year’s tournament, had completed a breathless triumph.Gloucestershire will feel it was a game they should have won, in particular the Taylor brothers Jack and Matt. Skipper Jack Taylor got them up to what looked to be a competitive total of 167 for 8 on a hybrid pitch offering decent pace and carry with 52, then Matt became the third bowler in the match on a hat-trick when Ollie Carter failed to control a short ball and Ben Charlesworth dived full length to his right at short third to brilliantly cling one-handed onto Tom Alsop’s full-blooded cut shot.When James Coles was bowled making room to manoeuvre David Payne through the off side and debutant Daniel Hughes played around a straight one from left-arm spinner Graeme van Buuren, Sussex were 53 for 4 in the eighth over and up against it, but John Simpson joined Hudson-Prentice to add 56 off 37 balls and get the chase back on course.Simpson made 36 off 19 before pulling a ball from Marchant de Lange to midwicket, but Lamb and Hudson-Prentice maintained the momentum with 47 off 32 to take Sussex to within 13 of victory with two overs remaining. There was another twist when Ajeet Singh Dale deceived Lamb with a slower ball and conceded just three runs to set up a thrilling final over but Sussex got over the line.Jack Taylor clearly benefited from a move up to No. 5 as he made his third fifty in the format before becoming one of three victims in the final over for Sussex’s new skipper Tymal Mills, who finished with 4 for 25.Taylor came in halfway through the innings and took the initiative after McAndrew had picked up two wickets with successive balls in the 14th over to leave Gloucestershire on 111 for 5.He helped plunder 19 off the penultimate over, swinging Lamb over midwicket and out of the ground for his third six before Mills showed all his experience at the end of the innings, conceding just three runs and removing Taylor to a catch at deep square leg and foxing van Buuren and Matt Taylor with his slower ball. It was to prove a crucial contribution.Gloucestershire had been in good shape when openers Miles Hammond and Cameron Bancroft added 59 but it was a good night for Carson, who was making his T20 debut and took two wickets in his only over to remove Hammond and Bracey.Bancroft looked untroubled until a searing yorker from Australian compatriot McAndrew spectacularly split his leg stump in two, but Jack Taylor helped wrest back the initiative by adding 64 off 35 balls with Charlesworth and his sibling maintained Gloucestershire’s momentum before Sussex fought back.

India batter Jemimah Rodrigues has signed with Melbourne Renegades for her maiden stint at the WBBL and will be joined at the club by team-mate Harmanpreet Kaur.Harmanpreet, who missed the recent ODI series against Australia due to injury, produced the iconic unbeaten 171 in the semi-final of the 2017 World Cup and has previous played for Sydney Thunder.They take the Indian tally to six for the seventh season of the WBBL, with the recruitment of Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma (Sydney Thunder) and Shafali Verma and Radha Yadav (Sydney Sixers) announced earlier in the week. ESPNcricinfo understands at least one more Indian signing is yet to be made public by the clubs.Rodrigues, who is part of India’s squad for the ongoing multi-format tour of Australia, was the second-highest run-scorer at the Hundred in the UK, where she made 249 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 150.90. Her form at the competition helped her overcome a disappointing run with India side against England as she played only two ODIs, making 8 and 4, and was dropped for the T20Is altogether.In Australia, she didn’t feature in the ODI leg of the tour and is likely to face stiff competition from Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Punam Raut for a place in the XI of the pink-ball Test starting Thursday. She is, however, is expected to be in the reckoning for a return to the T20I side.Related

• Harmanpreet Kaur wants India 'to go all out' to win Australia series 'at any cost'

• Sydney Sixers confirm India pair Shafali Verma and Radha Yadav for WBBL

• India duo Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma sign with Sydney Thunder for WBBL

“I’m very excited to be here now and to be part of the Renegades,” Rodrigues said. “I think for me, the main goal over here will be just to pull back and play cricket, play some good cricket and enjoy what I’m doing. I know when I do that and when I’m in that headspace, I’m able to give it my best.”The goal is whatever happens, I want to give it my 100 percent each and every time I’m on the field…I’m really looking forward to it and there’s so much that I’m going to learn, I’m sure about that.”Renegades head coach Simon Helmot was hopeful Rodrigues, a top-order batter who can bowl offspin while adding high value as a fielder, can have a big impact on the side’s campaign this season with them having finished seventh in the previous edition.”Jemimah is an immensely talented young player, who is already making her mark on the world stage at 21,” Helmot said. “She was superb recently in The Hundred over in the UK. Jemimah is a dynamic player who can score quickly and to all parts of the ground.”On the addition of Harmanpreet, he said: “Harmanpreet’s record at international level over the past decade speaks for itself. She’s a match-winner and can take the game away from the opposition in a heartbeat. We also see Harmanpreet being an important addition for our group with her experience and leadership.”Rodrigues and Harmanpreet completed Renegades’ overseas signings alongside uncapped English allrounder Eve Jones also joined the club with their whole squad now locked in for what will be Sophie Molineux’s first season as captain.Squad Sophie Molineux (capt), Makinley Blows, Josie Dooley, Jess Duffin, Ellie Falconer, Holly Ferling, Poppy Gardner, Ella Hayward, Eve Jones, Harmanpreet Kaur, Carly Leeson, Rhiann O’Donnell, Jemimah Rodrigues, Georgia Wareham, Courtney Webb

Faf du Plessis has declared himself fit to return to action after a long lay-off due to the concussion he suffered during the PSL in June. du Plessis, who was also forced to miss the Hundred owing to persisting impact of his collision with a team-mate, believes “today is the last hurdle” before he is back playing cricket.”I went over for the first match [in the Hundred] to try and play, but I still suffered quite severe concussion symptoms quite badly and especially with the batting it got worse,” du Plessis, who will lead the St Lucia Kings in the CPL, said. “It’s been three or four weeks since then [during] which I have worked hard in trying to get back to normal with a good rehab programme, and specialists in England helped me with. Today is the last hurdle when [I am] just making sure I pass the full practice at full intensity. And if I do that, then I’ll be ready to play [his team’s CPL opener].”du Plessis stated the injury was a lot more serious that he expected initially, having spent close to three months on the sidelines. “It has been a tough three months,” he said. “I didn’t expect it to take this long and I also didn’t expect it to be quite as severe. But I feel like I am at the end of it, which really is pleasing for myself.”There’s a lot of cricket this year that I still need to play. As I mentioned earlier, missing three months of cricket is not something that is very nice. So I am just really looking forward to getting back out on the field.”The Kings start their CPL campaign against the Jamaica Tallawahs on Friday, with du Plessis happy to be banking on his team-mates for a word or two of advice – especially former captain Daren Sammy, who stepped down from his position earlier this year to join the backroom staff.”On the field, I would rely a lot on the other players to help me,” he said. “I am generally a guy that asks a lot of questions. In any way, I ask for help and guidance along the way. Daren Sammy is one of those guys, he is a very experienced leader within the side so we will tap into his plan a lot. Andy has worked with the side as well, so we’ll tap into his brain a lot. And then on the field, you rely on your experience as a captain to make those instinctive, gut decisions that you would need to make when you know it is so hard in the middle.”After the CPL, du Plessis will reunite with the Chennai Super Kings for the second half of the IPL season in UAE. Having opened the batting for them in each of the seven matches during the first half, he had piled up 320 runs to be the third-highest run-getter, including hitting four half-centuries. du Plessis hoped to continue the consistent run while also insisting the change of venue would suit his side’s balance.”I think our squad at Chennai is better balanced for the Dubai leg than it was for the previous [half of] IPL,” he said. “Second thing [is that] we had been playing some really good cricket in the first half of the IPL, so I hope that form is something that can hopefully continue – similar to myself, [I] had a really strong first half of the IPL. So I’d like to continue [from] where I left off. But for now, it is just about getting back to playing cricket.”As I said, it’s been a really tough three months. I didn’t expect it [the recovery] to take that long. I think in general we cricketers don’t know too much about concussion. Normally, [you] get hit on the helmet and then someone checks you out – then you either continue batting or you are ready in about a week’s time! So my expectation was that it was going to take anything between two and four weeks, which obviously it’s been triple of that. It has been a tough for me, but thankfully I am at the end of it now.”

The Supreme Court has put on hold, for at least a week, the appointment of a committee of administrators which it said would supervise the BCCI until the board amended its constitution as per the Lodha Committee’s recommendations.

Court to pick BCCI rep for ICC board meeting

The Supreme Court has asked the BCCI to submit the names of three eligible office bearers from which it would pick one as the board’s representative at the next round of quarterly ICC Board meetings in Dubai from February 2.
On Tuesday, the court told the BCCI legal counsel that the board would need to submit the three names by January 27 for it to make a final decision on the January 30 hearing.
This round of ICC meetings is significant because a raft of global issues that would affect the game, and thus the BCCI as well, are up on the agenda. There is expected to be progress on the vast governance changes ICC board members have been working on, changes that undo much of the administration and revenue distribution measures that were put forth by the Big Three in 2014.
There will also be continued discussions on the shape and format of international cricket in the future. As the board with the biggest financial sway in the game, the BCCI would ordinarily have expected to be a key influence during the meeting.

The court has now sought a fresh list of candidates from the BCCI, as well as from state cricket associations run by the federal government, which stepped into the long-standing case for the first time last week. The new names will have to be submitted in a sealed envelope by January 27. The court has convened the next hearing of the matter on January 30. The case is being heard by a three-judge bench of Dipak Mishra, A M Khanvilkar and D Y Chandrachud.On January 2, after removing the BCCI president Anurag Thakur and board secretary Ajay Shirke, the court had said a committee of administrators would take charge of the BCCI until fresh elections are held. On January 20, nine names were suggested by amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium and senior counsel Anil Divan in a sealed envelope.At that hearing, the three-judge bench was curious over why there were a few people over the age of 70 on that list. The Lodha Committee had placed a cap of 70 for administrators as one of its recommendations which the court had approved in its primary judgement on July 18 last year. On Tuesday, the court made it clear it would not consider any 70-year-olds among the names suggested by Subramanium and Divan.The court also rejected a request from Mukul Rohatgi, the attorney general of India, who asked the order appointing the committee of administrators be delayed by two weeks. Rohatgi told the court that the Indian government was considering formulating a new bill that would provide more autonomy to sports associations.Rohatgi’s original request was for the July 18 order, which had made the implementation of the Lodha Committee recommendations mandatory across the BCCI, to be reviewed but the court said, “Once we pen an order, it is clear as day that it will be implemented.”Justice Mishra was particularly stern on the counsel from the respondents when they sought to dispute and delay the formation and composition of the committee of administrators.He asked the attorney general why he had not been present through the six months of hearings and arguments over the Lodha recommendations between January and July 2016. “Where were you when SC passed the orders [on appointment of the Lodha committee]?”We are not trying to destroy the autonomy of sports bodies. We are removing the impure elements from them, so that they gain autonomy.”At one point in the hearings on Tuesday, when Kapil Sibal, counsel for some of the state associations, appealed for the BCCI to make its own recommendations for the COA, Justice Mishra pointed out that on January 2, the BCCI had been asked to make its suggestions but had not responded in any manner. He then had Sibal read out loud to open court a section from the January 2 order which stated: “We request the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the parties to also place their suggestions before the court so as to facilitate a considered decision.”When attorney general Rohatgi asked the court to defer a decision by two weeks, stating that the Centre was “mulling” over bringing in a sports code to make sports bodies more autonomous, Mishra who was dictating his order responded by saying, “you are only mulling over it.[]”