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Zimbabwe’s World Cup squad are to receive less than half the pay they were originally promised in their contracts, according to a report in today’s edition of . The report claims that Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president and the patron of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU), has decreed that some players will lose as much as US$20,000 (about £12,400) from their original payout. And to make matters worse for players such as Andy Flower and Henry Olonga, who now both live in England, the majority of the money owed to them will be impossible to transfer abroad.First a little-noticed clause in the players’ contracts, stating that their fees would be cut by 19% if the ZCU’s income fell below a certain level, was invoked. This, combined with the horrendous state of inflation in Zimbabwe, and the conversion of their fees from American dollars to Zimbabwean ones at an unfavourable rate, all means that the players will eventually receive a meagre meagre sum. Add tax on top of that, and it’s no surprise that the players apparently feel as if they have been robbed.But where Flower and Olonga lose out even further is that they are no longer allowed to transfer their money out of the country. In order to access their foreign-currency accounts, they would have to fill out a form explaining how they are going to use it.One of the four Zimbabwe players who spoke to said: “We’ve been screwed. It’s daylight robbery.” The players in question asked not to be revealed as a legal battle is now likely, but another said: “It’s like they’re stealing our foreign currency and it’s only worth living in Zimbabwe if you can earn foreign currency.””We signed a contract and they agreed to pay us a certain amount,” said the third player. “Now we’re not going to get what they agreed. We have always been pay-as-you-earn individual employees. We’ve never been companies or corporate entities.”The other added: “This was the big payday for us, that only comes every four years. If your income is in Zimbabwe dollars, you just can’t make out. It’s scary. That’s why so many people are leaving the country.”Retraction: Zimbabwe players’ payments

*Hyderabad openers slaughter KarnatakaDaniel Manohar and A Nand Kishore both notched up centuries asKarnataka bowlers toiled in vain on Day One of their Ranji Trophyleague match against Hyderabad at Secunderabad.South Zone kicked off its Ranji campaign with this match, a fittinginauguration. Both Hyderabad openers looked in little trouble,prepared to take their time and ensure that a large first-inningstotal was not frittered away. Manohar, the slower of the two, madeexactly 100 off 295 balls, striking 11 fours in his knock.Nand Kishore, the more adventurous of the duo, hit 23 fours in hisknock of 136 off 266 balls. Karnataka did not help their cause toomuch by conceding as many as 39 extras in the day, with 21 no-ballsbeing bowled.At stumps, Hyderabad were 275 for no loss, with both Manohar and NandKishore looking hungry for more runs on Day Two.*Services hold on for tame drawBeing set a total of 312 for victory, Services played for safetyrather than victory, reaching a total of 244/6 by the close of play onDay Four of their Ranji Trophy league match against Haryana atFaridabad.Haryana’s overnight unbeaten batsmen added valuable runs with theremaining tailenders, and their innings closed at 220 all out.Services started shakily, losing two wickets for the addition of 32runs. PMS Reddy and Yashpal Singh, however, stabilised the innings.Reddy departed with the score on 128, having made 53. His partner wasdismissed less than 30 runs later, caught by Shafiq Khan off AmitMishra for 64. CD Thomson made a fine unbeaten 44 lower down theorder, ensuring, along with skipper Sanjay Verma, that Services didnot lose the match.Haryana, by virtue of their first-innings total, pick up five pointsfrom this match, while Services get three.*Jammu opt for cautionPunjab, looking to bowl out Jammy and Kashmir for less than 293, wereunsuccessful in their bid on Day Four of their Ranji Trophy leaguematch at Jammu.The home side, losing two wickets for 37 runs, shut shop and refusedto be tempted into trying for the target. Kavaljit Singh, playing atone-down, made a painstaking 89 off 263 balls, giving clear indicationof the plans of his team.He was ably supported by Dhruv Mahajan (46), but Punjab must havesniffed some chance of victory when Kavaljit Singh, the fifth wicketto fall, departed with the score on 187. The lower middle-order,however, kept out the bowling long enough to take the home side to211/6 at stumps.Jammu and Kashmir pick up five points by virtue of their first-inningslead, while Punjab pick up three.*Delhi draw with Himachal PradeshDelhi, by virtue of a first-innings lead, gained five points fromtheir drawn Ranji Trophy league match against Himachal Pradesh atBilaspur.Himachal Pradesh, staring the day at a strong 327/4, proceeded to add94 runs before declaring at 421/7. Rajiv Nayyar, who remained unbeatenon 84, was a figure of patience, grinding the Delhi attack for almost6 hours and 225 balls, hitting only four fours in his knock.Set a nigh-impossible total of 361 for victory, Delhi opted forbatting practice. Gautam Gambhir made 42 and Akash Chopra an unbeaten86 off 168 balls. Delhi reached 219/3 at stumps, with none of theHimachal Pradesh bowlers able to dent the batting line-up further.

South Africa will not sink into their shells against spin despite their aggression resulting in a third sub-par batting performance in the series. After limping to 184 and 109 in Mohali, South Africa managed to creep up to 214 in Bangalore but Hashim Amla said the team’s approach will not change in the next two matches.

Steyn uncertain for Nagpur

South Africa are still sweating over the availability of their premier pacer Dale Steyn, who sat out his first Test in six years after suffering a groin strain in Mohali.
Hashim Amla could not provide clarity on the severity of the injury or how soon Steyn could be back in action, but indicated South Africa would give the matter their full attention in the coming days.
“I’m not 100% sure what the exact prognosis is. But it would be great if he is ready for the next Test. It would be great to have the world’s No.1 bowler back in our team,” Amla said.
“If he was fully fit he would have played this Test. So I don’t think he is fully fit at the moment. I don’t know, I’m not sure, I haven’t touched base with the physio as yet. I didn’t want to until this game is done, which it is now. In the coming days, we will probably have a better idea. “

“You’ve got to be positive in everything you do. If the guys got out playing a positive shot, I am happy because at least he tried to take the game forward and tried to score runs. That’s the name of the game,” Amla saidDean Elgar, Faf du Plessis, Dane Vilas, JP Duminy and even AB de Villiers have all got out attacking this series instead of protecting their positions. Had they shown a bit more staying power, Amla believes South Africa could have made better use of conditions which had nothing sinister about them.”If I had won the toss, I would have batted first anyway. I think it was a good wicket,” he said. “We just didn’t get any partnerships going. AB was exceptional as always. Unfortunately no one stuck around with him long enough to post a big total.”In South Africa’s haste to get runs before getting out, they did not realise that the turn they were trying to get away from was not really there. They were playing for imagined conditions instead of the actual ones, and have already had four days to assess why they let mind get over matter.Now, they have a week to reverse that thought process, but Amla has cautioned against too much thinking before South Africa get to Nagpur. “We’ve had a lot of time to reflect but we don’t want to over-reflect,” he said.”It’s pretty simple: you try and be as positive as possible and sometimes it was the lack of turn that outdid us. You don’t overdo it, you try and keep the game as simple as possible. We’ve had three innings that haven’t gone to our plan and I am sure in the Nagpur Test, hopefully we come good. We have talked about it but you can’t over talk about something and complicate it more than it is.”An obvious complication is the composition of South Africa’s XI. For the first time since the retirements of Graeme Smith and JacquesKallis, it seems to lack something, especially as du Plessis and Amla himself are not firing. That leaves the top four shaky, but Amla dismissed any thoughts of change, especially in the top two, just yet.”I’ve always felt opening batting is probably the most difficult job in Test cricket. Sometimes you’ve got to field for 150 overs and thenyou’ve got 10 minutes to put your pads on. It is quite a demanding position to be in but Dean and Stiaan are our best openers and they will do a great job for us,” Amla said. “The fact that myself and Faf in this game haven’t got going, we only have ourselves to blame. No one else.”Still, Amla was careful not to condemn his team too much. He even left open the possibility that South Africa could have come back into the Bangalore Test. “Although we got bowled out for 220 odd and India were in a good position at the end for the day, Test matches are not always won on the first day. There was a lot of time left for us to claw our way back into the game. You never know what could have happened.”

Chris Rogers’ hopes of replacing Justin Langer in the first Test have ended after he had his appendix removed in Perth on Thursday night. The unfortunate timing of the illness leaves Phil Jaques in an almost untouchable position to join Matthew Hayden when Australia face Sri Lanka at the Gabba from November 8.Jaques (13 and 167) and Rogers (9 and 17) went head-to-head in the first Pura Cup match of the season but now only Jaques, Brad Hodge and maybe Michael Hussey are contenders. Rogers was admitted to the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and had his appendix taken out using a laparoscopic technique.A WACA spokesman said Rogers would stay in hospital for another night and would look to resume playing in two weeks. The recovery will prevent Rogers from appearing in the Pura Cup match against Victoria in Melbourne from next Friday, which is the last chance to impress ahead of the Sri Lanka series.The Willetton allrounder Matt Johnston has been included in the 13-man squad for Western Australia’s FR Cup match against Tasmania in Perth on Sunday. He has started well in the Perth grade competition, scoring 179 runs at 89.50 and taking 4 for 44 in his only bowl.”Matt has received a reward for displaying outstanding form,” the coach Tom Moody said, “and he now has an opportunity to show his wares once again on the interstate arena.” Ben Edmondson, who injured his hamstring in the Pura Cup contest, was replaced by Daniel McLauchlan while Darren Wates also came into the squad.Western Australia FR Cup squad Justin Langer, Luke Ronchi (wk), Adam Voges (capt), Shaun Marsh, Luke Pomersbach, Matt Johnston, Darren Wates, Sean Ervine, Shawn Gillies, Aaron Heal, Brett Dorey, Steve Magoffin, Daniel McLauchlan.

Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have been acquitted by the tribunal appointed to review their appeals against the drugs ban imposed on them by an earlier committee. The three-man committee, headed by Justice Fakhruddin Ebrahim, voted two to one in favour of the acquittal. Haseeb Ahsan, former Test cricketer, and Ebrahim were in favour of the acquittal while the third member, Danish Zaheer, dissented.”This appeal committee holds that Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif will not be deemed to have committed a doping offence,” Ibrahim told reporters in Karachi. “The ban and punishment imposed by the earlier tribunal is hereby set aside as being contrary to the provision of laws.”A 30-page plus judgement (to read the full text of the judgement click here) for released by the committee detailed the reasons for their decision and though they are extensive, one significant theme that emerges from it is problems with the workings of the previous committee.In particular, concern has been raised over the fact that while the original body was constituted to work within the guidelines of the PCB’s anti-doping policy, the punishment it decreed – and the benchmarks it derived them from – were based on the ICC’s anti-doping regulations.The ruling concludes that both players were able to prove ‘exceptional circumstances’, in that neither was fully aware of the substances they were taking. Crucially, it points out that ‘exceptional circumstances’, as defined by the PCB and the ICC were signficantly different and that while the previous committee used ICC’s definition of the term, it was bound to use the PCB’s.The role of the PCB in ensuring their players were not only fully aware of banned substances but also understood the literature that they had been provided has also been highlighted in the report. “It is plainly evident that neither Shoaib Akhtar nor Mohammad Asif were ever warned or cautioned against taking supplements,” the judgement reads.”Hence, this committee is of the considered view that both players have successfully established that they held an honest and reasonable belief that the supplements ingested by them did not contain any prohibited substances.”The report also includes an 11-page note of dissent from Zaheer, the third member of the committee. He points out flaws in the testing procedures carried out by the PCB and argues, on that basis, that the whole process should be repeated, new samples provided and fresh verdicts given.Bilal Minto, one of the lawyers representing Shoaib, told Cricinfo that the decision was a good one, but highlighted that the PCB had also let down the players. “We are very happy about the judgement obviously. But it is clear that the PCB’s level of educating players about anti-doping legislation is poor. As lawyers, even we struggled to make sense of their anti-doping regulations so expecting players to be able to understand it is not right.”Shoaib, banned for two years, and Asif, for one year, appealed after they were found guilty for testing positive for the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone in dope tests that were internally conducted by the PCB at the end of September.

The ICC did not have any immediate reaction. “Malcolm Speed is currently in Uganda and we can’t comment on the issue unless we have all the details,” said Brian Murgatroyd, the ICC spokesman. “We need to go through the judgement and also get the PCB’s version before making any comment.”The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), in charge of monitoring drugs in sport, said they needed to discuss the matter with the ICC. Frederic Donze, their media relations officer, told Cricinfo: “We will now review the reasons for the decision, liaise with the ICC and consider whether to exercise its right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”The original tribunal which had imposed the ban was chaired by barrister Shahid Hamid and included Intikhab Alam, the former Pakistan captain, and Waqar Ahmed, a doping expert.

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

Matthew Hayden ended the biggest drought of his career with a courageous century, and Justin Langer completed a hundred of his own as well, as Australia’s batsmen continued to pile on the pressure in their last-ditch attempt to snatch the Ashes from England’s grasp. But, for the second day running, the issue was not so much the runs compiled but the time lost to rain and bad light. By the end of a stop-start day in which just 45.4 overs were possible, Australia closed on 277 for 2, still 96 runs adrift of England’s first-innings 373.For the second day running, play ended in unexpected fashion, as Australia’s batsmen took an offer for bad light with 5.2 overs still remaining. The subtext was clear. Australia intend to build as big a first innings as possible, and unleash Shane Warne on the final day with eight men round the bat and the entire hopes of a country crushing down on the England batsmen’s shoulders.The day may have been dominated by rain, but it belonged unequivocally to Hayden. After a half-hour delay that set the benchmark for the day’s proceedings, he resumed his innings on 32 not out, a performance that had been perhaps the most tortuous of his 71-Test career. By lunch, however, he was growing in confidence on 60 not out, his bullying instincts reawakened by a crunching pull off Steve Harmison’s first delivery of the day, and a flogged drive for four off Matthew Hoggard. Tellingly, he had acknowledged neither the crowd nor his team-mates upon reaching his first half-century of the series, and his hundred duly arrived from 218 balls, with a trademark straight drive off Andrew Flintoff.

Though the scoreline would not suggest it, England’s bowlers remained disciplined and stuck to their guns on a pitch that has remained true throughout. Revelling in the overcast conditions, Hoggard was the pick of England’s bowlers in the morning. He should have struck with his first ball of the morning, but umpire Billy Bowden turned down an excruciating lbw appeal with Langer on 75. While Hoggard was probing away, Australia were never able to settle.Chaotic calling nearly resulted in a run-out as Langer found himself nose-to-nose with his partner at the same end of the pitch, while Hayden also survived a tight lbw call off Hoggard on 41. But slowly but surely, Australia manoeuvred themselves towards a position of potency, with Langer finally securing the hundred that his tenacious batting has deserved all summer, with a steer for four through third man off Harmison.Langer’s innings, however, wouldn’t last much longer than that. Only 34 balls were possible in a brief flurry after lunch, but in that time, Harmison rediscovered the rhythm and raucous lift that has eluded him for much of this series. Langer fenced a searing lifter over the slips for four to bring up 7000 Test runs, but in the same over he was gone, bowled off the inside-edge for a gutsy and brilliant 105.That proved to be the last act of the session. A violent cloudburst drenched the covers and led to a two-hour rain delay, but upon the resumption, Harmison was straight back into his zone, troubling Ricky Ponting with his extra lift and venom, before cramping Hayden with a tight line across his pads. Though he did not add to his wickets tally, he demonstrated that England’s resolve would not be buckled, in spite of the mounting tension.

In previous games, the time would have been ripe for a spell from Simon Jones at the other end, but instead Ashley Giles came on to apply a stranglehold and allow Flintoff to rest up for a burst of his own, as England realised that restricting the runs was of equal importance to wickets. Even so, Giles could have dismissed Ponting for 13, but Bowden this time failed to spot a faint inside-edge on a bat-pad opportunity.Sure enough, when Flintoff’s spell arrived he did not disappoint. With an hour of play remaining, Ponting hadn’t banked on Flintoff getting so much bounce from a ball that was now 72 overs old, and jerked his head back in surprise to Flintoff’s second delivery, for a diving Andrew Strauss to hold onto a fine catch in the gully. Australia’s quest for parity by the close had suffered a big setback, and as a pumped-up Flintoff tormented Damien Martyn’s outside edge, they opted to baton down the hatches, and come out fighting on the fourth day instead.By rights, Australia should be waltzing to victory in this game, and with almost 200 overs still remaining in the match, there is plenty time yet for them to turn the screw some more. But with more unsettled weather in the offing for tomorrow, the players appear to be bracing themselves for the fourth consecutive nerve-jangler of an unforgettable summer. Hayden, unbeaten on 110 at the close, epitomised an Australian team that had regained its composure and confidence. England – and the elements – have their work cut out over the next two days.

AustraliaJustin Langer b Harmison 105 (185 for 1)
Cramped for room, bowled off inside-edgeRicky Ponting c Strauss b Flintoff 35 (264 for 2)
Surprised by extra bounce, sliced push to gully

Australia’s newly-contracted state players and rookies will spend two days at Cricket Australia this week as part of the inaugural induction camp. Organised jointly by CA and the Australia Cricketers’ Association, the camp – to be held on September 16 and 17 – is designed to introduce the 22 players to the pressures and opportunities faced by first-class cricketers in Australia, as well as familiarise them with the policies and code of conduct established by the board.Presentations will cover player contracts, code of behaviour – including CA’s racial and religious vilification and anti-harassment codes – the spirit of cricket project, and the Memorandum of Understanding between CA and the ACA.There will also be presentations on professional development, financial management and a section on players and the law. Current and former first-class cricketers will talk about life as professionals. Michael Brown, the general manager cricket operations, said that the camp would help prepare players for some of the issues they might encounter during their cricket career.”Players who are new to the elite level can be forgiven for focussing only on their playing performances and the challenge of breaking into the team,” he said. “However, the role of the player induction camp is to show them a broader picture and highlight several other aspects of the game in Australia and their importance.”The demands on cricketers these days – and sportspeople across all codes in general – is vastly different to that of yesteryear. There is a lot more scrutiny and media exposure of cricketers, and we are committed to ensuring that our players are good ambassadors as well as being the best players they can possibly be.”We have a responsibility to ensure that all players in our national competitions are familiar with our expectations of them, and hope that the player induction camp will provide an excellent vehicle for newly-contracted state and rookie players to make a smooth transition into the elite level.”Tim May, the ACA’s chief executive, echoed those views. “Newly contracted state players are exposed to significant new pressures and responsibilities both as cricketers and as people as they progress along the cricketing pathway,” he said. “We believe the induction camp will assist players to better absorb the significant pressures they will face through their involvement in sport at this level, and additionally better prepare the players for their increased responsibility to both the game and cricketing public.”

Tasmania will introduce a new plan this summer to ensure the continued development of its club cricket.The basis of a review undertaken by Tony Ibott of Wise, Lord and Fergusson was to check on the state of health of club cricket in Tasmania. It was designed to coincide with the review being undertaken across the board by Cricket Australia.Among other aspects of the review were: addressing club concerns over the competition structure in view of societal trends; looking at ways of ensuring community involvement when there are so many competing activities; ensuring a career path to State play through a competitive club scene; and ensuring Tasmania was keeping up with cricket trends and to check on player migration from off-shore and internally.As a result of the survey, changes for the new season in grade cricket will involve 14 weeks of play with limited overs matches played in all grades for the first time.The Kookaburra Cup competition will be included in the first grade roster and points from matches will be included on the first grade ladder. Instead of a pennant committee over-seeing the club competition, a grade committee will take over with three members appointed of the Tasmanian Cricket Association board and two club nominations.TCA chief executive David Johnston: “The report and the implementation of the recommendations will enhance TCA Grade cricket, give a clear direction and pathway for players and clubs alike and will ensure that the competition provides an opportunity for cricket to be fostered at all levels.”The recommendations approved by the TCA Board, and supported by all grade clubs, will ensure that grade cricket keeps pace with the ever-changing nature of the sport.”

*Sandeep Sharma rips through DelhiFighting back from a first-innings deficit, Himachal Pradesh bowledDelhi out for only 228 on Day Two of their Ranji Trophy league matchat Bilaspur, with Sandeep Sharma returning figures of 5-68.Resuming at 69/1, Delhi lost wickets rapidly, with four wicketsfalling for the addition of only 27 runs. Sarandeep Singh and SohailRauf staged a small partnership before the former fell, having scored21. Rauf received some more support lower down the order from RahulSanghvi (35). Delhi finally folded for 228, with Rauf remainingunbeaten on 58.Himachal Pradesh wicket-keeper Ravikant Sharma notched up six catches,while Shakti Singh aided Sandeep Sharma well by taking 4-58.Himachal Pradesh started their second innings disastrously, with bothopeners falling for just seven runs. Sangram Singh and captainVarinder Sharma, however, took their side safely through to the closeof play by defending stolidly. At stumps, Himachal Pradesh were 25/2,with Sangram Singh on 11 and Sharma on 7.*Punjab and Jammu fight for upper handThe Ranji Trophy league match between Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab atJammu see-sawed both ways during the course of Day Two. Punjab,resuming on their overnight score of 269/9, were bowled out for theaddition of only seven runs.The home side’s batting effort, however, followed on lines similar totheir rivals’. Despite a sizeable 96-run second-wicket partnershipbetween Shabir Kanth (38) and Kavaljit Singh (62), the batting cameunstuck after the fall of Kanth with the score on 105.Ashwani Gupta was the sole battler in Jammu’s middle order, making anunbeaten 45. The remaining batsmen aided their side’s collapse, andthe team ended Day Two on 216/7. For Punjab, Sandeep Sanwal pickedthree wickets, while Yuvraj Singh picked two.*Services in trouble at FaridabadStruggling first to bowl Haryana out early, Services then compoundedtheir bad performance by collapsing to 219/6 by the close of play onDay Two of their Ranji Trophy league match at Faridabad.Resuming at 275/8, their overnight score, Haryana added 72 vital runsfor the loss of the last two wickets, finally being bowled out for347. Services started off strongly, with PMS Reddy (77) and K Chawda(33) put on 103 runs for the first wicket.Haryana came back into the game with the help of twin strikes from SVidyut as he removed first Chawda and Reddy. Amit Mishra and Vidyuttook two and three wickets respectively, destroying Services’ toporder.By stumps, Services were down six wickets for only 219, with onlySarabjit Singh contributing substantially. CD Thomson and SachinNadkarni were unbeaten on 13 and 12 respectively.

JP Duminy has been ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing ODI series between South Africa and India after cutting his hand during the third match in Rajkot. Top-order batsman Dean Elgar has been called up as a replacement but Duminy, who will need between two and three weeks to recover, will remain with the squad in India to receive treatment. South Africa’s team management aims to have Duminy fit for the first Test, which starts on November 5.Duminy sustained the injury after a ball was hit back to him while he was bowling. He fielded in his follow-through and showed immediate signs of discomfort, but remained on the field. After the match, it was revealed that the injury was more serious than thought and that Duminy would not be able to play any further part in the series.The news comes as a blow to South Africa, who have used Duminy to share the fifth-bowler duties with Farhaan Behardien, and have relied on him to provide a strong finish with the bat. South Africa will hope his replacement, Elgar, can do the same.Elgar, the regular Test opener, has only played five ODIs for South Africa, all in 2012, but has been in good form in the domestic one-day competition which has just started. He scored 57 and 86 in the two innings he batted in, and has also been contributing with his left-arm spin, which South Africa may call on as well, especially if they stick to their strategy of playing only one specialist spinner in the starting XI.If Elgar plays, he would likely bat higher than Duminy’s No.6 or No.7 position, which could mean that David Miller, who opened the batting in the third ODI, is pushed back down the order to his regular finisher’s role. South Africa have another reserve batsman in the squad, uncapped player Khaya Zondo, who could make his debut in the next two games.While India have already been hit with one injury concern – R Ashwin was ruled out of the ODI series after one match with a side strain – Duminy’s injury is South Africa’s first serious worry. The visitors will also be monitoring Morne Morkel, who complained of a sore quad during the third ODI but was able to continue bowling.