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The ICC has begun the sale of tickets for the World T20 in India on its website, with less than two weeks for the event to begin. The first phase of the sale, which went live at 12 pm IST on February 24, made tickets available for matches in Bangalore, Chennai, Dharamsala, Kolkata and Mohali, but excluded those featuring India, the semi-finals and the final of the men’s and women’s events. The second phase of the sale – for matches in Mumbai, Delhi and Nagpur – will begin at 12pm IST on February 26.Tickets for seven “highly sought after” matches – four India games, the semi-finals and the final – will be sold online through a lottery system, where buyers need to indicate their preferred match after registering themselves. They will then be moved to a draw where the winners will be chosen through an automated process following which they will receive a payment link to complete the booking. The window to register for the lottery will be open only for seven days from February 25. Only two tickets can be purchased per person for India matches, the semi-finals and the final, while for other games a maximum of six tickets per person is allowed.The BCCI appointed as the ticketing agency for the event, and said the entire ticketing process was “monitored and audited by a reputed auditing agency.”A member of the organising committee told ESPNcricinfo that the schedule for the sale of tickets over-the-counter for all matches – including India’s and the knockouts – would be announced by the respective hosting centres. He said the lottery system was to streamline the high demand for tickets.”We had to do lottery system, otherwise when a traditional ticket counter opens up, some 20,000 people queue up,” the official said. “The first 10,000 get tickets and then there is a lathi charge. We have to move away from that culture.”If you put tickets online on first-come-first-serve basis, there will be some 10,000 people who click at 12. After 12:05 pm, the entire system becomes redundant. The traffic for these high-priority games is huge, so everyone must get a fair opportunity.”When ESPNcricinfo accessed the website at 12:01 pm there was a queue of 5907 and it took our staffer 12 minutes to reach the top of the queue. After she selected her match of choice there was another queue of 931 where the waiting time was about two minutes. The whole transaction was completed in 15 minutes.While ticket sales for previous World T20s had commenced three to six months ahead of the event, the current edition has had a number of delays. The ICC had earlier refused to be drawn into any criticism of the ticketing process, stating it would be “inappropriate” to make comparisons. The organising committee member attributed the delay to a combination of factors, including the uncertainty over the status of Delhi as a venue.”The schedule was launched only on December 19 (sic December 11), and only after that our work starts,” he said. “We have to start pricing separately for women’s games, men’s games, the semi-finals and final. Once the ticketing agency is finalised you will have to do backend mapping. Delhi has obviously been a contributing factor for the delay. Till 10 days ago I didn’t know if I had to push those games to some other venue.”The official said other hosting nations in the past had been able to put tickets up for sale early because of the ICC announcing the fixtures “well in advance.” He also pointed to the logistical issues of hosting matches at eight venues – previous editions of the World T20 had only three venues. “As much as it looks like a T20 format, look at the complexity of the whole tournament. This is the first time we are doing women’s and men’s matches together, and we have double-headers,” he said. However, the last three editions of the World T20 had men’s and women’s games together.While such delays hurt the travelling fan the most, the official said ticket sales were almost entirely driven by local public. “Look at this way, India as a destination … it has always been local sale which chews up into the entire volume than people coming from outside,” he said. “That’s not a reason [for the delay], but it’s a comfort in some way.”

ScorecardFile photo – Gautam Gambhir’s knock of 128 was his third first-class century of the year, and the third since January 2010•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

It was a distracting sort of day in Hubli. Even before Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement, taking the fizz out of the game, there was enough to sidetrack you. West Indies A used four wicketkeepers – one of them not even part of their XI, but allowed on humanitarian grounds, – on two separate occasions bees invaded the field forcing the players to lie prone for minutes, a batsman was hit-wicket and bowled to the same delivery, and the goods train kept honking its horns on the nearby railway track. Gautam Gambhir, though, managed to put all that aside, concentrated hard, got lucky when the concentration broke on the rare occasion, and scored his third first-class century of the year. He has scored only three since January 2010, which is why he finds himself out of the Test side.With Gambhir, for a majority of the innings, was a man with whom he has been discussing batting in the lead-up to the match, Cheteshwar Pujara. The two put on 207 for the second wicket to put India A in a position from where they can push for a win. At the end of the second day, they led West Indies A by 66 runs with seven wickets in hand. While Pujara remained unbeaten on 139, Virender Sehwag fell for a middling 38 after he had begun well and had the dispirited West Indies A attack at his mercy.If that soft dismissal wasn’t enough for Sehwag, he walked back to the news that his good friend, ODI opening partner, mentor and team-mate of 93 Tests, had retired. His reaction was a stunned “Oh, he is retiring?”Gambhir had already been dismissed by then. His century was not quite a scratchy effort, but it had periods where the conviction was missing. It isn’t entirely unexpected of a batsman fighting to come back to form. There were the reassuring off-drives and late cuts, and the milking of the spinners to go with it. Along the way he was helped by the generous fielding: 10 overthrows came his way to go with a dropped chance.Gambhir’s day began with two plays-and-misses in the first over, but he saw off the new ball well. Even during the spells when boundaries didn’t come regularly, he didn’t go out of his way looking for them. He left well on length, and reacted well to the fuller change-up deliveries, either driving them down the ground or clipping them to leg.The first blip in concentration came in the last over before lunch when Gambhir went driving at a wide delivery, but was dropped at second slip by Ashley Nurse. He was 56 then. Soon after lunch other elements would test his concentration. In the first over after the interval, wicketkeeper Jahmar Hamilton hurt his finger, handing the gloves over to Jonathan Carter, who looked pretty uncomfortable but there was no better option around. Soon Carter hurt his finger too, and Nurse had to don the gloves. While that was happening, bees attacked the field. The crowd went wild. Minutes were wasted, and the batsmen wondered what was going on.By the time Nurse took a knock himself, the match referee had allowed West Indies A to use the specialist wicketkeeper Chadwick Walton, who had sat out this game. Even as the surreal session went ahead, the odd delivery would jump out of nowhere. Gambhir was 85 when he tried his dab to third man, but was beaten by a stinger from Delorn Johnson.When Gambhir was 93, the tea break arrived. After the break he went from 93 to 99 without fuss, but grew awfully nervous on one run short of the hundred. The first two balls on 99 went well, but the next six were excruciating even as the 15,000 spectators cheered him on. He tried to rock back and cut, he tried to step out and loft, on the odd occasion he began to run after hitting straight, and also survived a loud lbw shout when he played Nurse across the line.Finally Nurse provided him a long hop, which Gambhir pulled in the air – not high enough to go over the head of a fielder – but in the gap between the two midwickets placed for him. Gambhir couldn’t carry on for much longer. When he went back to cut Narsingh Deonarine, he went too deep into the crease, the bat came down on the middle stump, after which the ball hit the stumps.Gambhir was given out bowled. Just like “bowled” takes precedence even though a decision against a batsman for any other method of dismissal is justified, the Tendulkar news was bound to take precedence.

ScorecardGareth Cross hit 64 to push Lancashire into a commanding position•Getty Images

Many more days like this and county cricket runs the risk of getting some rather decent publicity. In near perfect weather and on a good wicket Lancashire and Gloucestershire’s cricketers tussled for advantage in a game which neither side never completely bossed until the last hour of play.By then Glen Chapple’s batsmen were scoring more or less as they pleased against a tiring attack that was missing the left-arm spin of Ed Young, who has a wrist injury. At the close Lancashire’s lead was 327 runs and only some daft, ultra-cautious declaration will prevent them having a chance to force their third Championship win of the season on the final day.Perhaps the cricketer who personifies the search for hard-won advantage which this match has been all about is Gareth Cross. The Lancashire wicketkeeper-batsman made a hundred in his side’s last game against Hampshire but that game was as dead as last month’s Radio Times for a good proportion of his innings. More valuable was Cross’s 30 against Glamorgan or his 45 against Essex, both knocks which contributed important runs to eventual wins.On Friday, Cross signed up to do some more heavy lifting and this was all the more laudable given that he had been smacked in the mouth by the ball when keeping wicket in the morning session. Coming to the crease with Lancashire on 62 for 5, an advantage of a mere 150, and having lost five prime wickets to the Gloucestershire seam trio of Craig Miles, Liam Norwell and Graeme McCarter, Cross fought alongside Ashwell Prince – another cricketer who savours trench warfare – to build a potentially match-winning lead.Their 85-run stand had gone a long way towards achieving that goal when Prince chipped Benny Howell to Norwell at mid-off, but Cross then increased the tempo of the innings with Wayne White in some style. The pair added 67 in 12 overs before Cross was caught in the deep for 64 off the persevering Norwell. White completed his first fifty for Lancashire off 47 balls three overs before the close, but he would be the first to admit that Prince and Cross had earned him his licence to attack.”It was good to spend some time in the middle and continue from Hampshire,” Cross said. “I did a bit of work in the indoor nets in the winter on occupying the crease and, while I can play the shots, it’s also more risky to do that so I’m just trying to play to my ability. I’ve felt in good form all year and it’s nice to be making a contribution. If Ashwell or I had got out, we’d have been in trouble but he’s a calming influence and we played well, I think.”Yet each session of this day’s play produced players from each side whose qualities could be applauded by the good-sized crowd. In the morning Alex Gidman and Simon Kerrigan dominated proceedings, the Gloucestershire batsman completing his first Championship century of the season and the Lancashire spinner, bowling unchanged from the River End to take 5 for 40 in 14.2 overs.Indeed, at times the play constituted something of a duel befitting d’Artagnan et al, Gidman’s boundaries – he also hit Kerrigan and Kyle Hogg for sixes – being countered by the spinner’s wickets. Lancashire probably wanted something more than the 88-run first -innings lead they eventually gained whereas Gloucestershire entertained hopes of whittling the advantage down to less than 50. Both teams had to settle for less than their ideal; it made for splendid cricket.Gidman scored his century off 170 balls, hitting eight fours and two sixes in the process. On the point of lunch, he was caught by White at deep square leg off Kerrigan for 110. The large Liverpool crowd applauded him generously; his innings had determined the strength of Gloucestershire’s position. For his part Kerrigan finished with 5 for 68 in the innings and there is every chance he will add a few more on the final day of this game. If so, the name of Gareth Cross may be to the fore once again.

ScorecardRob Keogh’s maiden first-class century, which he upgraded to 221, was near wiped from the record books•PA Photos

The final day of this match predictably ended in a dull draw, watched by all too few spectators. That there was any play at all was not just as a consequence of an improvement in the weather. The ECB, had it decided to stick rigidly to the Laws of the game, could have ordered the umpires to bring proceedings to a close and to re-start this contest on the same pitch.The reason being because one of the two official scorers, Tony Weld of Hampshire, was taken ill and returned home. There was no replacement for him.Tony Kingston, representing Northamptonshire, had to score for both clubs for the entire day, using one computer. This is contrary to Law 4 (The Scorers) which stipulates the appointment of two scorers. Indeed, the “notchers” or “chalkers”, as they were known, have long been considered integral to the staging of a cricket match.A scorer for OPTA, supplying data, continued to operate in the same scorebox here but did not take over Weld’s work as well. Hence, in theory, the umpires, Martin Saggers and Steve O’Shaughnessy, could have insisted that the match be restarted and another four days allocated.What occurred instead was that Alan Fordham, the ECB’s Operations Manager, “used his discretion” to ensure this fixture was completed. “The alternative,” according to a spokesman, “was to end the game.” Tim Tremlett, Hampshire’s Cricket Secretary, spoke to the umpires and contemplated scoring himself, but had other work to consume him. Asked if he had contemplated contacting Vic Isaacs, the club’s long-serving former scorer who lives near the ground, he said he would not be taking up that option.Isaacs would have been the obvious replacement in that his 31 years service with the club remains a post-war record and he continues to score in local club matches. Yet he fell out with the club and Tremlett, his “line manager” as he called him over the public address at the end of his final match in 2006. It was anticipated that Isaacs would be granted a Benefit year by the club the following season, but instead Rod Bransgrove, the chairman, imposed a ban on his attendance. Isaacs’ son, Richard, who scores for Sky, said his father would have been happy to be called up if asked.There have been other instances of clubs being without their scorers, if not for an entire day’s play. Mike Selvey, the former England bowler, recalls a match at Tunbridge Wells in which both the Middlesex and Kent scorers, Harry Sharp and Claude Lewis, did not pick up their fountain pens in the first half hour of the second session because they were having such a good lunch. When Lewis wanted to go to the lavatory at other times, Derek Underwood, whom once he coached, would fill in his scorebook. Computerisation brought all this to an end. Kevin Baker, the Hampshire analyst, will stand in for Weld for the club’s Yorkshire Bank 40 semi-final against Glamorgan.The match itself started half an hour late owing to rain and was concluded with a declaration by Northamptonshire at 4.20 pm. Hampshire, no doubt, would have preferred an earlier finish given their looming semi-final. Maybe the ECB could have done them a favour in bringing about an early conclusion, after all.

Shahid Afridi has been branded an “absolutely clueless” captain in a report submitted by Pakistan team manager Intikhab Alam in the wake of the team’s poor World T20 and Asia Cup campaigns.The document by Intikhab, which follows an equally scathing report by coach Waqar Younis, covers the back-to-back T20 tournaments where Pakistan managed just three wins out of eight matches – with one of those victories coming against UAE. They exited the World T20 at the Super 10s stage following defeats against India, New Zealand and Australia.The five-page report, a copy of which has been obtained by ESPNcricinfo, is hugely critical of Afridi’s on-field tactics and off-field leadership, the lack of skills in all departments of the squad and how they became involved in “needless controversies” during the World T20, though Intikhab said the coaching and support staff performed their duties “most diligently”.”These very same reasons continued to be Team Pakistan’s bugbear, but since this was a global tournament with the top-most competing for honours, the magnitude of the stress, and the pressure was even more pronounced,” Intikhab wrote.”The recent Asia Cup and the ICC World T20 have made it evident that we have critical gaps both in batting and bowling, and our fielding keeps on leaking runs, thus releasing pressure. In bowling, with the exception of Mohammad Amir, we do not have a bowler who can win us matches. Our death bowling also is way below par. And the same goes with our batting line-up, where we do not have reliable pinch hitters and the top and power hitter to clinch us games.”

Intikhab’s recommendations

• Strict selection criteria must be formulated, with a marks scale for each (such as form, statistical record, ability to adapt and being a team player).

• In order to improve fitness, the free period between now and the England tour, should be used for a training camp to improve fitness and fielding.

“To cap it all, the tournament was being held in India, where the team was under multiple scanners at the same time, pushing the stress and anxiety levels very high,” Intikhab said. “Much to our chagrin [added to the above reasons], was a captain in his farewell event after a career spanning nearly 20 years, yet absolutely clueless in terms of on-field tactics and off-field leadership.”Afridi’s captaincy was a regular topic of debate throughout the two tournaments. His decision-making came under scrutiny when Pakistan controversially dropped Wahab Riaz in favour of Anwar for the Asia Cup match against Bangladesh. Then there was the surprising move when Afridi promoted himself to No. 3 in the World T20 match against India at the expense of Mohammad Hafeez, who had made 64 off 42 balls in the previous match against Bangladesh, with Afridi subsequently scratching around for 8 off 14 deliveries.In the field, too, questions were often asked. Against India, defending 118, Pakistan had made early inroads through Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Sami before a 61-run partnership between Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh for the fourth wicket took the game away. Amir, who conceded just three runs in his first two overs, was taken off and brought back when the game was all but lost, in the 14th over.Intikhab continued: “We were also set back by two absolutely needless controversies, the first emanating from Afridi’s ‘more-loved-in-India-than-in-Pakistan’ statement in his mandatory on-arrival press conference [had he stuck to the detailed briefing given to him by the media manager and myself, this would not have occurred] and Umar Akmal again stealing the limelight in an unseemly manner by seeking Imran Khan’s intervention to fix his batting position at three, when he had done little to inspire confidence at number 4.”Pakistan won their opening game of the World T20 against Bangladesh comprehensively, and regained some confidence after a poor showing in the Asia Cup, when they posted 201 to set up a 55-run victory at Eden Gardens. However, in the high-octane atmosphere against India they fell to a six-wicket defeat and were then comfortably beaten by New Zealand and Australia.Intikhab’s report focused heavily on the game against India where he said “many factors were at play” including Pakistan’s poor record against their “arch-rivals” at ICC events and he highlighted the rain in the lead-up to the match which had a considerable impact on conditions before referring to the invite handed to Imran Khan to address the team.”On the day, the events also conspired against us. For one, the weather didn’t help. On the same square where the Pakistan batsmen gave a commanding performance against Sri Lanka [the warm-up match] and Bangladesh, the weather suddenly turned from sultry and sunny to wet and unpredictable. Intermittent rain during the night prior to the game, followed by further downpours and overcast skies, meant that the pitch and outfield remained covered for more than 24 hours, changing its character from slow in pace to a spitefully turning and gripping one.”To prop up the team’s morale, Shahid Afridi invited Imran Khan (then in India for his own media and other engagements) for a pep talk prior to the game. Imran for his part tried to lift the morale, advising the boys to stay positive till the last ball was bowled, and never allow the possibility of defeat enter their consciousness. It was a pretty decent one as far as pep talks go, but it was evident that Imran – not unlike many outstanding exponents of the game from his time who have not stayed abreast with it – was not too familiar with the demands and tactics employed in this condensed, post-modern format of the game.”I also felt if proper field placing was placed for Shoaib Malik in his initial over may have given us a breakthrough; it was very surprising to see in a low-scoring game there was no attacking field-placing. There was no slip; had he employed a slip cordon for Malik, we may have had Yuvraj as two chances from his blade went through.”Earlier our batting, too, had left much to be desired. Hafeez was not sent in at number three while Sarfraz too did not get a meaningful strike. These two were our best bets, as they were our prime exponents against spin. The Indian spin attack was not challenged at all by our batting, save Shoaib Malik near the closing stages, resulting in a total that was 20 runs short of the average on the Eden Garden turf.”To support his criticisms of the batting order, Intikhab referenced various statistics including that of all the deliveries that Pakistan faced at the World T20, Sarfraz Ahmed only played 17 of them despite having made scores of 41, 25, 58 and 38 in his four T20I innings leading into the tournament. Intikhab termed the use of Sarfraz “a critical waste of talent and form.”He was also highly critical of Umar Akmal’s returns, writing that his figures “are a damning expose on his game awareness and sense of responsibility” and said that Ahmed Shehzad, who had been recalled shortly before the tournament, was “equally poor.”In response to claims of factions forming within in the team, Intikhab said: “The news of groupings in the team only emerged after the team’s loss to New Zealand. It may have been fed from inside the team only to divert attention and shift blame from the captain’s and other boys’ failure.”In my opinion, to alleviate our situation in shorter formats of the game, we have to make a comprehensive plan at the Board level. And this includes improving our selection methods. Pick-up, drop, pick-up routine has not helped us at all, neither has bowing down to player power nor hanging on to the so-called ‘talented mavericks’ who refuse to learn, evolve and deliver.”

ScorecardPakistan Under-19’s bowling attack restricted England Under-19 to 168, before a 96-ball 63 from Saud Shakeel helped Pakistan to a three-wicket win in Abu Dhabi.Pacers Zia-ul-Haq and Irfanullah Shah led the attack for Pakistan, who after electing to field, bundled England out in 43 overs. The opener Ryan Higgins top-scored with 80 off 84 balls, but received little support from the rest of the batsmen. Zia finished with 3 for 32, while Shah and Karamat Ali chipped in with two wickets each to run through an England batting order in which seven of their players failed to get into double digits.England made a bright start during the chase as the seamer Josh Shaw picked up three early wickets to leave Pakistan rattling at 39 for 4 in the 11th over. But Imam-ul-Haq and Shakeel led the recovery, adding 71 for the fifth wicket, before the former fell for 49 in the 31st over. Saifullah Khan was immediately dismissed in the next over, but Shakeel and Zafar Gohar contributed 53 for the seventh wicket to all but seal Pakistan’s second straight win of the tournament.

If Dinesh Chandimal is picked for Sri Lanka on Thursday, he might recall the harrowing moment that changed his nation a decade ago.Fifteen-year-old Chandimal was watching the New Zealand v Sri Lanka Boxing Day ODI at his family’s home by the sea in Amabalangoda, when his mother called out. The neighbour’s boat, she said, was quickly closing in on their house. Chandimal took a single look at the giant wave, raised the alarm, and they ran.If he was traumatised that day, he wears those scars lightly. He is firstly thankful that no one in his family was among the 38,000 Sri Lankans who lost their lives, but their troubles were hardly insubstantial.”We lost everything,” Chandimal said, “including my cricket bag. I can still remember what happened like it was yesterday, the way our home was caught up and lost. Our neighbours and our relatives, everyone was affected. I feel very sad even now, when I think about it.”Perhaps no on-field disappointment will ever match the distress of surviving a tsunami, but in 2014, Chandimal has had plenty of cricketing adversity to overcome. Having begun the year with 89 in a match-saving stand with Angelo Mathews in Abu Dhabi, his form deserted him so emphatically that he dropped himself from the World T20 side he was captaining. He was axed from the ODI team soon after. In Tests – for so long his best suit – he nosedived, falling to the hook shot thrice in three innings in June and July before the selectors packed him off to an ‘A’ team tour of England.”It’s been a struggle in the past few months,” he said. “I’m someone who’s always looking for runs, and maybe that’s why I play the hook when I see a short ball. When you are performing badly, whether you’re playing cricket, running a business, or studying, you’re always going to be under pressure. Maybe that got to me mentally as well.”More failures would follow, at home and in India, before his game finally began to click again. “There were technical issues as well, and I worked very hard on those. Maybe I won’t hook early in the innings any more, but after I’ve watched for a bit, I will go to the hook shot I’ve always played well in the past.”Mentally, I had to get myself to a good place as well. For that, I watched a lot of videos of myself batting well in the past – my hundred at Lord’s, my batting in the CB series in 2012, and in my debut Test against South Africa. I was looking at what my attitude was, and what I was thinking about. I absorbed all of that, and it’s allowed me to start doing well again.”Chandimal’s change of fortunes came at the tail-end of the series against England, when the axing of opener Kusal Perera vacated a space in the middle order. His 35 from 31 in the sixth ODI was later described as a “very special, very important innings,” by Kumar Sangakkara, whose hundred headed up the victory. A few days later in Colombo, Chandimal’s brisk 55 not out put the finishing touches on a match-winning total of 302.”The England tour was a big challenge,” he said. “I was in a good mental space for those matches, and really ready to perform for the team. That’s the attitude with which I went into those matches, and I’ve only become stronger since. I think I’ve done better in overseas matches than I have in the subcontinent, so that makes me feel confident with the season coming up.”Chandimal is unlikely to play as wicketkeeper, even if he is picked for the first Test. Unburdened by leadership, and relieved of the gloves as well, he and the selectors will hope he finds full expression at the top level again.

Shastri wanted to join team early

After the extension to his term as team director, Shastri will no longer be able to perform any role as a media expert. He will neither commentate nor write syndicated columns for newspapers after the conclusion of the Champions League Twenty20 till the end of the World Cup. While the BCCI had no problems in Shastri continuing his media obligations during the West Indies series and joining the team support staff in Australia, Shastri is believed to have told the BCCI hierarchy that he would prefer to join the team straightaway to suit both himself and the team. According to a BCCI insider, Shastri felt he wouldn’t be able express his opinions on air about players he would be joining and if he does, it may not send the right signals to the players before he joins them in the dressing room.

Ravi Shastri will continue as the Indian team’s director of cricket until the end of the 2015 World Cup, following a decision taken at the BCCI’s working committee meeting on Friday. Duncan Fletcher remains head coach of the side while the tenures of the three support staff members – Sanjay Bangar, B Arun and R Sridhar – have been extended until the end of the World Cup.The working committee also decided that the board’s annual general meeting (AGM), where the office bearers for the next three years will be elected, will be held on November 20.According to its own regulations, the BCCI has to convene its AGM before September 30 every year. The meeting has, however, been deferred this year after India’s Supreme Court ordered BCCI president N Srinivasan to step aside until the investigations into the IPL 2013 corruption scandal were complete. The ambiguity over the powers of the interim president, Shivlal Yadav, had added to the issues surrounding the delay of the AGM.*The working committee authorised secretary Sanjay Patel to decide the fate of Joe Dawes and Trevor Penney, India’s bowling and fielding coach respectively who had been sent on leave midway through the England tour. While Patel had confirmed earlier this week that both the coaches had been offered to work at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, he would discuss the issue in detail with the duo before arriving at a final decision. If Dawes and Penney are to be released before their contract expires at the end of March 2015, they will have to be compensated financially for premature termination.At today’s meeting, the working committee also congratulated N Srinivasan, who attended as a representative of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, for having taken over as the ICC chairman. It would be interesting to see if Srinivasan’s presence in the working committee would be interpreted as contempt of court since the working committee is the board’s decision-making body.Aditya Verma, the petitioner in the IPL corruption-scandal case, took strong objections to Srinivasan attending the meeting and stated that he will raise the point when his application on forcing the BCCI to immediately convene its AGM will be heard by the Supreme Court on October 10. According to Verma, the Supreme Court in its various orders had specified “Srinivasan will not attend any day to day affairs of BCCI till the probe concludes. But today BCCI, headed by Mr Shivlal Yadav, has clearly violated the order of honourable Supreme Court”.With regards to the Rajasthan Cricket Association’s suspension case, while the working committee decided to wait till the disciplinary committee’s proceedings in the matter are completed, the members felt the BCCI needed to make another attempt to ensure the players do not suffer. As a result, the ad-hoc committee constituted to oversee cricket in disputed regions, headed by Karnataka State Cricket Association secretary Brijesh Patel, has been advised to make one last attempt to sort out the issue with the Rajasthan state government.Brijesh Patel and his colleagues in the committee are thus expected to try and meet Rajasthan state government officials to try and convince them to let a BCCI-backed Rajasthan team participate in domestic tournaments. Since RCA is governed under Rajasthan Sports Act, the BCCI cannot nominate a team from Rajasthan without the state government’s permission.The committee also approved the accounts for the previous financial year which was signed by the treasurer. Other decisions taken at the meeting included limiting A teams to Under-23 players, and forming a committee to assess the damage caused by the floods in Jammu & Kashmir to the state’s cricketing infrastructure.* September 26 2.30pm GMT This story has been modified with updates about the status of Joe Dawes and Trevor Penney

Former India captain Rahul Dravid has been appointed in a mentoring role to the team in the run-up to their five-Test series in England. Dravid will have a few sessions with the players before the series begins on July 9. He is expected to join the team latest by Monday.The move was initiated by the team management, according to BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel. “It was the coach (Duncan Fletcher) who approached us on behalf of the team and said it would be good to have Rahul with his vast experience spend some time with the boys ahead of the series,” Patel told ESPNcricinfo. “We immediately requested Rahul and he readily agreed.”This will be the first time Dravid, who has been mentoring IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals after retiring from international cricket in 2012, will be associated in such a capacity with the national team.In March this year, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar had said that Dravid should take over as India coach, but the latter had declined the suggestion citing lack of time.”Rahul Dravid is one man who is enormously respected and was a successful captain, having won series in West Indies and England,” Gavaskar had said. “When he speaks, the Indian players, some of whom are superstars, listen to him as they know how much preparation went into his game.””I am happy that he (Gavaskar) said I am capable of doing the job,” Dravid had said. “But the job requires a lot of time, almost 11 months a year. I have just retired and at the moment because of time constraints, I have to decline.”Dravid was India’s best batsman on their previous tour of England in 2011, his three centuries the only bright spot in a 0-4 rout. In all, six of Dravid’s 36 Test hundreds came in England, where he made 1376 runs in 13 Tests at an average of 68.80. He also had a successful stint with county side Kent in 2000, scoring 1221 runs in 16 matches at 55.50 with two centuries.

ScorecardSteve Davies scored 98 three days after making 99 (file photo)•Getty Images

Resurgent Surrey moved clear as Group A leaders in the Royal London Cup as they beat holders Durham by 49 runs at Chester-le-Street.Both teams went into the match with two wins and one washout, but Surrey had the two star performers in Steven Davies and the unheralded James Burke. Following his 99 against Northants on Tuesday, Davies made 98 after holding the innings together following a flying start with Jason Roy.After being put in, they had 78 on the board inside 12 overs, but Durham fought back well to restrict the visitors to 271 for 7, only for Burke to rip out their middle order.The 24-year-old seam bowling allrounder from Plymouth struck three times in his first five overs. He had Graham Clark lbw for a duck, clean bowled Paul Collingwood and had Gordon Muchall caught behind with another good one.With left-handers Phil Mustard and Scott Borthwick falling when trying to sweep Gareth Batty after Mark Stoneman pulled Tom Curran straight to deep midwicket, Durham slumped to 114 for 6. It became 164 for 8 before they sent in the big-hitting John Hastings, whose 31 off 27 balls was in vain as they were all out for 222 in the 47th over.In Surrey’s innings the first four overs produced 32, but Collingwood stemmed the onslaught after his first over cost ten. Roy fell for 34 when he dragged an attempted sweep into his stumps then Kumar Sangakkara edged behind for 3.Ben Foakes edged a drive off Usman Arshad for Borthwick to hold a very sharp chance at gully. When Davies pulled a four in Borthwick’s first over it proved to be the last boundary for 17 overs as the legspinner and Collingwood kept a tight rein.Gary Wilson went down the pitch and edged Borthwick to Mustard, who then stumped Davies when offspinner Ryan Pringle returned and turned one past the advancing left-hander. Davies faced 109 balls and added only three fours to the five each which he and Roy hit in the first ten overs.Burke broke the boundary famine by swinging Pringle over midwicket for six and after Zafar Ansari made a useful 41 there was another six in the final over.It was flat-batted back over Chris Rushworth’s head as Tom Curran made an unbeaten 26 off 19 balls. He followed up with very accurate bowling and ended Durham’s hopes when he had Hastings caught in the deep after taking ten off the first three balls of his final over.