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Wellington’s Stadium Trustees have been given a deadline of May 31 to provide assurances to the board of New Zealand Cricket that the Basin Reserve will receive a substantial upgrade before next summer.NZC chief executive Martin Snedden said that unless those assurances are given Wellington, and the Basin Reserve specifically, will be in danger of losing the Boxing Day Test.That requirement has been sent to the Trustees after the debacle that occurred during the second National Bank Series Test against England last month.The scoreboard at the ground became an international laughing stock with mis-aligned letters and dreadfully inappropriate placements making it almost impossible to read at times.The pitch, after years of similar occurrences, suffered yet more problems with drainage and seepage of rain beneath the covers, especially onto the previously used pitches. Play was unnecessarily delayed while mopping up occurred at nature’s pace. The pitch itself also needs to get back to the harder and faster model previously associated with the ground and of the type NZC are trying to achieve at all their international grounds.Public and player amenities, especially the changing rooms beneath the R A Vance Stand, are also in need of a significant upgrade.Wellington has become the home of the Boxing Day Test matches since they were first introduced against India in the summer of 1998/99. They have proved very popular and have always attracted good-sized crowds.Even a match against the acknowledged minnows of the world game, Bangladesh, was well supported, once the game was able to start after rain delays.The natural blooming of the pohutakawa trees on the banks around the ground have seen the Test labelled, ‘The Pohutakawa Test’ and the scene has been among the most colourful in the New Zealand cricket.

The first day of the opening three day game between Australia and India A at the Vidharba Cricket Association stadium in Nagpur was a day of mixed fortunes. The Australian skipper Steve Waugh began the day on a happy note winning the toss on a good batting wicket. Little could he have realised what was in store for the day.

Australia were bowled out for 291 off 69.1 overs, sixty minutes after the tea interval. Michael Kasprowicz was the top scorer with 92 runs under his belt. Rahul Sanghvi was the wrecker-in-chief for India A bagging five for 40. At stumps India A were 71 for one after 18 overs.Earlier, a fiery spell by left arm seam bowler Ashish Nehra reduced the Australian innings to 25 for three in six overs. Michael Slater pulled a short ball onto his stumps to set off the disaster trail. Two overs later, one drop batsman Justin Langer was back in the pavilion after being rapped on the pads by Nehra.The skipper was a bit surprised to be batting at the wicket 20 minutes from the start of play. He looked rusty in his six ball stay at the wicket. He was dismissed when he edged a short ball moving away from his body, carrying to the wicketkeeper Nayan Mongia.The India A skipper VVS Laxman had a big smile on his face until Ricky Ponting walked into the middle and turned the smile into a brow on the forehead. Ponting dispatched the mediumpacers to the boundary mercilessly, plundering the short pitched deliveries.Nehra had figure of three wickets from three overs giving away 16 runs. After Ponting got stuck into him, he was hammered for 35 runs in the next five overs. Ponting raced away to 56 off 58 balls with nine hits to the fence. His dismissal came shortly before the lunch interval and also ended a 91-run partnership off 17.4 overs for the fourth wicket with Mathew Hayden.The introduction of the spinners pegged back the Australian batsmen as seven of the ten wickets to fall went to spinners. Rahul Sanghvi and Harbajan Singh spun a web around the Australian middle order in the second session of the day.The post lunch session saw three quick wickets falling, that of Hayden, Damien Martyn and Adam Gilchrist. Hayden had been playing patiently and watching the damage from the other end. He was unlucky to have missed out on his half-century by one run when he skied a sweep shot off Sanghvi.Australia were reeling at 133 for seven before Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz put on a face saving 155-run partnership off 37.4 overs for the eighth wicket. Jason Gillespie made a chanceless halfcentury, scoring 57 off 131 balls with nine hits to the fence. He was foxed by Sanghvi with a flighted delivery resulting in a caught and bowled dismissal.On the way, Kasprowicz reached a personal milestone of his highest first class score. He was unlucky to miss out on his century by eight runs. He was the last man out. He faced 114 balls and hit 12 fours and three sixes.The India A openers S Ramesh and SS Das came out confidently and negotiated the new ball well. They raced on to 23 runs off five overs. Das was unlucky to be run out for 12. He played 31 balls and had two hits to the fence. An accurate throw from Steve Waugh caught Das short of his grounds.One drop Laxman and Ramesh played safely and ended the day on 71 for one off 18 overs. Ramesh was on 43 off 61 balls with nine hits to the fence, Laxman was on six off 22 balls with one hit to the fence.

The star-studded PIA, led by former Pakistan skipper Moin Khan and bolstered by Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq and Azhar Mahmood from the onset , are tipped to lift the National One-day Cricket Championship which gets under way from Friday.The tournament features a record 99 matches, culminating with the day-night final at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore April 7, with 28 teams appearing in the month-long event. There will be a total of 84 fixtures in the league round that concludes March 20 with the teams divided in four pools of seven each.The eight-team final round is scheduled from March 29 to 31. The top two sides from the two groups of that phase will then qualify for the semi-finals, both being day-night ties, at Karachi (April 4) and Lahore (April 5).The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has delayed announcing tournament’s prize-money as it is seeking sponsors.PIA, winners of the one-day title on numerous occasions when it was known as Wills Cup, have the services of other national stars such as pacer Fazle Akbar, who finished the first-class season with 95 wickets, Ghulam Ali and Mohammad Zahid (who like Saqlain was released from the Asian Test Championship squad).Abdul Razzaq, Yousuf Youhana and Shoaib Malik will further strengthen PIA when they come back from Test duty next week. Habib Bank are probably the next best outfit in the championship with the likes of Hasan Raza, Imran Farhat, Saleem Elahi in their ranks while Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan and Taufiq Umer will join them at the conclusion of the Lahore Test against Sri Lanka.First round schedule (March 8):Pool ‘A’: Pakistan Customs v Rest of Sindh at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi; PIA v Bahawalpur at Asghar Ali Shah Stadium, Karachi; Karachi Whites v Lahore Whites at National Stadium, Karachi.Pool ‘B’: Gujranwala v Karachi Blues at Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala; Sialkot v Pak PWD at Saga Ground, Sialkot; National Bank v Sui Gas at Lahore Country Club, Muridke.Pool ‘C’: Lahore Blues v Faisalabad at LCCA Ground, Lahore; Sheikhupura v Sargodha at Sheikhupura; Habib Bank v Wapda at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad.Pool ‘D’: Rawalpindi v Allied Bank at Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi; Peshawar v ADBP at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar; KRL v Islamabad at KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA defiant 116 by Wriddhiman Saha helped Bengal get close but couldn’t prevent a 21-run defeat to India B in Rajkot. Cheteshwar Pujara’s unbeaten 124 took India B to 328 for 8 before the spirited chase – another close high-scoring match after Sunday’s game.Saha came in at 21 for 2 in the sixth over in what threatened to be another big Bengal defeat. He combined with Sandipan Das to add 140 for the third wicket, before Das was dismissed by Munaf Patel in the 30th over. Laxmi Shukla and Shubhomoy Das gave him support, but the chase looked beyond them after they were 228 for 6, needing another 101 runs off 63 balls. But hopes were kept alive by Debabrata Das and Sandipan Nandi, as they put on 47 runs in 4.4 overs.But when Nandi got out, the task of securing the chase at a required run rate of more than nine runs per over proved too much for the tailenders. Patel did most of the damage with the ball for India B, taking four wickets and giving away only 39 runs in his 11 overs (one bowler is allowed to bowl 12 overs in a 50-over game, according to new BCCI’s rules for List A matches).With the bat, it was Cheteshwar Pujara who starred for them. Fresh from a big century on Sunday, he scored another unbeaten ton – a 130-ball 124 – to lead his team to a strong 328 for 8. His third wicket stand of 140 with Murali Vijay, who scored 93, laid the foundation for the big total. Although India B lost 5 for 50 runs in a middle-order stutter, largely through seamer Sandipan Das, No. 9 Praveen Kumar’s 53 off 26 balls powered them to a score that proved beyond Bengal.India B take on India A in the final on Tuesday.

Easterns, needing a victory to edge Eastern Province out of semi-finalqualification, provided the disgruntled fans who braved a chilly WillowmoorePark until the midnight finish with a masterclass on the art of throwing agame away, as they eventually lost out by one run.Chasing a target revised via the Duckworth/Lewis method to 206 off 39 oversafter a lengthy rain interruption during Free State’s innings of 190 forfour, Easterns were in cruise control, reaching 73 without loss off theirfirst 10 overs. Even when the scoring rate was slowed markedly by theintroduction to the attack of debutant Rasheed Lewis and Johan van der Wath,the home side looked untroubled, with Derek Brand and Mike Rindel advancingthe total to 98 in the 18th over, before Rindel was caught and bowled by Vander Wath for 37 off 40 balls.Brand, who had reached his half-century off 60 balls, hitting eight sweetlystruck fours, added 44 for the second wicket with Andre Seymore, with theasking rate, which had been 5,3 to the over at the start of the innings,being kept comfortably below five.When Brand drove occasional left-arm spinner Morne van Wyk to Lewis atmid-on to fall for 75, though, the wobbles started. Skipper Deon Jordaan wasbowled for a duck four balls later by Van Wyk, but Seymore and Derek Crookesadded 31 and it seemed the Easterns carriage was back on the rails.Fans at Willowmoore Park, however, have learned not to count their chickensbefore they’ve hatched and when Seymore was run out by a direct hit fromGerhardus Liebenberg with the total on 173, just 33 away from the target,the real slide started.Twenty-six runs later, Easterns were nine down and last man in Andre Nel wasstriding to the crease, seven off three balls the target now. He managed asingle off the first and Aldo van den Berg got two off the next. Four offone was possible, but it was entirely in keeping with the panic-strickenpreceding overs that he was unable to propel the ball to the boundary andonly two were run. Another choke in a finish to the campaign that sawEasterns unable to win any of their last five matches, just getting that tiewith Eastern Province in a match that was also theirs for the taking.Free State had batted steadily throughout their innings, Kosie Venter (69)and Van Wyk (24) adding 50 for the second wicket before Venter and LouisWilkinson (52 not out off 58 balls) added 92 for the third in a standinterrupted by a thunderstorm and subsequent showers which forced thereduction in overs.Free State were able to hit only 10 fours in their innings, a figure Brandand Rindel comfortably passed on their own, with 14 between them. However,Johan van der Wath did hit 17-year-old Brendan Reddy for a big six in thevisitor’s final over, a blow that ultimately proved the difference betweenvictory and defeat.

“I don’t know what it feels like,” groaned James Anderson on the morning after the night before. The Ashes had been retained and the celebrations had, by all accounts, been a controlled explosion – sufficiently forceful to shake the foundations of the team hotel in South Yarra, but at the same time respectful to the circumstances of a series that remains to be wrapped up. It is a measure of an astonishingly well-thought-out campaign that even the moments of euphoria have been professional.And so it was that, even through the fog of his hangover, it was possible to glimpse in Anderson the character that has carried him towards the pinnacle of his career. His softly spoken words were made softer still by the throbbing in his head, but if you listened carefully they had an unmistakable edge to them – emboldened, no doubt, by the triumph to which he had contributed only 24 hours previously.”I always knew that I had a lot more ability and skill than I showed in my early career,” said Anderson. “I knew I could improve a hell of a lot, and I also knew I could perform at this level because I did so to a certain extent when I started out. So I just thought if I could try and improve as much as I can, work hard at my game, I could perform for England.”It’s a great achievement, and it was an amazing place to do it at the MCG,” he added. “It was a fantastic atmosphere from the English fans, and a great place to retain the Ashes. For me and the rest of the team, we’ve grown up watching some unsuccessful trips to Australia, and I’ve been involved in one in the past, so it was a dream come true, and brilliant to be part of such a fantastic performance.”Anderson deserves his moment more than most. Not only is he the leading wicket-taker in the series with 17 scalps at 29.29, he has also matured into his role as the true leader of the England pack – a process that might have looked inevitable when he made his international debut at the MCG back in 2002-03, an astonishing eight years ago this month, but which had seemed virtually inconceivable in the latter years of Duncan Fletcher’s reign. On the last Ashes tour Anderson had seemed belittled and withdrawn, an ever-wobbly spare wheel whose five wickets at 82.60 were a precise reflection of his fragile state of mind.Now, however, he is a character transformed, a player who has burrowed so deep into Australia’s psyche that one of his worthier opponents of the series, Shane Watson, described an error that he made while batting as a nightwatchman on the third evening at Perth as “one of his favourite moments on a cricket field”. Such hyperbole betrays the extent to which Anderson has rattled the opposition on this trip – the “pussy” who was derided by Justin Langer in his leaked dossier during the 2009 Ashes has grown a mane and learnt to roar.In the opinion of David Saker, England’s plaudit-strewn bowling coach, Anderson is close to becoming the best fast bowler in the world, with only South Africa’s No. 1-ranked Dale Steyn challenging him in terms of current form, and on the evidence of 2010 it is hard to disagree. At Melbourne, he became the 13th England bowler to pass 200 Test wickets, but 49 – or nearly a quarter – of those have come in the past 12 months, including a career-best 11 for 71 in the first Test against Pakistan in July, and two critical first-innings four-fors in each of England’s Ashes wins at Adelaide and Melbourne.While Anderson acknowledges Saker’s role in tightening up his methods on pitches that do not offer natural swing, he puts the rest of his dramatic improvement down to the work ethic that comes from representing a team on the up in the world game, and an eye for detail that comes with experience of international cricket.”It’s just practice,” he said. “I’ve learnt from watching a number of other international cricketers, and tried to develop different sorts of deliveries. Mohammad Asif hits the seam and wobbles it, and can swing it as well, so I learnt from that last summer, and last time we were in India, Zaheer Khan was hiding the ball went it was reversing so I picked that up from him and tried to develop it to suit me. Also you also listen to your own top-order batsmen, and what they find difficult facing.”Long consigned to the dustbin is the notion that Anderson would be an easy beat on the flat Australian pitches, when armed with the Kookaburra ball and its mechanically stitched, bowler-unfriendly seam. Like Matthew Hoggard on the 2006-07 tour, Anderson has developed his methods as a natural swinger of the ball, and armed himself with enough tricks to prove a handful regardless of the conditions.The process, however, has not been an overnight one, no matter how suspicious the Aussies may have been of his credentials going into the Gabba Test. And in the same week in which Kevin Pietersen revisited old feuds with his reference to the demise of Peter Moores, Anderson provided another reminder that, regardless of how maligned the former coach may have been by hindsight, he did have his moments during his brief stint at the helm.The start of Anderson’s second coming as an international cricketer was at Wellington in March 2008, when Moores purged Hoggard and Steve Harmison from England’s front line, and the thrusting young pairing of Anderson and Stuart Broad were handed the pace bowling duties alongside Ryan Sidebottom. Anderson’s first act was to take five first-innings wickets in a series-levelling victory, and since that date he’s taken 143 of his tally at 28.23.”When Peter Moores was in charge, he wanted me to lead the attack and gave me a lot of responsibility in New Zealand,” said Anderson. “Hoggard and Harmison got dropped, me and Broady came in – it really was a lot of faith in us, and it boosted my confidence. And we’ve also had the bowling coaches since then – Ottis [Gibson] was fantastic, Allan Donald I really enjoyed working with, and now Sakes has been brilliant. We’ve all been developing some good skills, because we’ve shown in the four games so far we can swing the ball, seam the ball and reverse-swing the ball.”David Saker has been credited with bringing the best out of England’s quick bowlers•Getty Images

More than that, however, Anderson has been learning how to lead, and right now he is the kingpin in an England seam attack in which any three of six fast bowlers could be trusted to front up and perform their duties for England. It’s a far cry from the little boy lost who once used to take the field for England in venues as diverse as Johannesburg, Adelaide and Colombo, and find his methods dissected as quickly as his morale used to evaporate.To his credit, Anderson recognises his flaws of yesteryear, and like his counterpart in the middle order, Ian Bell, has worked extra hard to eradicate them. Instead of shirking the confrontation, he’s developed a willingness to square up to all opponents, not least Mitchell Johnson whose one glorious spell at Perth has been undermined by a raft of supine performances, in which he himself has looked a bit like the Anderson of old – toiling for swing, baffled by its absence and bereft of explanations for why.”Body language is a huge thing, certainly as a bowler,” said Anderson. “You don’t want to be seen trudging back to your mark all the time, so I try to keep my shoulders back and be as positive as possible, because in the past I’ve been pretty average in that respect. There’s a difference between various people telling me and me actually seeing it when we look at games back on TV. I could obviously see that it wasn’t good enough.”And much like the excitement surrounding Australia’s increased chirpiness in the field at Perth, Anderson has discovered that a well-placed comment is every bit as potent as a well-directed bouncer, especially when you are the side on top. “I think it’s just part of my natural game,” he said. “I don’t always do it, but it gets me fired up when the time is right, and I try to pick my players as well as I possibly can.”I don’t really have a favourite, but there are players not to pick,” he added. “Ponting, if you get under his skin, he’s more likely to dig in and enjoy the contest, so we might stay away from him. I think in the past it was an emotional thing that just came out, but over the last couple of years I’ve learned to control it much better. Whatever goes on when I’ve bowled a ball, I know when I go back to my mark I’m 100% focused on what I’m about to do with the ball.”For all of the revelry of Melbourne, however, Anderson concedes that the job’s not done yet. “We want to go out on a high, whether that’s 2-1 or 3-1, because to go home 2-2 would take the gloss off,” he said. “Four years ago was a completely different story and not worth remembering to be honest, but it will be a nicer feeling knowing that we can not just retain the Ashes but win the series. We celebrated [on Friday] and deservedly so, but we’ve put that behind us to focus on five days at Sydney. It’s really important we go out on a high in the series.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChris Rogers made his maiden Test century to put Australia in a strong position at the close of day two•Getty Images

Ugly was beautiful for Chris Rogers and Australia. On the most difficult day to bat in the Investec Ashes series so far, with Stuart Broad breathing fire in the sorts of spells he can occasionally conjure, Rogers scrapped, scraped, nudged and edged his way to a century few who witnessed it will forget.From a position early in the day where it looked as though a team total of around 100 was not out of the question, the tourists reached the close only 16 runs shy of England’s total with five wickets in hand. For that they had to thank Rogers and his erstwhile opening partner, Shane Watson.So long spurned as a Test batting option, Rogers has had to wait until the shadows of his 36th birthday for a genuine chance, and by playing so confidently in Manchester and now so doggedly in Durham he has taken it grandly. Only one Australian, Arthur Richardson, has been older at the time of his maiden century. Rogers himself seemed to age another few years as he spent 19 nervous balls on 96, but he summoned a sweep to go to 100. A few moments later the umpires ended play for bad light, leaving Australia to dream of building a significant advantage on Sunday.It was fitting too that the day’s key stand was notched by Rogers and Watson, a pair who have found themselves ideally suited to bat together, even though the latter’s starts in the series so far had flattered to deceive and pushed him down the batting order. Their union of 129 was by a distance the highest of the match, and neutralised much of the near unplayable stuff served up by Broad.A Rogers reprieve in complicated circumstances also proved critical to proceedings. Australia were 34 for 2 when he was given out caught behind by Tony Hill. On Rogers’ referral the ball was found to be missing the bat but clipping the top of the stumps on Hawk Eye’s projection. England’s players assumed Rogers would remain out, but had to be reminded of the regulations of the DRS by the umpires. As Rogers had not been given out lbw on the field, Hawk Eye needed to show three reds for the lbw decision.Jackson Bird had plucked James Anderson’s middle stump to end England’s innings without addition to their overnight total. When England took to the field, it was immediately apparent that the ball would continue to deviate. Anderson bent the ball back towards Rogers’ pads with some menace, but it was Broad who found the right combination of swing, seam and bounce to confound the top order. Returned to open, David Warner’s lack of certainty about the location of his off stump was exposed by late movement, and he was bowled offering a shot so late it was almost retrospective.Similarly, Usman Khawaja was unsure whether to play or leave, and was too late in withdrawing his bat from harm as a Broad delivery whizzed across him. It touched the toe of the bat, and Matt Prior held a catch more difficult than it appeared down low to his right.Michael Clarke and Rogers then showed a greater intent to score, though Broad continued to pose problems, even if he burned one decision referral with an lbw appeal against Rogers that pitched clearly outside leg stump.It was with another ball moving back towards Rogers that the morning’s most fevered moment arrived. The ball brushed the back pad on its way through to Prior, and England went up in appeal for a catch at the wicket. Hill raised his finger, and Rogers referred, shaking his head as he did so. It proved a successful referral.Clarke threw his hands unwisely at a ball moving away and bouncing, edging a sharp chance to Cook, who held it neatly above his head. If the shot was poor, it was still a just reward for Broad, who was then withdrawn from the attack after seven red-blooded overs that had reaped 3 for 23. Steve Smith fought gamely to the interval, but was defeated soon after it, prodding forward to Tim Bresnan and snicking behind.At 76 for 4, Watson walked to the middle in the role he had been given on his debut as far back as 2005. He has shuffled through plenty of commissions since, and after a poor start to this series might have been pondering whether this would be the last. He began solidly, keeping out the lbw seekers arrowed towards his pads by Bresnan, Anderson and Broad, while at the same time rotating the strike better than he has sometimes managed.He and Rogers both had reprieves, Bresnan dropping a difficult return catch from Watson and Graeme Swann turfing a one-handed chance at second slip from Rogers. But they steadily wrested back some of England’s earlier supremacy. Rogers was never wholly comfortable, living on his nerves and his top order technique, but doing enough to mount the tally.The stand went deep into the evening session, Watson opening up slightly with a pair of drives redolent of his Twenty20 destructor mode and Rogers inching ever closer to a century. It was ultimately the encroachment of that milestone that seemed to disrupt the rhythm of the pair. Becalmed against Swann, Rogers was unable to break up the strike, and a persevering Broad eventually had Watson falling across to the offside, but glancing a catch down leg side to Prior rather than falling lbw.Rogers’ battle to reach three figures was as compelling as the innings itself. Having punched his 12th boundary through the covers, he then agonised over more than three scoreless overs against Swann. One fell inches short of Broad at mid-on, another spun narrowly past the outside edge, and a third was centimetres from off stump as Rogers went back to cut. Cook had brought the field up to starve the single, but left gaps for a boundary.And so from his 20th ball on 96, Rogers went for the sweep, a stroke he seldom uses. It may have been a shot played as a last resort, but the timing was sweet, and the square leg rope was hit. Australia’s team balcony erupted in adulation and relief, but Rogers was understatement itself, removing his helmet, raising his bat and sharing the moment with Brad Haddin. It was a classical way to meet a century, and also an acknowledgement that more remains to be done. Based on the resolve he showed on the second evening, Rogers is far from satisfied.

ScorecardJames Taylor led Nottinghamshire to a four-wicket win over Netherlands, extending their perfect record in the Yorkshire Bank 40 to seven games.Tom Cooper top-scored with 49 for Holland, who after winning the toss were lifted to 188 for 7 by a seventh-wicket stand of 57 between Dom Michael and captain Peter Borren.Taylor’s unbeaten 90 meant Nottinghamshire were always in control of their chase, which they completed with seven balls to spare.Netherlands openers Stephan Myburgh and Michael Swart were back in the pavilion with only 11 on the board, Ajmal Shahzad with both scalps. Cooper put on 47 with Wesley Barresi and 45 with James Gruijters before he was fifth out, one short of a half-century with the score on 104.Eric Szwarczynski became the second victim of Steven Mullaney before Borren and Michael gave Netherlands hope.Quirijn Gunning’s List A debut began with the wicket of the horribly out of form Alex Hales for a duck with the fourth delivery of Nottinghamshire reply. But Taylor and Michael Lumb steadied any early nerves with a stand of 83 before Cooper removed Lumb and Samit Patel to leave Nottinghamshire 98 for 3.Taylor’s half-century came up in between those two wickets, off 65 balls withsix fours. Ed Cowan and Chris Read fell cheaply to give Netherlands a glimmer of hope at 153 for 5.But Mullaney hit 26 from 16 balls and though he was run out with three needed for victory, Taylor hit the next ball for a match-winning boundary, the ninth of his 119-ball innings.

Several corporate governance and legal experts believe that BCCI officials’ repeated calls to “let the law take its course” in the IPL corruption scandal is an abdication of administrative responsibility masked by a falling back on the legal process.TV Mohandas Pai, former board member of Indian software giant Infosys and chairman of Manipal Global Education Services, says that in the best practices of corporate governance an organisation would “hold itself out to be transparent and well-governed and then the legal action is taken.” In the current situation, by Pai’s standard, this best practice required Srinivasan to first stand down as BCCI president and then allow the three-member commission set up by the Indian board to take its decision against his son-in-law.In professionally-run corporations, Pai – who speaks from experience as a former chief financial officer of Infosys – said in an email to ESPNcricinfo, “administration action is first taken to clear the ground for investigation so that the truth is found out.”In Srinivasan’s case, Pai said, “the basic charge here is that an insider, Gurunath, leaked confidential information to outsiders, traded on the same and benefited/lost money.” As an insider, Gurunath, was “facilitated in terms of access by the president Srinivasan.”Even if he was merely an “enthusiast,” Gurunath was seen in the dugouts and Pai said, “(had) held himself out openly in the presence of the president as being deeply associated with Chennai Super Kings and for all purposes was the face of the CSK. Without this relationship he would have no position and no access. Even if there is no direct charge against Srinivasan, by his conduct he has been compromised.”Lawyer YP Singh, a former officer with the Indian police and in the Central Bureau of Investigation (India’s federal investigative agency), said it was necessary that a clear distinction be made between legal and administration action and the level of proof required by both.Singh, who has dealt with high-profile cases of financial fraud, said legal action required “beyond reasonable doubt” before issuing a judgement and finding a person guilty. “You need beyond reasonable doubt to send someone to jail.Administrative action does not require ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. Administrative action can be taken at any time.” It required, he said, what the legal community referred to as, “the preponderance of probability.” (The “degree” or the “likelihood” of the incident taking place is a bit lower as compared to beyond reasonable doubt.)During his Kolkata press conference, Srinivasan’s defence of his refusal to stand down hinged on the fact that he had committed no offence and there was a legal process in place. Through this defence, Singh said, the BCCI was trying to take administrative action, “after the investigation is complete … that is legally impossible. A thorough legal investigation takes years.”In such a situation, the administrative action required by the BCCI should have been thorough and speedy. To redress the BCCI’s shortcomings as of now in this case, Pai said, “Srinivasan would need to resign or step down from his position or take a sabbatical, hand over power to a committee of directors who would handle the investigation and if the investigation by independent third party finds nothing against the president, then he can easily redeem his dented honour.”Corporate India rarely speaks ill of its peers, but there are suggestions that in this case Srinivasan, a successful corporate figure in Tamil Nadu, has trapped himself in an untenable situation. “As you rise in power, the standards of governance required by you have to go up,” says one leader. “The enormity of the situation is dependent on the person involved in a wrong doing.” It is why offences committed by the CEO of a firm as opposed to a junior-executive have a different impact. It is “logically impossible” for Srinivasan to “retain his authority when an investigation is on because he retains the power to subvert the process.”Srinivasan has, however, chosen to stay in power by deliberately detaching the administrative action required at a time like this from the Board and attaching it to the legal process. The BCCI has been unable to prevent him from doing so. Pai said, “By doing what he is doing Srinivasan has shown himself in poor light and BCCI has shown itself to be an institution of cronies.”Bringing out the “innocent till proven guilty” card often diverts from another vital truth. An individual remains accused until proven innocent.

David Warner could face disciplinary action from Cricket Australia after apparently launching a Twitter attack on two of Australia’s most senior cricket journalists.Cricket Australia’s general manager of team performance, Pat Howard, has attempted to make contact with Warner after the tirade emerged from Warner’s Twitter account @davidwarner31 in the early hours of Saturday morning Indian time. Warner is currently in India for the IPL.The outburst appeared to begin with Warner taking exception to a comment piece written by Robert Craddock which was printed in News Limited newspapers on Saturday in which he discussed the IPL and its problems. The following tweet appeared on Warner’s Twitter account: “Shock me @crashcraddock1 talking s*** about ipl jealous p****. Get a real job. All you do is bag people. #getalife”Craddock was then mentioned in a series of six bitter tweets and while Craddock did not respond on Twitter, his fellow News Limited journalist Malcolm Conn did. Conn wrote: “@davidwarner31 cricket is a real job? Please. Most people pay to play. Million dollar cricketers milking the IPL are hardly the best judges.” Warner and Conn then engaged in a protracted Twitter discussion.Cricket Australia said in a statement on Saturday: “Cricket Australia is aware of comments made on David Warner’s twitter account overnight. Cricket Australia is attempting to contact Warner and will continue to investigate the matter. Cricket Australia will make further comment once it has conducted a thorough investigation.”