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The Sri Lanka Cricket interim committee (IC) has decided to increase its number of contracted players to 76 after a meeting on Friday.The national players missing out from last year are batsmen Michael Vandort, Chamara Kapugedera and Chamara Silva and spinner Malinga Bandara. Spin sensation Ajantha Mendis, promising allrounder Angelo Mathews, fast bowler Thilan Thushara and batsmen Thilan Samaraweera, Thilina Kandamby, Jehan Mubarak and Malinda Warnapura have been offered contracts in the national squad.IC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said that in addition to the 20 national cricketers and 15 players from the ‘A’ team, a further 41 players will be contracted on the following basis – 17 cricketers from the Development Squad, 15 cricketers from Academy and nine from Sixes and Twenty20 specialists.”We have decided to contract 15 players from the academy who will be between the ages of 19 and 22,” Ranatunga said. “This is to prevent talented cricketers from the schools being lost due to job and other related factors. These cricketers will be upgraded to the development squad each year depending on their performances and new players recruited to the academy.”Ranatunga also said that the national cricketers, most of whom are currently playing in the IPL in South Africa, would sign their new annual contracts which started from April 1, 2009 on their return. He further said the team for the World Twenty20 would be selected shortly and they would leave for England on May 28. The World Twenty20 will take place from June 5-21.The secretary also said SLC would advertise for a permanent coach for the Sri Lanka A team and for the development squad. With former Sri Lanka cricketer Chandika Hathurusingha, who was a successful A team coach being elevated to the national team as a shadow assistant coach for batting, the A team coach position has become vacant. Ranatunga said another former Sri Lanka cricketer Romesh Kaluwitharana has been temporarily appointed to fill the vacancy. He said that Kaluwitharana could apply for the post when it is advertised.The IC also decided that in future the chairman, secretary and CEO will represent Sri Lanka at all 2011 World Cup committee meetings. Earlier it was the sports minister-appointed officials who attended such meetings.The following are the SLC contracted players.
National Squad: Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardena, Chaminda Vaas, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Prasanna Jayawardene, Upul Tharanga, Farveez Maharoof, Thilan Samaraweera, Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Thushara, Angelo Mathews, Thilina Kandamby, Jehan Mubarak and Malinda Warnapura.Sri Lanka A Squad: Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Tharanga Paranavithana, Malinga Bandara, Rangana Herath, Dammika Prasad, Chamara Silva, Mahela Udawatte, Gihan Rupasinghe, Suranga Lakmal, Kaushal Silva, Chanaka Welegedara, Isuru Udana, Chaminda Vidanapathirana, Dinesh Deshapriya and Milinda SiriwardenaDevelopment Squad: Dimuth Karunaratne, Sachithra Senanayake, Nuwan Pradeep, Thisara Perera, Lahiru Thirimanna, Shalika Karunanayake, Ashan Priyanjana, Jeewan Mendis, Suraj Mohamed, Kanchana Gunawardene, Nadeera Nawala, Sachith Pathirana, Seekkuge Prasanna, Dinesh Perera, Madura Lakmal, Sujeewa de Silva, Tharanga LakshithaAcademy Squad: Kusal Janith Perera, Angelo Perera, Vimal C Perera, Umesh Karunaratne, Chathuranga de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Madawa Warnapura, Roshen Silva, Shashendra Gunathilake, Lahiru Gamage, Malinda Pushpakumara, Ishan Jayaratne, Prabath Priyankara and Navin Kavikara.Sixes and Twenty20 specialists: Dilhara Lokuhettige, Kaushal Weeraratne, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Indika de Saram, Gayan Wijekoon, Jeevantha Kulatunga, Hasantha Fernando and Nuwan Zoysa.

Division One

4th dayAshwell Prince guiding Lancashire to victory with an unbeaten 91•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire came within a whisker of last year’s Championship title before falling at the last, but laid down their maker as serious challengers again with an innings-and-five run victory against struggling Worcestershire at Trent Bridge. The visitors were already three down in the follow-on overnight and the situation didn’t improve when Ben Smith played on against Andre Adams having been dropped twice in the slip. Stuart Broad claimed two before lunch, getting one to climb on Steven Davies then pinning Gareth Batty leg-before to put Nottinghamshire on the brink. Ashley Noffke hung around for an hour until Samit Patel struck and Vikram Solanki, who top-scored with 64, drove a catch to mid-off. For Worcestershire it was another humbling defeat after their heavy loss to Hampshire last week and life in the top division is not looking too easy at the moment.Lancashire sped to an impressive eight-wicket victory on the final day against Sussex at Hove, inspired by James Anderson’s career-best 11-wicket match haul, a fine display from Gary Keedy and an unbeaten 91 by Ashwell Prince. Anderson and Keedy shared all the second-innings scalps as Sussex collapsed during the morning session, losing their last five wickets for 17 runs, to leave Lancashire need 158 for victory. Anderson’s outstanding game continued as he removed Luke Wright with his first ball of the day, soon followed by Tom Smith – caught at first slip – and Robin Martin-Jenkins. Keedy then ended the innings swiftly with two catches at silly point by Mark Chilton, but the clatter of wickets hadn’t quite finished. Corey Collymore snared both Lancashire openers quickly to give the home side a sniff although the hope didn’t last long. After a careful start Prince, accompanied by Francois du Plessis, closed the door on Sussex in increasingly positive style. Peter Moores couldn’t have dreamt of a better return to Hove.3rd dayFor a full report of Durham against Yorkshire at Chester-le-Street where the visitors have been left a stiff target click here.For a full report of Warwickshire’s game against Hampshire at Edgbaston where Jim Troughton and Tim Ambrose re-wrote the record books click here.

Division Two

3rd dayHalf-centuries from Steve Stubbings and Garry Park put Derbyshire on course for victory against Surrey at Derby as they reached 145 for 2 and need another 73 on the final day. Stubbings and Park added 89 for the first wicket until Park was trapped lbw by Pedro Collins, but it was a significant dent in the target and Stubbings remained unbeaten on 66 at the close. Derbyshire’s bowlers had chipped away at Surrey’s second innings as the final six wickets could only add 105. The key wicket was that of Usman Afzaal, who was foxed by an excellent slower ball from Jonathan Clare shortly after passing his fifty. At 276 for 7 the lead was only 133, but Chris Schofield and James Benning managed to push it past 200 only for Park’s medium pace to be the unlikely source of the final two wickets.For a full report from Middlesex and Glamorgan at Lord’s late wickets gave Middlesex the chance of a final-day run chase click here.

The first Test under lights may be held in May next year when England open the summer against Bangladesh at Lord’s, according to a report in the .The change in playing conditions could prompt a change in the players’ traditional white kit and the red ball, which will not be easily visible under the floodlights. The ICC cricket committee will discuss the matter when it meets this May. “As this would involve a change to the standard Test playing conditions and the clothing and equipment regulations for Test cricket, it would require our proper consent and the ECB have not approached us yet for any such approval,” Dave Richardson, the ICC general manager, told the newspaper. “But the ICC is supporting the research by the MCC, which includes whether a white ball can be developed that can last longer and be suitable for longer versions of the game.”Last year the MCC trialled pink balls with a view to replace them with the less durable white ones in one-day cricket. The experiment had some success but reached a dead end when the England board rejected the use of pink balls in the 2009 domestic season, saying they were “little better than white balls”.The MCC received permission to install floodlights at Lord’s in January this year, and there have been reports earlier as well that the venue would host the first Test under lights next season.Cricket Australia has also backed the idea of night Tests, with chief executive James Sutherland going as far as to say that day-night Test matches could be the only way for the five-day format to survive amid the growing interest in Twenty20 cricket.

Ten weeks after South Africa rewrote the rules on gettable targets, thememory of the WACA Test is still hanging over both teams with a day toplay in Johannesburg. The situation is eerily familiar, if slightlymore in Australia’s favour. South Africa need another 276 runs witheight wickets in hand; at stumps on day four in Perth they required187 with seven wickets remaining.At the WACA, they made the second-highest chase in Test history byreaching 414; here they will need to create a new record afterAustralia set them 454 to win. But such have been the battles betweenthese two teams over the past three months that it is impossible towrite South Africa off, especially with Hashim Amla and Jacques Kalliswell set and the Perth heroes AB de Villiers and JP Duminy to come.South Africa’s openers Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie gave their sidethe perfect start by reaching 76 without loss and Australia’sinability to extract much swing from the new ball was a key factor.But Paul Harris, the South Africa spinner, said their task on this occasion was more difficult than in Perth because of the tough conditions.”There’s quite a bit more in this wicket than there was in Perth,”Harris said. “I think the second new ball [available in 25 overs] willprobably end up being key. If we can get to that second new ballwithout any damage then I think we’ve got a good chance. We have toplay really well, history is against us. But if there’s a group ofguys that can do that then this one’s proved that they are the ones todo it.”Australia were hoping to set a marginally higher target but theirplans were scuppered by an incredible opening session in which theylost eight wickets. Their coach Tim Nielsen said he was in no doubt which side was in the stronger position after four days.”They need everything to go their way, I still feel,” Nielsen said.”We didn’t want to bat last on this wicket and I think it will stillbe a little bit up and down tomorrow. I’ll say it till I go to thegrave, if we’ve got 430 in the fourth innings of every Test match, I’lltake it every day of the week.”That Australia have found themselves in such a strong position withone of their least-experienced sides in recent memory is an impressiveachievement. Although the young attack of Mitchell Johnson, BenHilfenhaus, Peter Siddle and Andrew McDonald battled to make majorinroads in the second innings, Nielsen said the team had stood upsuperbly over the first four days.”If we do win this game, the mental state of this young side will beover the top, it will be amazing,” he said. “We’re not even thinkingabout losing. We’ll think about that when the time comes. I can’t seeanything but us winning this game. I’m really excited about the fact ayoung team has gotten themselves into a position to win a Test matchon day five.”I thought the decision to bat on the first morning was a courageousdecision. The wicket looked a little underdone and the weather wasagainst us. For us to fight out 460-odd with Marcus North, on hisdebut, getting a hundred, was a fantastic effort. And then a youngbowling attack did a great job in the first innings. We’ve seen alittle bit of inconsistency today but if we can get back to playinggood strong cricket, we’re right in the driving seat. I’m really proudof the kids.”

Derby will host its first ever Twenty20 double-header on June 25 when the county’s Twenty20 Cup match against Lancashire will be preceded by a Twenty20 Women’s International between England and Australia.The women’s match will start at 2.55pm with the men’s game beginning at 7.10pm.”With the Sky Sports cameras present throughout the day and a double-spectacle of Twenty20 Cricket in the offering, this promises to be an excellent day of cricket,” said Derbyshire’s deputy chief executive Kerry Madeley. “It’s always a compliment from the ECB when they choose our home ground as the venue for an international fixture.””I’m really grateful to Derbyshire County Cricket Club for having the vision to include us in this double header,” said Clare Connor, the former England captain and now the ECB’s head of women’s cricket. “It’s a joint challenge for ECB and Derbyshire to ensure that we promote this match to the best of our ability so that the players can play in front of a really big crowd. As the opening match of our summer against the Aussies, we’re looking forward to it immensely.”

Hyderabad’s Deccan Chargers, the IPL team that finished last in the league’s inaugural season, is facing an unexpected problem with its chief executive Tim Wright claiming that he is no longer with the franchise. However, a top official from DC Holdings Ltd, which owns the franchise, maintained that Wright is “very much a part” of the team.Cricinfo received an SMS this evening from Wright, who was appointed CEO of the Deccan Chargers after the first IPL edition, which said, “I am writing to inform you I am no longer chief executive of Deccan Chargers. I do not propose to comment further at this time.” When contacted in Sussex, Wright, a British national who is based in London, confirmed the text message but declined to comment further.Meanwhile, PK Iyer, managing director of DC Holdings, told Cricinfo that “the news is wrong”. “Tim Wright is very much a part of the team; we have not sacked him nor sought his removal,” he said. However, Iyer confirmed Wright would not be present at the IPL auction in Goa on Friday.According to DC officials, Wright is facing a visa problem that prevented him from coming to India but this has been vehemently denied by the chief executive himself. Clearly the Deccan Chargers and its chief executive are not on the same page and, apparently, differences have emerged between the two sides regarding Wright’s role in the franchise.Wright is a former IMG official who was involved with the IPL before moving to the Hyderabad franchise.

Javed Miandad has quit as director-general of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), bringing to an abrupt end his fourth stint with the board since retiring as a player. At a little over two months, it was considerably shorter than any of his three tenures as coach.Miandad stepped down after differences emerged over the exact scope of his role. There was always a lack of clarity over the exact nature of his work. He spoke openly of it as being a troubleshooting role of sorts, delving into whatever areas needed fixing.He unveiled grand plans for domestic cricket, but talked of removing ICL bans and played an active part in arranging the Sri Lanka tour of three ODIs. He was also known to have said that he would don a tracksuit and get out on the field to coach if needed.But in the contract the board offered to him yesterday, which defined his role for the first time since he took over, he found that only domestic affairs were within his ambit and thus did not sign it. “The PCB wanted to restrict me to domestic affairs and I don’t want any interference in my work. I have therefore resigned,” Miandad told AFP.”All the agreements that we had with him so far were verbal,” PCB official Asif Suhail was quoted by espnstar.com. “When he was offered the appointment letter yesterday, Miandad refused the contract.”Though Wasim Bari, the director of HR and administration, refused to confirm the news, another board official said that Miandad wasn’t happy with the contract and neither its financial rewards. “He didn’t like what he had been offered,” the official told Cricinfo. “The scope of the role was that he look after domestic cricket, infrastructure growth and work with the games director at the National Cricket Academy and be based in Karachi. He wanted more. Monetarily he also felt he deserved more given his stature as a Test cricketer.”Miandad later spoke to reporters at Gaddafi Stadium and denied that finances had anything to do with the decision. He said he wasn’t leaving on bad terms, but just that the role wasn’t suitable to him. “Money has nothing to do with this. I wasn’t doing the job for money. I have no problems with the PCB, just that this role didn’t suit me. I don’t leave with a heavy heart and am always available to serve cricket in this country in any capacity possible,” he said.Though Miandad was one of the few men not in favour of the captaincy change that saw Younis Khan replace Shoaib Malik – it wasn’t the personnel as much as what he saw as the panic-stricken reaction to defeat which he objected to – it is understood that had nothing to do with his final decision.”My views on the matter were not sought but I am certainly not angry about yesterday’s decision. My thoughts were that you cannot base a decision on just a loss but my views weren’t sought. I have high hopes that Younis can do well,” he said.Miandad will continue to remain a member of the nine-member governing board committee, however.

There might be doubts over a number of spots in the Australian set-up, but the coach Tim Nielsen is not one of them after having his contract extended by two years. Nielsen replaced John Buchanan last year and was originally signed until the end of the 2009 Ashes.Matthew Hayden and Brett Lee have been out of form since the India series and there has been no sign of a long-term spinner emerging, but Cricket Australia is looking for stability and Nielsen will be in charge until the 2011 World Cup. Since Nielsen, 40, has been in charge he has overseen eight Test wins, four draws and four losses. However, in the past year that has included the loss of the CB Series, a 2-0 defeat in India and the record-breaking result for South Africa in Perth on Sunday.”We continue to be impressed by the way he goes about his job,” James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, said. “We’re obviously delighted that Tim’s going to be with us for this extended period and we know that players and administrators have great confidence in his ability.”Nielsen has admitted he has a tough three years ahead, what with Australia in transition after the retirement of some legends and a few ageing players. “There will be change. We’ve seen that over the last 12 months or so,” Nielsen said. “Everyone keeps reminding us that [Justin] Langer, [Shane] Warne, [Glenn] McGrath, [Damien] Martyn, [Adam] Gilchrist and [Brad] Hogg have moved on. We haven’t lost every Test we’ve played. We’ve been competitive more often than not. We’ve seen some young kids come into the group.”When I accepted the job last year, one of the things which drew me to the role was working with the young kids and trying to help them to come through and have an impact. We’ve seen the Mitchell Johnsons of the world do that over the last 12 months. It doesn’t happen overnight.”Apart from Michael Clarke, all of Australia’s Test batsmen are 33 or older with Hayden struggling at 37, while the fast bowlers Lee and Stuart Clark are 32 and 33 respectively.”A lot of the older guys have still got relatively young bodies and it’s a different game to the 1980s and 1990s when I played,” Nielsen said. “Being in the 30s now, with the support you get around the team these days you can play until you’re 37 or 38 so I expect some of them will play two, three or four more years yet.”

Stuart Clark’s summer could be over after he was ruled out of Wednesday’s first Test against South Africa in Perth due to the recurrence of an injury to his right elbow. Clark will fly home to Sydney and have the problem assessed by an orthopaedic surgeon and if an operation is required his season might be finished.The Victoria fast bowler Peter Siddle was recalled to the 12-man squad to replace Clark and he will likely battle with the allrounder Shane Watson for a spot in the starting line-up with the offspinner Jason Krejza almost certain to play. Siddle made his Test debut in Mohali in October when the same elbow problem kept Clark sidelined.”I don’t think it’s a secret that I’ve had a bad elbow for a while,” Clark said after withdrawing from the squad in Perth. “It’s flared up. It’s not acceptable to play. I had a bowl on Friday and it was pretty sore but I had to come here and try it.”I think it’s a throwing issue that has just got worse over time. It’s something that hasn’t affected me until recently, until I suppose the Indian series. I’ve got to go back to Sydney or Melbourne and get the [surgery] process rolling. I hope there’s another scenario but I don’t really know.”Alex Kountouris, the Australian team physio, said the pain Clark experienced on Sunday in Perth was significantly worse than in recent times. Kountouris said it was still unclear how long Clark would be out of action.”Based on the ongoing nature of his injury and the information available to us, it’s been decided that he will see an elbow surgeon early this week with a view to having arthroscopic surgery,” Kountouris said. “His return to cricket will be determined once he sees the specialist and a decision is made on the best course of management.”The loss of Clark could be a major blow for Australia on a fast and bouncy WACA pitch. Clark struggled for impact on the recent tour of India but returned to form with six wickets against New Zealand at the Gabba.

ScorecardThough they were 184 runs ahead of Delhi in their second innings at the start of day four, Mumbai chose to give some batting practice to their top order instead of going for a win. Sahil Kukreja scored his maiden double-hundred, while Wasim Jaffer, Ajinkya Rahane and Vinayak Samant got half-centuries each.Kukreja and Jaffer added 178 together before Sumit Narwal bowled Jaffer for 98. By then the lead was 213 but looking at the way their openers batted with ease on the fourth-day pitch, Mumbai may have been reluctant to set Delhi a target. Rahane, Mumbai’s first-innings top scorer, scored a quick 94-ball 78 before he became Narwal’s second wicket. Two more wickets fell in the next eight overs before Samant and Kukreja batted out the rest of the day. Theirs was the third century-partnership of the innings. Kukreja’s 315-ball 229 included 13 boundaries. Delhi used seven bowlers, including Aakash Chopra, who has taken six wickets in 124 first-class games. Mumbai currently lead the points table with 12 from three games.
Scorecard
Arjun Yadav’s unbeaten century saved Hyderabad from falling to an innings defeat against Gujarat after they were forced to follow on in Ahmedabad. Gujarat were eyeing a big win as Siddharth Trivedi reduced Gujarat to 45 for 3 overnight.Yadav was batting on eight at stumps and day three and along with TS Suman, he added 75 for the fourth wicket before Suman was bowled by Mohnish Parmar for 43. With 48 overs still left in the day, and Hyderabad trailing by 188 runs, Yadav dug his heels in. He added 40 with D Rushi Raj, 80 with Syed Quadri and another 54 with MP Arjun but it looked like Gujarat would take six points from the game when Arjun fell as the seventh wicket and Hyderabad were still trailing with eight more overs to go. However with stolid support from Shoaib Ahmed (4 off 27 balls), Yadav managed to avert the disaster and take away one point from the match.
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Yet another draw after Rajasthan bowled out Orissa for 209 but managed only 131 of their 221-run target in Sambalpur. Orissa may have sensed a win when they removed the Rajasthan openers with six on the board but Robin Bist ensured that would not happen by batting for more than three hours for an unbeaten 60. His 68-run stand with Venugopal Rao steadied Rajasthan. There were a few nervous moments when Venugopal and Ashok Meenaria fell in quick succession but 21-year old Rajesh Bishnoi (15 off 62 balls) lent sensible support to Bist and the two batted out 22.5 overs to ensure the draw.
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Half-centuries from Sanjay Bangar, Amit Pagnis and Mahesn Rawat prevented Railways from losing to Baroda in Delhi.Having conceded a 186 run first-innings lead, Railways got off to a great start as Bangar and Pagnis added 127 together. But then they lost three wickets in three overs with only two runs added to the total. Left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar provided the breathrough when he stumped Bangar for 55. He returned to remove Karan Sharma for a duck after offspinner Utkarsh Patel had Pagnis caught for 67. Pawar now needs two more to get to 250-wicket landmark. Railways lost two more wickets after which Rawat and Harshad Rawle batted out for a draw.
ScorecardOver 1100 runs were scored in two innings in Rajkot’s Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground as Saurashtra batted for three days for a mammoth 679 for 8 in reply to Punjab’s 482. Saurashtra’s innings included three centuries, including captain Jaydev Shah’s on the final day, as his side sought to gain first-innings points.Ravindra Jadeja, who picked up five wickets on day one, scored a half-century and added 161 with Shah. All 11 Punjab players bowled in looking for wickets. Debutant Varun Khanna, a left-arm spinner, was the most successful with 3 for 161.
ScorecardThere were no glorious uncertainties on the fourth day in Mysore with Karnataka needing a little more than two hours to complete a straightforward victory, their first of the season.Andhra’s slim chances of making the 292 more runs they needed became slimmer still when their most dependable batsman, Gnaneshwara Rao, fell to a spectacular one-handed catch by Robin Uthappa at mid-off in the fourth over of the day. Read full report here.