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The first ball Virat Kohli faced in a tight and ultimately successful chase at SCG should have gone for four runs. Instead, the ball was called dead because it hit the spidercam on its way to the boundary. In the last Test that India had played at the SCG, Steven Smith dropped a sitter from KL Rahul because he was distracted by the spidercam. The ball might have even flicked the cable. India eventually won the fifth ODI, but who knows if Australia would have been held to a draw had Rahul not gone on to score a century in the Test last year?MS Dhoni, India’s limited-overs captain, has called for balance when it comes to intruding the field of play for TV gimmicks. He has also spoken about other gimmicks that have mushroomed with the advent of Twenty20. “I am quite a traditional guy,” Dhoni said. “I have always felt that… anything that disturbs the game of cricket I don’t like it. It all started right from the T20 where people would be like, ‘Why don’t you wear a mic?’, ‘Why don’t you wear a camera?'”I have always felt there is a need for balance. At the end of the day it is a spectator sport, people watching on television, but at the same time four runs can matter, especially when it is a close game. Those four runs can be crucial. Everyone gets penalised, why not have the same system for the spidercam? Say, ‘Okay if you get hit, 2000 dollars per hit.’ Let’s make it interesting.”People [broadcasters] are striving for more. When you have got out and walking off, the cameraman goes right under your face. The same way the spidercam is right next to you. You have seen players, they are like, ‘What is happening?’ It makes a lot of noise. At the end of the day it is also about the spectators. If spectators are not there, cricket won’t be played. It is a mix and match; 2000 dollars per hit is a good option.”During the Sydney Test last year, the camera was moved higher and away from the field of play rapidly after the incident. This time, though, the upper-cut from Kohli was not even a skier. Back then, a joint statement from Channel Nine and Cricket Australia said: “We have spoken about the matter involving spidercam and the dropped catch before lunch and it’s clear the ball did not hit the camera or its supporting wires. Captain Steve Smith was distracted by one of the wires in his eye line. Both CA and Nine will continue to work together on the use of spidercam in the broadcast coverage and will take on board any player feedback as necessary. As it stands, if any player has a concern about the placement of spidercam they can ask the umpires for it to be moved.”Dhoni’s larger point about the intrusion into the players’ space might hold some resonance too, especially shoving cameras up their faces when they have just got out or doing interviews just after their dismissals. Such interviews were the centre of conversation when, earlier in the Australian summer, Chris Gayle infamously made a female reporter uncomfortable in an interview as soon as he had walked off the field.

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India A have won the two-match Test series against South Africa A by a 1-0 margin after the second Test in Dharamsala was abandoned with no play possible on three consecutive days due to heavy rain.Umpires SK Tarapore and GA Pratap Kumar called off the match at 10 am after the outfield was left waterlogged due to morning showers. Though this was a frustrating outing for both teams, South Africa will consider themselves hard done by, since they had ended the first day at 264 for 4.Paras Mhambrey, the India A coach, was satisfied with the teams performance in the series. “We were looking forward to win the game and get the series 2-0, but can’t help the elements,” Mhambrey told PTI. “I am happy with the first match in which we clinched the victory in three days. Our spinners troubled their batsmen and our batsmen scored double centuries. So it was a satisfying series for us.”India had won the the first Test in New Delhi by an innings and 242 runs.

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

A superb unbeaten 31 from Dinesh Karthik led India to a thrillingpenultimate-ball victory in their first-ever Pro20 outing at theWanderers. Chasing South Africa’s 126 for 9, they were also indebted to aquickfire 34 from Virender Sehwag and a steady 38 from Dinesh Mongia. Thebowlers had done a sterling job earlier in the evening, with Zaheer Khanand Ajit Agarkar especially impressive in restricting a powerful battingline-up.With nine needed from the final over, Karthik eased Indian nerves byclouting Robin Peterson for a big six over midwicket. Four balls later, hecut one through point to round off a memorable evening, with India sealingtheir first win of the tour nearly three weeks after they arrived in theSouthern Cape.The Indian innings had started eventfully. After Sehwag had driven Van derWath through the covers for four, Charl Langeveldt had Sachin Tendulkaredging behind off a free hit. In his next over, Tendulkar creamed onethrough the covers before lofting another over point for four more. Butjust as the Indian flags began waving ever more animatedly, Langeveldt hadhis say, with Tendulkar dragging a full delivery back on to the stumps.Sehwag and Mongia then consolidated matters, and when Graeme Smith calledon Tyron Henderson, Sehwag weighed in immediately, slashing a six over therope at third man before deflecting wide of the keeper for four more.Another clever deflection to third man followed off Roger Telemachus, andwhen a short-pitched delivery flew off his helmet for four leg byes, Indianudged ahead of the asking rate.Henderson’s medium-pace offerings were to Sehwag’s liking, and a widedelivery outside off stump was sent soaring over point, but thecombination of Ashwell Prince, the substitute fielder, and Langeveldt witha full-length Jonty Rhodes-style dive cut short his scintillating 29-ballinnings.Mahendra Singh Dhoni lasted just two balls before being cleaned up by theimpressive Langeveldt, but Mongia, who returns home after the one-dayseries, kept up the momentum with some sweetly-timed strokes throughmidwicket. When Albie Morkel came on, he struck one beautifully over coverfor six, and with Karthik playing a gorgeous straight drive offTelemachus, John Denver’s Country Roads provided apt background music asIndia eased towards victory. Mongia fell to a slog to provide one finalhiccup, but Karthik and Suresh Raina saw that there would be no costlystutter at the finish.It was no less than India deserved after a disciplined bowling displaythat saw South Africa slump to 41 for 4, before Justin Kemp and thesix-hitting Morkel led something of a recovery. Morkel smashed 27 from 18balls, including one massive six off Harbhajan Singh that cleared thestands over midwicket. Having taken sixes off Sreesanth and Irfan Pathanearlier, he fell trying for another, caught at long-off off Sreesanth.Tendulkar had accounted for Kemp earlier, trapping him in front, even as asteady drizzle started to fall.Van der Wath’s 21 held the lower order together, but there weren’t thewickets in hand to launch any sort of onslaught. Robin Peterson wasrun-out off a free hit, after Harbhajan bowled a no-ball, and when Van derWath slogged the next ball into Raina’s hands at long on, India hadreestablished their stranglehold on proceedings.After quasi-Bollywood-style entertainment had set the stage, there weremassive cheers when Smith, with one run in the one-day series, got theinnings off the mark with a single to fine leg off Zaheer, and they becameeven more raucous when Sreesanth was cut for four and then drivenbeautifully down the ground. But it was too good to last, and in Zaheer’snext over, Loots Bosman edged one to Tendulkar at first slip.

Smith tried to up the ante by charging Sreesanth and lofting one down tothe long-off fence, and Herschelle Gibbs followed suit with a punishingpull for four off Zaheer. But when Agarkar replaced Sreesanth, India got areward right away, with Gibbs thumping one straight to short cover. Thatturned out to be a maiden over, and South Africa’s plight worsened whenZaheer crowned a quite magnificent spell with the wicket of his bunny,Smith once again trapped in front.AB de Villiers came in and slashed a six over point, but Agarkar exactedinstant retribution, inducing an edge behind. With the Indians buzzing, itwas left to Kemp to right the balance a little by smashing Pathan’s firstball to the cover fence, following it up with a top edge to fine leg forfour more.India were dealt a blow when Agarkar left the field midway through histhird over with a torn groin muscle. Tendulkar came on to replace him, andKemp latched on straight away, tucking one behind square for four. Butdespite his and Morkel’s efforts, there was no denying an Indian sidepiloted home by one of its future stars.

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Namibia made a good start to their tour of Zimbabwe as the guest team in theone-day Faithwear Series, by winning their opening match against Midlands by89 runs at the Harare Country Club, the home of the CFX Academy.The most significant performance took place at the very start of the match: Jan-Berrie Burger where he left off on Namibia’s previous visit to Zimbabwe by torturing the local seamers and some unimaginative captaincy with a blistering innings of 61. He faced only 47 balls, hit 11 fours, and shared an opening stand of 85 with Danie Keulder, who made 37. Later the spinners were able to limit the damage, and only Gavin Murgatroyd contributed much in the final total of 220 for 7.Midlands were never in the hunt, losing their first six wickets for 50 and eventually being dismissed for 131. Keulder and Rudi van Vuuren were the main wicket-takers, but Karel Burger took the two crucial scalps of Vusi Sibanda and Alester Maregwede.
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In an outstanding one-day match at the Harare Sports Club, Matabeleland beat the Faithwear champions Mashonaland by 10 runs, with the result in doubt until the penultimate ball. The match was dominated by two outstanding individual performances: by Chris Mpofu of Matabeleland, who took 6 for 42, and Mashonaland’s captain Tatenda Taibu, who scored 121 not out and very nearly took his team to a miraculous victory.Mashonaland, chasing 276, looked dead and buried at 25 for 5, thanks to the bowling of Mpofu, who took five wickets for five runs in his first four overs. Later they were 78 for 7, but Taibu was still there, and he almost turned the match with an incredible partnership of 134 with Kuda Samunderu (43). Then a brilliant return catch by Gavin Ewing turned the match again, and the task proved just too great for the gallant Taibu.Matabeleland’s 275 for 9 was set up by a dynamic 42 off 24 balls by Greg Strydom, and some more restrained batting by Ewing and Mark Vermeulen. Samunderu had also shown his skill as an offspinner, with 3 for 42.This match was a wonderful opportunity for Zimbabwe cricket to promote itself. Unfortunately, thanks to almost non-existent marketing, only about ten spectators were present, and the chance was totally wasted.

The Pakistan Cricket Board is reported to be having serious doubts about going ahead with this October’s planned home series against Zimbabwe.The PCB will discuss Zimbabwe’s status at this month’s ICC meeting in London, and while it has not yet formally made any overtures to the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, sources close to the board indicate that there is a growing feeling that the tour should be scrapped.Officially, Rameez Raja, the PCB’s chief executive, maintained that the series was on, although he admitted that “We are waiting and watching. We have some other options in mind that we will put forward to the ICC board this month if the crisis in Zimbabwe cricket is not resolved.”Unofficially, the PCB is believed to be looking at the international schedule to see who can be lineed up to replace Zimbabwe. The PCB is committed under its existing television contracts to schedule a certain number of home series each year, and so needs an alternative.West Indies and Sri Lanka are free to step in, and were England to withdraw from their own tour to Zimbabwe, they could be looking for something to fill the void before they travel to South Africa. A multinational one-day tournament could be the solution.Another option would be for Zimbabwe to be included in the one-day tournament, a compromise which would be acceptable to the ZCU. “We would be amenable to that” Vince Hogg, its chief executive, told the AFP news agency. “We haven’t discussed it yet with the PCB, but I’m sure that would be a practicable course to take.”The source told Pakistan’s The News that the PCB was “not keen on playing a Test series against a depleted Zimbabwe side, and will ask the ICC to reschedule the Test series instead of playing against a second-string side.”

The award for the New South Wales cricketer of the year is to become known as the Steve Waugh Medal in honour of the NSW and Australian Test captain.Waugh said he is taken aback by the accolade, but considered it a great honour.He also said he would like to win the medal but believed there are at least a couple of other players with a better chance.The medal, which is cast in nine carat gold, is decided on points awarded by each NSW player after every one-day and four-day game.It will be presented to this season’s winner at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre on March 28.

Trveor Ward scored his third century in nine innings as Leicestershiredominated a rain-interrupted first day of the CricInfo Championship clash with Glamorgan at Cardiff.Ward shared in an impressive 198 opening stand with Iain Sutcliffe with the visiting county taking full advantage of Vince Wells winning the toss.And when bad light caused an abandonment 15 minutes from the closeLeicestershire had reached the healthy position of 210-1 off 48 overswith Sutcliffe still there on 86.Heavy overnight rain and morning showers meant no play was possibleuntil 2.30pm with a total of 49 overs lost before and after lunch.But by tea Ward and Sutcliffe had put Leicestershire in a healthyposition at 118-0 in just 24 overs with both batsmen reaching half-centuries, taking advantage of some pretty average Glamorgan bowling.Leicestershire reached 50 from just ten overs and then carried on thescoring rate to go to 100 in the 21st with skipper Steve James forced touse five bowlers in a curtailed second session.Ward was first to go to his 50 off just 61 balls with Sutcliffe takingjust nine deliveries more.And Ward then took only a further 50 balls to reach his century out of189-0.Glamorgan’s opening bowlers found it difficult to find their length andline. Steve Watkin went for 37 off seven overs while Simon Jonesconceded 24 from his first five overs.Watkin eventually secured the breakthrough when Ward drove straight atcover to end an impressive two-and-a-half hour innings that had included14 boundaries.

Otago’s Chris Gaffaney performed an almost single-handed demolition job on Canterbury in their Shell Super Max match at Gore’s Hamilton Park yesterday.He was into the game after only three balls in the first innings, after Otago chose to bat first.While he had a single to get his eye in from the first ball faced, his next was a six speared over third man, not the sort of thing to endear himself to bowler Warren Wisneski.It was typical of much of the mischief he got up to on the day.Shane Bond was the next bowler to disappear into the Gaffaney agitator as successive fours were taken as Otago made the most of a solid start.Andrew Hore had been largely insignificant at the other end but given the chance in the third over, he blasted a huge six behind square from Wisneski.The first Max hit of the day came in style, a Gaffaney lofted straight drive over the sightscreen at the western end of the ground. Shane Bond, the victim, became Bond the liberated next ball when Ben Yock completed a tidy catch.Gaffaney spent only 13 balls at the crease in making his 37.Scott Waide wasted no time on a sighter, his first ball was six into the Max zone.The tempo slowed a little however, as Stephen Cunis and Darren Reekers took over and Waide was eventually out caught at long-off by Cleighten Cornelius.Life in the Max zone became even more dangerous when Mark Billcliff arrived. He produced carbon copy efforts from Darren Reekers with lofted on drives.It was the perfect impetus for the Otago innings and he departed to the first ball of the ninth over with Otago 126-4.Burson did a superb job for Canterbury when conceding only eight runs from the ninth over. Craig Pryor then carried the side to 150 in the last over, the final ball being driven into the Max zone for eight.Andrew Hore batted throughout the innings and was 20 not out.Otago kept the pressure on from the outset as Canterbury, courtesy of some good fielding, especially a superb outfield throw from Chris Gaffaney which saw Brendan McCullum complete some fine cricket to dismiss Hamish Barton, which left Canterbury 40-3.Then in the next over danger man Warren Wisneski, who had blasted a ball from Black Caps call up Kerry Walmsley well over the mid-wicket boundary for six, was caught in the deep by Warren McSkimming.Shane Bond then took the innings into his own hands, with minimal success. One skied shot backward of square was dropped by Chris Gaffaney and two runs were taken.But moving the ball around to mid-wicket next ball proved an error as Lee Germon proved as safe under the higher ball as Jeff Wilson when he played fullback for Otago.The first ball Stephen Cunis faced, from Mark Billcliff, was also his last, bowled for a duck. Canterbury was 46-7.The follow-on mark of 100 was avoided only in the penultimate over when Cornelius hit two Max sixes from Craig Pryor’s bowling.From the first ball of the last over, bowled by Karl O’Dowda, Ben Yock blasted a superb six over the Max zone but was out to the next ball.But the best Canterbury could do was finish with 122, conceding a first innings lead of 28.Mark Billcliff was especially effective with his bowling taking 3-7 off two overs.In its second innings, Otago looked like losing its way when only 35-2 from four overs.But Gaffaney came to the rescue again. He hit five fours in succession, including one Max hit, and a single, to take 25 runs from the fifth over.That was nothing to the carnage that came subsequently. Twenty-four runs came off the sixth over in which Gaffaney posted his half century with a Max hit for four.In the eighth over, the Gaffaney Wrecking Company was in full force as he took 31 of 33 runs to come from Darren Reekers’ over, including two Max sixes.Then after delicately, by his standards, cutting Cornelius for four, he blasted the next ball for six over mid-wicket. He had scored 103 off 26 balls. He was out attempting to repeat the mid-wicket blast, but miscued slightly and was caught at square leg.Canterbury was left chasing a target of 183 to claim the win.Reekers led the early assault with two sixes and a Max six before he was caught by Craig Pryor from Warren McSkimming’s bowling with his 25 coming from only six balls.It wasn’t until Shane Bond and Cornelius were united that the innings picked up impetus with Cornelius flicking successive sixes from Kerry Walmsley to long leg. However, once Cornelius was out in the sixth over, and then Stephen Cunis followed next ball, the fire had departed the Canterbury effort.After only seven runs were taken from the eighth over, Danny Bulman tried to guide a ball fine through the slips. But an ever alert Brendan McCullum snared a fine diving catch to create even more problems for Canterbury.Ryan Burson had time to blast a Max six but going into the last over Canterbury needed 48 to win with only two wickets available.Ben Yock gave it every effort as Otago lined the Max zone. He hit a six and two Max sixes to get Canterbury to within 15 runs of Otago’s combined total.

An emergency fund has been set up to help Yorkshire clubs afflicted by the “unprecedented” level of flooding that has ravaged the north of England.Following the severe Boxing Day floods across the region, the Yorkshire Cricket Board – in conjunction with the ECB – has set up an emergency fund to support clubs who are affected.The announcement comes as 500 soldiers have been called up to help with flood rescue across the north, the prime minister, David Cameron, has interrupted his Christmas break to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee, Cobra, and thousands have been made homeless.Yorkshire have acted rapidly to promise the worst-hit clubs will be supported, symptomatic of an increasingly communal approach that is at the heart of the resurgence which has brought two successive Championship wins.There are real fears that the damage is so extensive that clubs could go bankrupt unless they receive financial support.As the ECB draws up a detailed strategy to halt the decline in recreational cricket any loss of cricket grounds would have damaging consequencesOther northern counties have also been hit by the floods – Carlisle CC was one of the first to be badly affected earlier this month – but with the ECB essentially locked down for the festive season, the extent and levels of support remain unclear. Some information is available on the ECB website.The Yorkshire Cricket Board has asked for information to be sent to Andrew Watson, the board’s executive director. Details of the damage should include:

• What is insured (and has this been assessed)
• What is uninsured
• What is immediately resolvable
• What may be longer term (such as damage to playing surfaces)
• Cost estimates where available
• Photographs where available

Saltaire CC is another victim of the flooding•Bradford League

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A match billed as a winner-takes-all contest was as good as decided before latecomers had even taken their seats at Newlands. In that time Australia blew away Sri Lanka’s top order, and though they made a recovery of sorts to reach 101, it was a dismal performance and Australia strolled to a ten-wicket win with almost half their overs intact. In Twenty20 terms, it was a massacre. At least there were not too many people inside the ground to witness their humiliation.Adam Gilchrist decided to stick Sri Lanka in to take advantage of any lingering moisture – this was an almost unreasonably early start to meet the demands of TV – and the move paid off handsomely. The toss was important, but Sri Lanka contributed significantly to their own downfall.Although Australia bowled and fielded superbly, much of the blame must rest on Sri Lanka’s batsmen who approached the match with a naivety that almost suggested they had never played a Twenty20 game. In the main, they perished playing ugly heaves and mows. The format calls for big hitting – Sri Lanka decided to go for reckless slogging.They lost Sanath Jayasuriya, their top-order talisman, to the third ball of the innings from Brett Lee, a slightly dubious leg-before decision which might have partially resulted from another close call when he was rapped on the pads the previous ball. What followed was horrible.Upal Tharanga swung and was caught in the deep, and Mahela Jayawardene got a leading edge attempting a swish to midwicket. Sixteen balls into their innings and Sri Lanka were 11 for 3. It should have been worse four balls later, but Brad Hodge mistimed a leap at mid-on and dropped Kumar Sangakkara. One ball later, Chamara Silva took a run to Andrew Symonds in the covers and would have perished had a diving underarm throw hit the stumps. It was almost lemming-like.And Sri Lanka didn’t learn. Their batsmen resembled windmills as they swished and missed with alarming regularity. Silva finally connected but a thick edge flew to Brett Lee at third man, and when Tillakaratne Dilshan stepped to the off and paddled Stuart Clark, the pick of the bowlers, straight to Gilchrist behind the stumps, Sri Lanka were 28 for 5.

In his next over Clark struck twice, Sangakkara cut to point and then two balls later Farveez Maharoof, whose TV profile had just boomed that his favourite shot was the cover drive, slapped an ugly swing to point where Michael Clarke took a superb one-handed catch an inch above the turf.It was only when Chaminda Vaas and Jehan Mubarak came together in a seventh-wicket stand of 40 that a semblance of common sense was restored, but the horse had long since bolted. Even Australia appeared to take their foot off the accelerator, content to allow singles at will while never letting the batsmen off the leash.The only blemish for Australia came when Shane Watson, who had bowled neatly in his first three overs, pulled up clutching his hamstring as Lasith Malinga swung the first six of the innings in the 18th over. The injury-prone Watson immediately hobbled off for another visit to a man he knows so well, the team physio.Chasing a small target, Australia could have cruised, but that’s not their style. Matthew Hayden and Gilchrist showed the value of playing correctly, hitting the ball straight and hard. In so doing they clinically shredded the bowling and emphasised how wrong Sri Lanka’s approach with the bat had been.The pair started sedately before opening up, Hayden his typical bullying self, hitting the bulk of his boundaries in the V with brutal power. Two strikes off Maharoof, the second of which disappeared over long-off, underlined what an awesome force he remains. Gilchrist was not outshone, using the pace of the ball and picking gaps with precision.Hayden brought up his fifty off 34 balls and then finished the match with a shot as vast as the victory itself, the ball disappearing out of the ground. By then Sri Lanka were a broken side.