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Leicestershire are to conduct an independent review of the club’s constitution and management and executive structure.A five-man committee, which will include Leicestershire’s former secretary -manager Mike Turner, will look into all aspects of the way the club is run and submit their findings by the end of January.Newly appointed general manager Kevin Hill explained: “We felt it was time that we had a look at ourselves, and it is something I was keen to have implemented.”The findings of the independent inquiry will be submitted to the club by January 31 and the committee will then look at the contents of those findings.”In addition to Mike Turner four other people have been asked to form the review body. They are John Sinnott, chief executive of Leicestershire County Council and chairman of the Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket Board; John Allen, an accountant and Leicester Tigers committee member; Adrian Weston, a retired solicitor and legal adviser to the club for many years; and Barrie Pierpoint who has joined the club as a marketing consultant.Hill said: ” They have been asked to present a written report to the club and myself by January 31.”The new general manager has also jumped to the defence of his predecessor James Whitaker, insisting that all the contractual negotiations he has conducted have been at the instruction of the committee.Hill said: “After handing in his notice James was asked by the committee to conclude and handle the contractual situations.James has done that under very strict control of the cricket chairman, Paul Haywood.”There is a misconception that James has made some unilateral decisions. Despite what has been put in the press and alleged, I can assure you that is not the case. Every decision that James has carried out has been at the instruction of the committee.”

Cricket South Africa has implemented major changes to its selection policy following the recent controversies regarding quotas involving Andre Nel and Charl Langeveldt. The CSA president – Norman Arendse is the incumbent – no longer has the power of veto over selection, while the captain and coach have been removed from the selection panel, although will still be consulted.The key change involves divesting the board president of his veto power. “The present system in terms of which the president has the right to veto the selected team should be abolished,” a CSA statement said.”The president and board of CSA should continue to be the custodians of the transformation policy insofar as the national team is concerned,” it added. “In this regard, [they] should continue to monitor the progress in achieving acceptable levels of representivity that will eventually reflect the demographic make-up of the country, but there should be a change of process whereby the CEO and convenor of selectors are required to manage the process and report regularly to the CSA president/board as the ultimate oversight and policy body.””In selecting the national squad, the selectors shall consult with and have regard to the input of both the coach and the captain,” the statement said. “The coach and convenor shall be responsible for the selection of the final eleven players to take the field. The captain takes charge once the playing eleven have been selected.”The issue of quotas, whereby every 15-man South African touring squad should include seven coloured players, has long been a thorny issue, but it came to a head before the tour of India in March. Nel was left out of the squad, in favour of Langeveldt, who later pulled out himself saying he was uncomfortable with the selection policy. In the end, Monde Zondeki was drafted in although didn’t play on the tour.Langeveldt has since signed a Kolpak deal with Derbyshire, effectively ending his international career, although Nel has resisted the temptation and has been named in the touring team for England.The South African board set up a committee to review the transformation policy, and all 12 of the recommendations were approved at a recent meeting.”The board also decided that the committee should continue its mandate and make further recommendations on how to increase black African representivity in South African cricket at all levels and focus on other areas of transformation,” said Arendse.The changes are a significant erosion of Arendse’s powers and there is also a shift in emphasis to transformation needing to start at grass roots level and move up, rather than beginning with the international team.”CSA must focus on lobbying the state and other stakeholders to make possible the main thrust of the transformation policy which is to provide facilities, resources and access in previously disadvantaged communities, with particular emphasis to black African areas, as no sport has the resources to achieve these goals on its own.”Another recommendation was to ensure the selectors have “the necessary experience, expertise and knowledge of the game and, additionally, are trusted to ensure that the team is representative and reflects the broad ethos of democratic South Africa and the principles of CSA’s transformation policy.”

Somerset Seconds suffered their third defeat in three days in the 2nd XI Trophy competition when they lost by seven wickets to Glamorgan at the County Ground today.Batting first Somerset got off to a flying start with openers Neil Edwards and Carl Gazzard putting on 73 in quick time before Gazzard was out for 45.Left hander Neil Edwards stayed around quite a bit longer before being fourth man out with the score on 166.Skipper Graham Rose (34) and triallist Chris Budd (44) who plays for Wiltshire in the Minor Counties, then shared a fifth wicket partnership of 65 after which wickets fell regularly until by the end of their allotted overs Somerset had reached 281 for 9.Evergreen Rose got Somerset off to the best possible start when he got a wicket with his first ball when Wes Durston held on to a sharp chance from Daniel Cherry in the slips.Glamorgan lost a further wicket with the score on 16 to a spectacular catch by West Durston, but from then on Glamorgan seemed to be in control and Keith Newell (89) and Jonathan Hughes put on 175 for the third wicket.Hughes remained at the wicket to hit the winning runs to see his side safely home, and ended unbeaten on 125 as Glamorgan reached 282 for 3 off 47.1 overs.Somerset Seconds play a two day friendly against Millfield School at Street staring tomorrow at 11 am.

For many years the authorities struggled to prevent the press and public referring to “The Sunday League.” There should not be too much trouble now in getting it called the Norwich Union League, especially in the next phase of the season with more matches being played mid-week than on Sundays.Take the next round of matches as an example. There are matches on Thursday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as a number of counties take the opportunity to stage matches under floodlights on what we all hope will be balmy summer evenings.Gloucestershire Gladiators begin proceedings this week on Thursday by going to Cheltenham to meet Hampshire Hawks. The Gladiators are at the top of the Division Two table at the moment, while the Hawks are fourth, eight points in arrears. However, that represents two wins and the Hawks have two matches in hand over the leaders, so this game could be crucial in the overall outcome of what promises to be a very close promotion race. It makes this match virtually and eight-pointer.The single match on Sunday is the single Division One fixture this week, between Durham Dynamos and Leicestershire Foxes. A win for the Foxes would take them up into the leading group, while defeat would leave them languishing in the relegation dogfight. That’s where the Dynamos will be, whatever the outcome of this match, for a second win of the season for them would still leave them in the relegation bracket.On Monday, the floodlit action is at Chelmsford when Essex Eagles meet Middlesex Crusaders. The Eagles have soared to third place in the table, six points but three matches behind the leaders. This is a crucial match for them in the shaping of their Norwich Union League season, while the Crusaders are anchored to the foot of the table with a single win from their eight starts.On Tuesday, the Rose Bowl will be lit up as Hampshire Hawks take on Lancashire Lightening. If the Hawks have won their match against Gloucestershire Gladiators, they could be looking for top spot at the end of this fixture. Lightening, on the other hand, have their attention centred on the other end of the table, although a couple of wins could easily transform their season.Northamptonshire Steelbacks and Derbyshire Scorpions are in much the same position as Lancashire Lightening. Win a couple and promotion beckons; lose those matches and they will be consigned to the lower echelons of the division. The bright lights of Northampton (which is not a phrase that often appears in public!) will illuminate the way ahead for one of the two teams on view at Wantage Road.

India `A’ were handed a crushing defeat by the South Africa BoardPresident’s XI in the three-day tour game being played atChatsworth on Sunday. The tourists were bundled out for ameagre 90 runs in their second innings, with left-arm spinnerRobin Peterson finishing with dream figures of 7.2-4-9-4. TheSouth Africa Board President’s XI emerged victorious by aninnings and 109 runs.On the final day the home side resumed at their overnight scoreof 369/7 and went to on to make 411/8 declared in their firstinnings. Gerald Dros, a 28-year-old right-hand batsman fromNorthern Transvaal, remained unbeaten on 117. This is only hissecond hundred in eight years of first class cricket. Dros faced220 balls, hitting 16 boundaries and a six; in what turned out tobe a match-winning knock. The other overnight not outbatsman Alfonso Thomas went on to make 22 runs, adding 40runs for the eighth wicket. Amit Mishra, the 20-year-old legspinner from Haryana was the best of the Indian bowlers, pickingup a five-wicket haul (31-4-115-5)Trailing by 199 runs in the first innings, India ‘A’ got off to ashocking start, losing the stylish left-handed opening batsmanGautam Gambhir (7). India ‘A’ were in dire straits at 28/3 afterlosing Amit Pagnis (3) and Abhijit Kale (6). Skipper Jacob Martinand Rohan Gavaskar put on 28 runs for the fourth wicket, whichwas to be the highest of the innings. Ironically, Martin (25) andGavaskar (13) were the only players to get to the double-figuremark apart from Extras (13). India ‘A’ lost their last sevenwickets for just 34 runs, with Peterson plucking out four of thosewickets.

Somerset Sabres are back in N.U.L. National League action on Sunday when they travel to New Road where they take on Worcester Royals.After the narrowest of defeats in their opening match of the season in the competition last weekend,the Sabres will be anxious to record their first one day victory of 2002.Somerset will also be keen to make up for the Benson Hedges Cup defeat that the midlanders inflicted upon them on May Day Bank Holiday at the County Ground.The last time that the two sides met in the competition was at New Road in 2000, when the Sabres were victorious by 53 runs, to haul themselves back to the top of the table.At the end of the 2000 season Worcester Royals were relegated, but last season earned a quick return to the top flight by finishing in third place in Division Two. Last weekend Worcester Royals were without a game in the NUL, and will be eager to get their own campaign in the competition off to a good start.Whilst Somerset coach Kevin Shine was pleased with the run chase from his batsmen last weekend he will no doubt be anxious to reduce the number of runs that were conceded when the Sabres fielded.Fast bowler Steffan Jones is still not quite match fit so misses out on the trip to Worcester. The Sabres will rely on the same side thatcompletes the championship match against Leicestershire today with the addition of young all rounder Pete Trego.

In a clear move to take the Government head on, the Board ofControl for Cricket in India (BCCI) today decided not toparticipate in multilateral tournaments including World Cupand ICC Knock-out series till ‘clear-cut’ guidelines onplaying with Pakistan were announced. Board President ACMuthiah told reporters after its working committee meetingin Delhi that uncertainty prevailed over whether the Governmenthad restrained the cricket team from playing at specificvenues or against specific countries too.”In the absence of clear-cut guidelines in this matter, theBoard has decided to play only in bilateral or triangularseries involving Test playing countries. We will notparticipate in tournaments such as Asia Cup, ICC Knock-outseries (2002) and the 2003 World Cup because we do not knowwhether we would be able to play certain sides, like Pakistan,or not,” Muthiah said. The Government, in a statement a fewdays ago, had asked the Board not to send the team to any’non-regular’ venue, like Toronto, Singapore and Sharjah, forthe next three years.The Board’s decision came as a surprise because the issue wasnever mentioned in the Agenda nor was there any talk of it inthe days leading up to the meeting. Muthiah said he expectedthe government to react soon and come out with clear policyguidelines in this regard.He said the working committee had authorised him to form asmall committee under his chairmanship which will meet varioussenior ministers including the Sports Minister and put acrossthe Board’s point of view to them.The announcementovershadowed many other important decisions taken at themeeting.

Wasim Jaffer and Nayan Mongia, continuing their fine form in the Duleep Trophy tournament, hammered 78 and 76 respectively during the first day of West Zone’s match against North Zone at Pune.Winning the toss, West Zone skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar decided to bat first. His side suffered an early setback when Ashish Nehra took out Connor Williams. But Kanitkar and Jaffer then added exactly 50 runs before the former fell, caught behind for 11.Altaf Merchant, the next man in, failed to open his account, and at 68 for three, North Zone seemed to have the upper hand. But Vinod Kambli proceeded to play in his inimitable way, striking seven fours in his 33 off 52 and adding 70 runs for the fourth wicket with Jaffer.Both Jaffer and Kamble fell with the score on 138; Jaffer was the first to go, bowled by Nehra for a well-made 78 off 104 balls. His knock featured 13 hits to the fence and provided a good foundation for West.Mongia and Ajit Bhoite then came to the party. Mongia was in a surprisingly aggressive mood, hitting 14 fours and a towering six in his 76 off 130 balls. Bhoite played second fiddle admirably, making 36 off 86 balls with five fours and a six.Bhoite fell with the score on 215, but that only paved the way for Sairaj Bahutule to use the long handle to good effect. Runs flowed for West Zone as Bahutule struck 12 fours and a six in making 66 off 88 balls. Skipper Mithun Manhas, who dismissed Bhoite, managed some little cheer for North by also getting rid of Mongia and Ramesh Powar.At the close of play, West were well-placed on 334 for eight, with Bahutule still at the crease on 66. He was accompanied by Irfan Pathan on seven. For North Zone, Manhas the most successful bowler, taking 3-19 off 12 overs.

Match facts

October 13, 2012
Start time 1730 (1530 GMT)Kevin Pietersen is part of the dangerous Delhi Daredevils batting trio that includes David Warner and Virender Sehwag•Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images

Big Picture

The first match for the two IPL teams will not only be a tug of war for the first points or an opportunity to work-out their strategies for the tournament; the focus will also be on Delhi Daredevils’ Kevin Pietersen, who is making a return to the field of play after his brief stint as a TV commentator.Kolkata Knight Riders may need a shift from the bowling plans they employed in the IPL to suit the conditions in South Africa. The variations that worked well for L Balaji and Rajat Bhatia in India will need adjustments, and it remains to be seen what tricks they use to supplement their lack of pace. Sunil Narine and Jacques Kallis are the automatic choices, but Brett Lee hasn’t had any cricket since Australia’s ODI tour of England in July, where he managed just two wickets in three outings. His competition to get into the team will be primarily with Shakib Al Hasan. Batting-wise, the team will again look up to their captain Gautam Gambhir, despite his recent patchy form, Brendon McCullum and Kallis.Daredevils, on the other hand, are much more settled. Their four first-choice overseas players – the captain Mahela Jayawardene, David Warner, Kevin Pietersen and Morne Morkel – are likely to play all the matches. Their pace-heavy bowling attack, which got batsmen hopping and ducking on benign pitches in the IPL, doesn’t solicit a change and therefore, the team, on paper, will go into the match as favourites.

Watch out for…

Daredevils’ top order features three of the game’s fiercest hitters – Virender Sehwag, David Warner and Pietersen – and that spells entertainment for the crowd. Pietersen, in his debut season for Daredevils, injected an aura into the team with his explosive batting. He played in less than half of the team’s matches – eight – but was the third highest run-getter for the team with 305 runs at an average of 61. The highlights of his stay were the unbeaten 103 and the 20 sixes he racked up in the tournament. Warner came in after Pietersen left and added another century to his T20 tally, while Sehwag was at his consistent best – scoring five half-centuries in a row – on his way to amass 495 runs in the season.Jacques Kallis was one of the pillars of Knight Riders’ success in the IPL. He played in all the matches to score 409 runs and collect 15 wickets. But he has had a forgettable time after South Africa’s successful tour of England. He failed to contribute with the bat – managing 24 runs in three innings – during the World T20 in Sri Lanka. However, in the familiar climes of South Africa, he will be one of the key players to guide the rest with both bat and ball.

Stats and trivia

• The two teams have played each other nine times and Knight Riders are marginally ahead in terms of wins by 5-4
• Gambhir’s strike-rate in IPL 2012 was 143.55, 18 points above his career figure
• Gambhir led Daredevils to wins over Knight Riders twice when the two teams met each other during the IPL 2009 season in South Africa

Quotes

“There are no favourites in this format, but we have the potential. I look around in the dressing room, and see a lot of greats of the game. If all of us play to our potential, we can go a long way in this competition.”
“This is a different challenge. I was asked to do it and I felt since I captained Kochi and a few matches for Kings XI that I would do it this time.”

Devendra Bundela’s 144 was the mainstay of the Madhya Pradesh innings on the second day of their Ranji Trophy pre quarterfinal against Hyderabad at the Daly college ground in Indore on Sunday. Thanks chiefly to his 280-ball innings, MP were able to post an imposing total of 490 in their first innings. At stumps Hyderabad were 34 for no loss.MP, who batted patiently to score 216 for two off 90 overs on Saturday were a bit more enterprising on the second day, taking 78.3 overs to make 274 runs. Opening batsman HS Sodhi was a bit unlucky to miss his century. He was run out for 89 after a 474-minute vigil at the crease. He faced 320 balls and hit ninefours. He and Bundela added 175 runs for the third wicket off 70.5 overs.Bundela and Abbas Ali (57) then carried on the good work by adding 95 runs for the fourth wicket off 21.3 overs. At this stage, Bundela was out after having batted 384 minutes. The 23-year-old right hander faced 280 balls and hit 19 fours and a six.Jai P Yadav then hit up a bright 44 off 54 balls with six hits to the ropes. The tail too chipped in and MP almost topped the 500 run mark. The bowling honours were shared by off spinners, young NS Yadav (4 for 114) and veteran Kanwaljit Singh (4 for 95).Hyderabad openers Daniel Manohar (18) and M Srinivas (13) batted confidently for the nine overs till close of play. But Hyderabad still have a lot of work ahead of them.