Gus Logie has signed a four-year contract extension as the coach of Bermuda.Logie originally took on the role for six months in April, but following Bermuda’s success in qualifying for the World Cup in 2007, the board has offered him a longer deal, which he has accepted. The official start date of the new contract is October 5.Under Logie, Bermuda have also reached the semi-finals of the ICC Intercontinental Cup which will be held in Windhoek, Namibia in October.”We are excited and very pleased,” said Reginald Pearman, the president of Bermuda’s board. “We understand that it is a major change for Gus and his family, but we believe they will be very happy in Bermuda and that Gus will continue to do a great job.”The funding for the contract comes from a number of sources, including the government, the ICC and the Bank of Bermuda Foundation.

Sir Vivian Richards, the legendary West Indian batsman, has expressed concern over the resignation of Rawle Brancker, the Cricket World Cup 2007 chairman, and the findings of the Lucky Commission Report.Richards said that Brancker’s resignation, should be a wake-up call for those planning the World Cup event. “I think it was a brave decision because it is men who make those decisions not boys,” Richards said recently. “I think Mr Brancker needs the support of the rest of the individuals who are lying like dead ants to come and start coughing up and say exactly what’s happening. We have a right to know. Our cricket is in too much turmoil.”Richards, who scored 8540 runs in 121 Tests, said it appeared as if administrators in the Caribbean were not focused enough on developing the regional game. “To me there is lot more action off the field than what’s on it and that’s a worrying thing. We have got something to represent in 2007. It’s like people are licking their chops, rubbing their hands waiting for that time to come.””(But) what about West Indies cricket? We all talk about the finances and it is at its lowest point and yet still we haven’t heard anyone talk about the development side of things.” He added: “You haven’t heard anyone speak about what’s the process for preparing for 2007. It is a lot of stuff that goes on behind closed doors. We the public need to be a little bit more aware of what’s happening if we really love this thing.””We have got to begin asking important questions because we need answers so that we won’t be embarrassed when 2007 comes.”Further, Richards said that the public needed to also know the contents of the Sponsorship Negotiations Review Committee’s report, that criticised the Digicel sponsorship deal. “We haven’t heard anything about the report, about whether there was any discrepancy that took place. It is like it is gone to sleep,” Richards noted. “From what I’ve heard, some of the report is not good. The public needs to know.”

The Indian board’s marketing committee is meeting in Mumbai on Sunday to evaluate the technical bids for the contentious telecast rights of the game for the next four years.But the outcome of the meeting and its decision cannot be disclosed by the committee since the Delhi high court is hearing a petition on the telecast rights issue filed by Zee, one of the four bidders. On October 4, the high court had directed the board that the decision on the technical bids – for coverage of domestic and international matches from October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2009 – would have to be conveyed to it on October 19, the next date of the hearing.Apart from Zee, ESPN-Star, Sony and Prasar Bharati have responded to the board’s Invitation To Tender and are in the race to secure the highly lucrative TV rights. The meeting is expected to be attended by the board’s office bearers, its former presidents Jagmohan Dalmiya and Inderjit Singh Bindra, and special invitee Arun Jaitley.The office bearers are Ranbir Singh Mahendra, the president of BCCI, SK Nair, the secretary, Chirayu Amin, Kamal Morarka, Rajiv Shukla, Ranga Reddy, CK Khanna, all of them vice-presidents, Gautam Dasgupta, the joint secretary and Jyoti Bajpai , the treasurer. Usha Nath Banerjee, the legal advisor of BCCI will also attend the meeting.

After being heralded as England’s next great middle order hope for so long, Ian Bell’s burgeoning career was in danger of being completely derailed after a chastening Ashes series. Although included in the squad to Pakistan, he was unlikely to make the playing XI for the first Test. If any fortune resulted from Michael Vaughan’s knee injury, it was for Bell, who was thrust into the crucial one-down position.After scoring an accomplished 71, his fifth half century in nine Tests, he said of his knock, “It was a big one for me obviously with Vaughany’s injury and me not expecting to play this Test. It’s nice for me to get the confidence back. The wicket is exceptional, just a matter of time, I would have liked to have gone on and got a hundred, and I should have been still out there now, after getting in but I enjoyed going out there and spending some time in the middle.”He acknowledged that he had been out for form for some time before this innings, to the extent that he was even bowled by Peter Gregory, the team doctor, during practice. “It’s been hard work and a character-building experience. To be bowled by the doc isn’t the most pleasant of feelings. Fortunately, I went back to a few things that helped me, simple things like focusing on watching the ball, things that I was doing before last season.”His innings was more impressive because of the uncertainty over his place in the team. “Of course, it was a blow to not be part of team. I really want to establish myself and work hard for that, but what I realise is that there are a lot of guys vying for places, and I understood why I was going to be left out of this Test match. I just tried to make sure I got myself prepared just in case the opportunity came around and be in the best position if it did happen.”He enjoyed a little bit of luck in his 161-ball innings, being bowled by a slower ball from Shoaib Akhtar only to be reprieved by Billy Bowden’s call of no-ball. “At the time I was so focused and watching the ball that I didn’t realise the screen was still positioned for round the wicket for Trescothick. I didn’t pick it up at all. Luckily it was a no-ball and it didn’t make me look too much of a fool. It went high into the windows and if the screen was in the right position, it wouldn’t have made much difference. It was a fantastic ball and did me all ends up.”Bell’s 180-run partnership for the second wicket with Marcus Trescothick, captain for this Test, has put England into a strong position in the opening Test and Bell was quick to recognise his captain’s contribution. “Marcus really helped me out there, always talking to me. We ran well between the wickets and it was nice to be out there with someone of his experience. He was keeping it simple, watching the ball, playing as straight as possible, running hard, turning twos into three. He carried on the way he plays and captaincy hasn’t changed him at all. It was fantastic really to watch from the other end when he’s in such good form and stroking the ball so nicely. If I can learn off these guys at the top of their game it is a great help to me.”I was a little bit disappointed after last summer but I still back myself as a good player. I really want to prove to people that I can play at this level, and that I can do this for a long time.”Bell was also full of praise for the bowlers who did so exceptionally well to bowl out Pakistan for 274 on such a placid pitch, calling their performance “exceptional”. He added: “It was a pretty great performance and we had to capitalise on it. We are now in with a definite chance. It’s not a bad position to be in.”

Justice Ahmed Ebrahim , the Zimbabwe Cricket vice-chairman, said Wednesday’s follow-up crisis meeting should find a lasting resolution to the meltdown blighting the game in the country.”When you have a crisis situation, you have to take action, and those are the sort of decisions we may have to make,” Ebrahim said. “I am very worried about what is happening. That is one of the reasons I called for this crisis meeting. Since the first meeting was held on Monday some circumstances have changed. So we are meeting tomorrow for these issues to be discussed and decisions to be taken on what the board should do.”I am concerned about our international well-being, and the very least of what came out of the Monday meeting is a significant commitment from the players to serve the country. I regard the players as the core product in our effort to have the game survive in this country. I am very much confident that the quality we have in these players is very much good enough to compete on the international stage.”Justice Ebrahim’s comments comes in the wake of Zimbabwe’s national team players making a resolution at the Monday meeting that they still had their hearts behind Zimbabwe cricket. “I am very pleased to indicate that that the national team captain [Tatenda Taibu] and the players’ representatives indicated their total commitment, and recognition of their responsibilities to the game of cricket in this country. The players that are present in the country would participate in squad training in preparation for our future commitments.”Ebrahim, a retired Supreme Court judge, also spoke of the departure of Taibu to play domestic cricket in Bangladesh, saying it was a positive move for the former national skipper. “I think it’s very good that Tatenda has been given an opportunity to play in Bangladesh,” he said. “He is one of our national heroes, but he also has a tremendous following in the international arena, especially in Bangladesh, where he scored his maiden Test century.”The stakeholders meetings, which were called partly because of the 11th-hour cancellation of the board meeting which was due to be held last Saturday, also tasked Ebrahim to resolve the problems existing in the provinces, especially the infighting in Mashonaland that has impacted heavily on the national set-up in Zimbabwe.

India’s decision to withdraw from the Champions Trophy from 2007 has been met with admonishment by the former England captain Michael Atherton. In his column for the , Atherton branded India ‘the big beast of cricket’ while adding that other countries are ‘frightened of both their bark and bite’.”India’s announcements last week as to their future playing arrangements, meekly confirmed by England, has left no one in any doubt who is now master and who is servant,” Atherton wrote.A key aim of the Champions Trophy is to provide funds for developing nations, such as Bangladesh and, last week, Malcolm Speed wrote to the BCCI to remind them of their responsibilities to the game. Meanwhile, the BCCI were briefed by the ICC about long term development plans including scheduling. An ICC spokesman, said the they did not discuss with the BCCI either the Champions Trophy or the Future Test Programme (FTP) specifically.”The appropriate forum to discuss that will be the ICC Chief Executives Committee meeting (February 14-16) and the Executive Board meeting (March 20-21). This was about letting them [the BCCI] understand the development plans of the ICC. It was nothing more than a briefing.”Atherton added that India’s behaviour toward the ICC conveyed an image of a country ‘acting as superpowers tend to act: self-interest first and last and bugger the rest.'”Last week, Malcolm Speed, the chief-executive of the ICC, found himself in a position much occupied by Kofi Annan and the United Nations in recent years: being bullied by a superpower for whom the notions of international law and collective responsibility have long ceased to have any meaning.”He needs to stand his ground and we need to support him.”

Queensland 7 for 291 (Maher 72, Symonds 77, Hogg 3-56) beatWestern Australia 6 for 280 (North 134*, Goodwin 63) by 11runs
Scorecard

An unbeaten century from Marcus North, which included 13 fours and three sixes, was not quite enough to take Western Australia to victory in their floodlit one-day match against Queensland at Perth. Instead the Bulls maintained their 100% record in the ING Cup – four wins out of four – and lead the table with 19 points. Tasmania, with three wins in three matches, lie second.Queensland piled up 291 in their 50 overs, with handy contributions right down the order. Jimmy Maher, their captain, led the way with 72, which included 11 fours and a six. Andrew Symonds then took over, slamming 77 from as many balls, with three sixes and five fours. On 21, Symonds had a slice of luck after clubbing Brad Hogg towards the boundary as Brett Dorey was unable to hold the rebound from Steve Magoffin who fell back towards the ropes. When he eventually fell – one of three quick wickets for the unorthodox slow left-armer Hogg – Queensland were 7 for 245 in the 45th over, but a rapid 32 not out from Australia’s newest Test cap, Nathan Hauritz, propelled them to 291.WA were soon in trouble, losing Scott Meuleman for a duck and Adam Voges for 2, both to Andy Bichel, but North and Mike Hussey (21) repaired the damage in a stand of 65. Murray Goodwin then stepped in to score a forthright 63. He and North put on 134 for the fourth wicket, and WA were reasonably placed when Ashley Noffke finally dismissed Goodwin in the 40th over (4 for 210). But Ryan Campbell and Kade Harvey followed quickly, and although North stayed there and Hogg biffed 25 not out from 18 balls, they couldn’t quite do enough under the lights. Queensland had bowled 19 wides and still managed to win.

ScorecardSaurashtra went on the defensive against Madhya Pradesh, adding just 168 runs to their overnight score, ending the day at 327 for 8. Saurashtra extended their overall lead to 348, taking them to a near impregnable position on the fourth day of the Ranji Trophy Plate group semi-final at Rajkot.Both Prashant Joshi and Kamlesh Makvana, who added 106 for the fourth-wicket, scored at a sedate pace; Joshi’s 71 came off 267 balls while Makvana faced 171 balls for his 33. Yogesh Golwalkar, the legspinner, accounted for four wickets off his 46 overs, while Taduri Sudhindra claimed three wickets off 29. Sitanshu Kotak and Sandeep Jobanputra were at the crease till stumps.

Michael Vaughan, the England captain, has pulled out of England’s three-day practice match against Board President’s XI at Baroda due to the recurrence of soreness in his right knee.Andrew Walpole, the England media manager told , “The soreness was also there during the first warm-up match against CCI XI in Mumbai and he was not comfortable in the nets here. It was decided as a precautionary measure to rule him out of the three-day game. We are hopeful he will be fit for the first Test”.Coincidentally, Vaughan suffered the same injury in Pakistan last year during his side’s second warm-up game, against Pakistan A at Lahore. Vaughan retired hurt after facing just one ball in England’s second innings and subsequently missed the first Test at Multan.It was the recurrence of a long-standing cartilage problem that required surgery ahead of the 2002-03 Ashes tour, and then reoccurred in the nets at Lord’s in May 2004. Vaughan’s absence paved the way for Andrew Strauss to make his debut.

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

England’s chances of fighting what seemed insurmountable odds and drawing level in the series improved significantly after a thoroughly dominant performance on the third day at Mumbai. They bowled India out for just 279, snatching a first-innings lead of 121, and then stretched that lead to 152 by close of play, though they lost both openers in the process.After the first two days England had the edge, but they needed a strong performance today to further that advantage. They didn’t finish India off completely – Rahul Dravid will still hope for a collapse and a chaseable target – but Andrew Flintoff will have few complaints with his team’s performance in the field. Despite dropping a couple of chances, England put in a wholehearted performance – the fast bowlers were aggressive and disciplined, with James Anderson leading the way on his return to the side, while the spinners played a vital hand, bowling a crucial 21 overs at a stretch in the afternoon for just 46 runs and a wicket, allowing the fast bowlers an extended period of rest before they returned with the second new ball. Geraint Jones came up with three excellent catches behind the stumps and finished with five for the innings, while Flintoff maintained a happy balance between defence and attack throughout the day, keeping enough fielders in the ring to save the runs even as he searched for wickets.Resuming at 89 for 3, India were looking up to Yuvraj Singh and Dravid, the last specialist batting pair, but the batsman who made the most significant contribution was Dhoni. Playing with a restraint most uncharacteristic, Dhoni shook off a blow to the head from Flintoff, batted with admirable composure and responsibility to make 64, but then threw it away in a moment of madness, dashing off for a single after having clobbered Flintoff for three successive fours off his first over with the second new ball.

In fact, India’s batting was characterised by long periods of circumspection, but the few rushes of blood were their undoing – Irfan Pathan made 26 from 80 balls, in the process adding 44 for the sixth wicket with Dhoni, before deciding to charge down the track to Shaun Udal, handing him his first wicket of the series. Yuvraj’s flash outside off was a needless stroke too, while Dravid battled hard for a half-century and then touched a ball down leg side after being reprieved at the same score.England, on the other hand, kept up the intensity throughout. Flintoff and Anderson bowled superb spells in the morning, with Flintoff’s bouncer battle with Dhoni being particularly memorable. A well-directed short ball clanged Dhoni’s helmet when he was on 14, and then followed an exhilarating tussle, as Dhoni crashed a couple of boundaries, including a hook, and further riled Flintoff by taking plenty of time between overs, and sometimes even deliveries. After one such delay, a charged-up Flintoff responded with a wayward bouncer that flew past both batsman and keeper for four byes. It was fiery, aggressive stuff, but at the end of it all, Dhoni was still standing.The afternoon session was less exciting, but England’s spin duo of Monty Panesar and Udal did a crucial tie-up job, restricting the runs and ensuring that the Indians didn’t snatch back the momentum. Dhoni’s run-out – a marginal decision from the third umpire, for replays didn’t conclusively show that the bail was off the groove completely in time – should have signaled the end of India’s resistance, but Sreesanth and Anil Kumble did another defying act, adding 55 for the ninth wicket. Sreesanth – with a first-class batting average of 5.42 and a previous highest of 19 not out – mixed studious defence with meaty blows to ride up to 29 before running out of partners.A deficit of 121 was a huge minus to come back from, but India put in a spirited performance in the field, with Sreesanth – suitably inspired after his knock – putting in a particularly fiery spell. The openers departed cheaply, but the first-innings cushion means England hold all the aces going into the fourth day.

England
Andrew Strauss c Dhoni b Munaf 4 (5 for 1)
Ian Bell c Dhoni b Sreesanth 8 (21 for 2)
India
Yuvraj Singh c Jones b Flintoff 37 (94 for 4)
Rahul Dravid c Jones b Anderson 52 (142 for 5)
Irfan Pathan c Hoggard b Udal 26 (186 for 6)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni run out (Anderson) 64 (212 for 7)
Harbhajan Singh c Jones b Anderson 2 (217 for 8)
Anil Kumble lbw b Panesar 30 (272 for 9)
Munaf Patel b Anderson 7 (279 all out)