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ScorecardWest Indies sealed a 21-run victory over Kenya after Marlon Samuels smashed a century in a World Cup warm-up match at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium in Jamaica. Samuels shrugged off recent allegations of passing vital team information to an Indian bookie on his side’s last tour of the subcontinent to hit seven fours and two sixes before he retired on 100, as West Indies set Kenya 269 to win.A handful of the Kenyan batsmen got starts, but no one was able to carry on and the visitors were restricted to 247 for 7. Collins Obuya struck an unbeaten 54 to top score for Kenya, Ravindu Shah supported with 41, the captain Steve Tikolo made 34 and Tanmay Mishra got 22.Kenya suffered a setback in the third over when David Obuya was caught at first slip for 7 off Daren Powell, who also had Maurice Ouma caught in the same position for 9, leaving Kenya at 40 for 2. Corey Collymore then bowled Malhar Patel for 12 in the 15th over before he deceived Shah with a slower ball and had him caught at mid-on. Obuya put on 55 for the seventh wicket with Thomas Odoyo, who collected 24, to beef up the Kenyan total.The Kenyans were unable to control West Indies’ scoring, as Samuels exploded in the latter stages to boost West Indies to 268 for 6. After Shivnarine Chanderpaul was caught at second slip off Thomas Odoyo for zero in the third over, the left-handers Chris Gayle and Devon Smith added 58 to provide some momentum.Gayle reached his half-century before trying to reverse-sweep and was bowled for 75 off 90 balls, which included nine fours and a six. Samuels emerged from an uncertain start and reached his century when he guided Lameck Onyango to third man for a single. He left for the dressing room immediately to give the teenager Kieron Pollard (14) a chance.

As the clock winds down to the ICC’s executive board meeting in Dubai, the selection of the next chief executive is developing into a potentially fractious matter with the Indian board backing the candidature of IS Bindra, its former president, who, the ICC secretariat is keen to point out, is over the specified age. In the event of Bindra failing to get the job, it is likely to go to Imtiaz Patel, a South African, who heads Supersport, the broadcast network.Dave Richardson, the ICC general manager, and Haroon Lorgat, the former chief selector of South Africa, are said to be the other names in the fray to replace Malcolm Speed.Bindra’s candidacy is viewed with some concern given that, once Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, takes over as ICC chairman in 2010 as scheduled, the top two positions in world cricket will soon be held by India.The BCCI has already faced a hurdle which it tried to sidestep. Pawar is learnt to have recently sent a letter to the ICC picking out holes in an “age rule” that could hamper the chances of their candidate. The letter was apparently sent in response to a note from the ICC to all national boards pointing to the age bar prevalent in the UAE, where it is based.Pawar’s letter asks the ICC not to attach much value to the rule, which bars those above 65 from taking up employment in the country, because it refers only to a particular category of employees. “The rule refers only to a specific category of candidates, essentially government employees, and Bindra doesn’t fall in that group,” a top source said. “Bindra is above that age limit but he is a veteran in these matters. He knows enough about the rules and regulations of the ICC and helped Pawar prepare the letter.”The chief executive will be selected by a four- person sub-committee comprising Ray Mali, the ICC chairman, David Morgan, the ECB head and Mali’s chosen successor, Creagh O’Connor, the Cricket Australia chairman and Pawar. Bindra has confirmed to Cricinfo that he was contacted by a head-hunting firm early this year regarding a shortlist.”A recruitment firm called Egon Zehnder International was appointed to source potential candidates and make recommendations to the four-person sub-committee. That process is complete,” an ICC spokesperson told Cricinfo. “The sub-committee will make its recommendations to the ICC board and then it will discuss the matter at the meeting.”However, with Pawar slotted to take over as ICC chairman in 2010, after Morgan’s two years at the helm under a compromise formula reached last year, the other national boards are concerned that an all-India show may lead to a monopoly on world-cricket administration.Already, the WICB, which has supported India over various issues in the past, is learnt to have switched sides, leaving Bindra with the BCCI’s traditional support base of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.But Bindra told Cricinfo that he would take a call on this issue only after he was offered the job. “Even if I am offered the job, I will have to take a call on whether I need to take it up or not. I have certain issues to work out even if the job is offered, about my quitting the Punjab Cricket Association (he heads the association), my daughter’s education and other personal issues,” Bindra said.If the BCCI is not able to get its way on Bindra, then Patel, a former director with the then United Cricket Board of South Africa, is likely to emerge as the candidate who will fit the bill. “The key criteria for selection: Whatever makes them the best person for the job,” the ICC spokesperson said.

Sussex have announced that Gus Mackay, currently operations director at Leicestershire, has been appointed as the club’s new chief executive to succeed Hugh Griffiths in October 2006.David Green, the Sussex Chairman, said: “After an exhaustive process we are delighted to have found Gus who has an excellent blend of business and cricket experience, with a background in finance and as a player for Zimbabwe. In recent times he has been a very effective administrator at Leicestershire and established a positive reputation for himself within county cricket”.Mackay added: “I am delighted with the appointment and look forward to leading the Club to further success both on and off the field. The challenges ahead are very exciting for all involved at the club with a new ground development. It is vital, however, that the club balances the books in the near future and continues to remain competitive in all competitions.”It is essential that we maximise the ECB’s performance related fee payments by developing English qualified players and the club has an excellent youth structure which will enable it to do so. Building on the success of Team England, we need to attract new audiences and increase participation at all levels.”Mackay will take on the role of Chief Executive in October following a three-month hand over period when he will work alongside Griffiths. “I have thoroughly enjoyed every one of the 11 years spent at Sussex in various roles,” said Griffiths, “I am delighted at the prospect of working with Gus in the future and wish him every success in his new role”.

Australia and India could meet in a one-day series in North America this year with New York and Toronto shaping as the likely venues. But player workloads and the suitability of grounds mean the planned venture is no certainty, according to Cricket Australia.Michael Brown, CA’s operations manager, said India had approached Australia with a proposal for the limited-overs series. “You never say never but details at this stage are sketchy,” Brown told .Another possible stumbling block in the negotiations could be wrangling over the percentage of revenues to be shared between the two boards, with Australia reportedly demanding an equal share and the Indians demurring. Australia’s tight schedule features a trip to Zimbabwe in June, between the World Cup in March and April and the Twenty20 world championship in September.”There is also the issue of player leave,” Brown said. “So there are a few things to consider. India wanted to hold a tournament similar to the one we had in Kuala Lumpur.”A bilateral contest between India and the world’s number one team is aimed at capitalising on India’s lucrative pay television market, with each of the planned seven games expected to generate up to $6 million. A triangular contest would mean lesser returns for each participant and the possibility of a relative lack of viewer interest if India fails to reach the finals, as happened in the DLF Cup in Malaysia in October. The BCCI reportedly sold the offshore television rights for each game in the series that featured India for $US5.8m but had to offload the Australia-West Indies matches for only $US1.2m.The reported that India held the upper hand in negotiations as other nations would jump at the opportunity should Australia pass up the chance. But it also suggested the Indian board was desperate to play Australia if they hoped to raise $42 million from the series.It’s believed an indoor NFL stadium in New York would host the games, meaning the matches would be played on a synthetic pitch. But Brown had his own doubts. “I’m not even sure whether they would have a suitable ground in New York,” he said.

In the last 11 years, Bangladesh have won only three out of nine deciding matches in a bilateral ODI series comprising three or more games. The three wins have come against Zimbabwe in 2005 and 2009, and against West Indies in 2012.The third ODI in Chittagong on Wednesday gives them a chance to add another win to that list – this time against South Africa.After losing to South Africa by eight wickets in the first game, Bangladesh bounced back in the second match with a seven-wicket win. With the three-match series tied 1-1, Bangladesh have a chance to claim their third straight home bilateral series win in 2015 and allrounder Shakib Al Hasan has little doubt about the importance of the occasion.”This is big, no doubt,” Shakib said. “We haven’t achieved such things before. Whenever you go to achieve something you haven’t, then it will obviously seem big. We haven’t beaten South Africa in a series before so that is a big deal.”Every match is important for us. Whenever we get on the field, we think the same but all matches don’t go according to plan. Because this is the series decider, however, it is important. We haven’t lost at home in a long time. So this will be another opportunity for us if we can win this match. I won’t tell you how big a match this is, but this is a very big opportunity for us.”Against Zimbabwe in 2005, Bangladesh were trailing 2-0 in the five-match series before they made a comeback and won the decider by eight wickets. In the three-match series against Zimbabwe in January 2009, they lost the first match but bounced back quite comfortably to win the series 2-1. Against West Indies, they took a 2-0 lead in Khulna before losing the third and fourth games, and the fifth ODI was a tight affair which they won by two wickets.Shakib was a part of two of those turnarounds and it was his bowling that brought Bangladesh back into contention in the current series against South Africa. Shakib stated that his returns of 0 for 30 in the ten overs in the second ODI in Mirpur was his best bowling performance in recent times, which should be encouraging for Bangladesh after he had conceded difficulty in bowling before the Tests against Pakistan in late April. He is only two wickets away from becoming the seventh cricketer – after Sanath Jayasuriya, Shahid Afridi, Jacques Kallis, Abdul Razzaq, Chris Harris and Chris Cairns – to take 200 wickets and score 4000 runs in ODIs.”I think after a long time I bowled quite well in the last match,” Shakib said. “I was satisfied personally. After a long time I think I bowled as I wanted to. If you get rewards, then you will feel good but I am not that disappointed regarding those things. I am happy as long as I can contribute.”I don’t think I have changed much in my bowling. But the opponent’s batsmen don’t charge at me as much as before so in one-dayers it is difficult to get wickets, unless you have a pitch of that kind. I think you also need luck to get wickets. I try to do everything that is in my hands.”Shakib said that the team’s confidence has remained even after contrasting results in the series: “Actually I don’t think our confidence will go down the drain when we lose one match or be sky-high if we win one match. No player thinks that way. All our matches are important. It’s not possible [to win] all the time but I am sure that if we can stick to our processes then it’s possible to do well at home.”

Jacob Oram, the New Zealand allrounder, doesn’t want to think about a worst-case scenario as he recovers from his latest back injury. Despite a sequence of bowling-related injuries, Oram maintained that he was far from becoming a specialist batsman as he concentrated on his rehabilitation ahead of the summer season.Oram’s latest injury is another stress reaction identical to the one he suffered 18 months ago. “It’s a good time to get injured right now,” Oram told the . “I’d rather have it now so I can hit the season 100% fit. Bowling doesn’t help; the stresses of bowling a cricket ball makes it worse.”The latest injury is a bruised bone, which can lead to a stress fracture including degenerative joint and disc problems. This time around the injury was less stressful because it was not in the middle of summer, as the heel injury was which put him out of action for two months.”You try and talk yourself out of it but you know deep down you are moving into pain,” Oram said. “I didn’t realise it would be such a major [problem]. But as soon as I went to bowl again, it was very evident. It happened on the last day of the tour [of South Africa] which really did disappoint me because it was my first Test series for a long time and personally I felt very good with bat and ball.”However, Oram felt that his inactivity at home gave his body a chance to recover. With competitive cricket set to begin only in October, he said he had time to mull over his future.”I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it,” he said. “I could give batting a really good shot and maybe there is a future there. Out of the three injuries, this one seems the most positive because I seem to have good direction and know about my rehabilitation.”

ScorecardOman’s Sultan Ahmed won the toss against Hong Kong’s Tanwir Afzal, and his bowlers did the rest•Hong Kong Cricket

Left-arm pacer Bilal Khan, playing his first T20I game, sliced through Hong Kong’s top order, setting up a crushing six-wicket win for Oman in the first T20 international in Abu Dhabi. Mehran Khan then snuffed out any hopes of a recovery, dismissing Mark Chapman and Tanwir Afzal. The collapse seeped into the lower order as well with Hong Kong barely managing to play out 20 overs. Bilal and Mehran claimed combined figures of 8-0-49-5, and debutant left-arm spinner Ajay Lalcheta picked up a wicket with his first delivery as Hong Kong stuttered to 106.Waqas Khan, coming in at No.8, top-scored with 19 off 28 balls with only three other batsmen getting double-digit scores.Oman’s top order suffered a similar slide, as they were quickly reduced to 43 for 4, Tanwir Afzal striking twice. However, Zeeshan Siddiqui and captain Sultan Ahmed steadied the innings and took their side home with an unbroken 64-run partnership in 8.4 overs. Siddiqui and Ahmed stuck four fours each as Oman completed the chase with nine balls to spare.

The English season may still be another six months away but Mahela Jayawardene is already looking forward to making his county debut. Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, signed for Derbyshire yesterday as the county ring the changes with a new-look squad which includes Wavell Hinds.”It’s good,” he told Cricinfo in Adelaide, as he warmed up for Sri Lanka’s tour match here this weekend. “I haven’t played before. It’s a great opportunity.”I don’t think I will be there for long because of my international commitment. But they’re trying to start all over again, Derby, and they’ve got a few good players coming in. It’s going to be good fun and hopefully I can learn something at a different level of cricket.”And he promised to lend new captain Rikki Clarke, who will be joined by former Surrey team-mate Nayan Doshi, the benefit of his experience. “I’ve played against him a few times and I think he’s a very good cricketer.”Give him the responsibility, he’s a young guy and I think he’s looking forward to it. It’s a good challenge for him as well, so if I can help him in any way it would be great and try to start anew at Derby. A good challenge for me, as well.”Jayawardene will arrive towards the end of April and stay until the middle of July after which he can be replaced by another overseas player.

Karnataka captain Vinay Kumar capped his return from injury with a second-innings half-century and five-wicket haul that sent Vidarbha crashing to a 189-run loss inside three days in Vadodara. The win took Karnataka to their third victory in four games, thereby topping Group B at the season’s halfway mark.On a 17-wicket day in 71 overs, Karnataka first crumbled from 108 for 3 to 209 all out. Set 301 for victory, Vidarbha were skittled for 111, with Vinay returning 5 for 28.Left-arm pacer Shrikant Wagh (4 for 59) and Lalit Yadav ripped through Karnataka’s lower middle-order, before Vinay rescued them with 56 from No. 8. He hit eight fours along the way to build the lead.After top-scoring with the bat, Vinay returned to lead the bowling charge, by picking three of the first four wickets; Vidarbha slumped to 12 for 4 at one stage. Jitesh Sharma counter-attacked to make 61, before S Aravind and K Gowtham dismissed the tailenders to finish off the innings inside 37 overs.Saurashtra dismissed Assam for 171 in Kolkata with Jaydev Unadkat taking six wickets, but not before Assam took a first-innings lead of 18.Saurashtra started the day on 121 for 9 with Unadkat and Shaurya Sanandia adding 32 runs in the morning for a cumulative partnership of 46 runs for the final wicket – their highest in the innings. Unadkat’s 46 helped creep their score up to 153 before Sanadia was dismissed by Dhiraj Goswami.In the reply, Assam lost their first wicket in their second over and Unadkat’s double-strike in overs 13 and 15 saw them stranded at 26 for 3. But a 52-run partnership between Arun Karthik and Swarupam Purkayastha for the sixth-wicket took them close to Saurashtra’s score, before the former was dismissed for 57. Purkayastha was out the following over and then Unadkat and Jadeja cleaned up the tail to constrict Assam to a slender lead.Saurashtra lost opener Avi Barot to Arup Das – his eighth scalp of the match – as they ended on 0 for the loss of one wicket at stumps.Opener Ranjit Singh and Subhranshu Senapati helped Odisha to 244 for 2 after following-on against Rajasthan in Patiala. Their unbeaten partnership of 159 runs in 56.3 overs gave Odisha a 93-run lead before final day’s play.Beginning the day on 143 for 8 in their first innings, Odisha fell short of avoiding follow-on by one run as Pankaj Singh picked up the last two wickets to finish with 4 for 61 as they were all out for 172, chasing 343.Odisha batted better in their second innings; opener Sandeep Pattnaik scored a 32-ball 40 before his partner Singh and Senapati – both of whom remained not out on 89 and 90 – steered Odisha to a significant lead while playing out the seven Rajasthan bowlers used in the innings.Unmukt Chand reached his century and followed that up with another half-century as Delhi reached 165 for 1 in their second-innings at stumps against Jharkhand in Thumba after being asked to follow on.Starting the day on 225 for 3, Chand and overnight centurion Rishabh Pant added 36 runs more before the latter was removed by Ashish Kumar. Chand fell one run later, but not before he had completed his eighth first-class ton earlier in the day. The last five Delhi wickets could add only 72 more runs as they were dismissed for 334, trailing by 159. Kumar and offbreak bowler Sunny Gupta returned with three wickets each.In their second innings, Chand put on 109-runs with fellow-opener Dhruv Shorey before Gupta dismissed him for 63. Shorey continued, to post his third first-class fifty, and ended not out on 67 with Nitish Rana, at stumps with Delhi on 165 for 1, leading by six runs. * The report erroneously mentioned Karnataka had beaten Baroda. This has been corrected.

Mickey Arthur, South Africa’s coach, has admitted that he is surprised by the amount of flack aimed in his direction following South Africa’s World Cup campaign.Arthur, who has been lambasted in some quarters of the media, told Beeld newspaper: “This has been the best year South African cricket has had. We achieved a 75% success ratio and had only one poor World Cup match.”South Africa played below par in the semi-final against Australia, losing by a seven-wicket margin, after scoring a paltry 149 batting first. But South Africa suffered a shock ,67-run loss to Bangladesh and a five-wicket loss to New Zealand in the Super Eights stage. South Africa lost 4 out of the 10 matches at the World Cup.”When I took over we were the fifth best one-day team in the world. We rose to number one this year,” he said. South Africa ended the ICC year, which ran from April 2006 to March 2007, as the leading one-day country in world cricket, edging Australia into second place by a narrow margin.”How we can see the World Cup performance as a failure, I cannot understand,” Arthur said, adding that South Africa had never gone further than the semi-final and that it was the best they had done”Winning the ODI series at home against Australia and the way we came back after the shattering defeat in the first Test against India were the highlights for me. It’s no easy task to coach the national team. I never realised to what extent one becomes the property of the people,” he added.””It caught me off guard. I was also surprised by the way one finds oneself in the media spotlight and how they analyse everything you do,” he added.Despite the anti-climatic semi-final against Australia, Arthur said, “Yet I believe we have reason to claim that we are, along with the Aussies, the best one-day team in the world”.”How we can see the World Cup performance as a failure, I cannot understand,” Arthur said, adding that South Africa had never gone further than the semi-final and that it was the best they had doneArthur is hoping for another stint as coach, despite calls for his removal. He said that he has started planning for the next season. He hoped for a quick recovery from captain Graeme Smith, who is due to undergo a knee operation on Thursday. South Africa resume their cricket when they travel to Ireland to take on the home team and India.”Some players listen with one ear only”, he said in response to criticism from Roger Telemachus that he was not honest with him at the World Cup. “He (Telemachus) heard only what he wanted to hear. Even before we left South Africa I made it clear to him that he was a substitute bowler. I never promised that he would play,” he added.Telemachus had spoken out after the World Cup, and is quoted as saying, “I’m not afraid to say that I am spitting mad. And I’m not the only one who feels this way. To this day I do not know why I did not get an opportunity to play.” Telemachus was the only member of the 15-man South Africa squad who did not get a game at the World Cup.