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John Stephenson, the former Essex and Hampshire allrounder who played one Test for England in 1989, has joined MCC as their new Head of Cricket. Stephenson, 39, replaces Tony Dodemaide, who has returned home to take charge of the Western Australia Cricket Association in Perth.Stephenson, 39, starts work at Lord’s next Monday (June 7). His main areas of responsibility include MCC’s playing and touring programmes – which involve around 450 matches, in Britain and overseas, per year – as well as the strategic management of the playing and practice areas at Lord’s, and supervision of the MCC Young Cricketers programme. According to The Times Stephenson was chosen from a short list that also included his former Essex team-mate Peter Such, the former England offspinner, and Tony Murphy, a former Surrey and Lancashire fast bowler.Stephenson started his career with Essex, spending some time Gooch’s opening partner – and he opened the innings for England with Gooch against Australia at The Oval in 1989, scoring 25 and 11. He moved to Southampton in 1995, and captained Hampshire in 1996 and 1997. But after a run of poor form he returned to Chelmsford in 2002, supposedly as 2nd XI captain – but ended up playing 13 of their 16 Championship matches, finishing as their leading wicket-takler with 48 and also scoring 562 runs. But he was restricted by an ankle injury last season, and has now decided to retire from county cricket. In all, he scored nearly 15,000 runs and took nearly 400 wickets in first-class cricket.He said today: “It’s a great honour and pleasure to be joining MCC at such an active and innovative time in the club’s history. I am also fortunate to be joining such a strong team – including people of the calibre of Clive Radley [MCC’s Head Coach] and Mick Hunt [the PCA Groundsman of the Year]. I am looking forward to working closely with them, and all my new colleagues, to continue improving Lord’s and further enhance MCC’s reputation as the most active cricket-playing and cricket-promoting club in the world. It will be a wrench to leave Essex, where I have enjoyed many very happy years, but I’ve always loved playing at Lord’s – and I can’t wait to start work there next week.”David East, Essex’s chief executive, paid tribute: “John has given great service to Essex, in several different roles, over many seasons. On behalf of all our supporters, I would like to thank him for his many contributions to the Club – on and off the pitch. We will be sorry to see him leave us, but wish him every success in his exciting new role at Lord’s.”

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Federal Areas began the second day on 79 for 3 in Karachi and were in a position where they could have frittered away the advantage of having restricted Baluchistan to 253. However, their batsmen produced a solid performance and they finished the day with a lead of 188.Raheel Majeed and Usman Saeed, who produced impressive performances in against Punjab, set the day’s tone for run-scoring, adding 94 before their 121-run fourth-wicket stand came to an end.Majeed fell for 98 to Bilal Khilji, while Usman Saeed was trapped leg-before by Kamran Hussain for 109, which included 16 boundaries. Naved Ashraf, the Federal Areas captain, ensured more misery for the Baluchistan bowlers, as he scored a brisk 141 off 200 balls, studded with 24 fours and two sixes.Left-arm spinner Saeed Anwar ended Ashraf’s innings, and Hussain removed allrounder Yasir Arafat for a duck, but Sohail Tanvir was unbeaten on 38 as his team reached 441 for 7 at stumps and were very much in control of the game.
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After bowling out Punjab for 354, North West Frontier Province made good progress in reply, and were at 181 for 3 by the close.Punjab, who began the day on 295 for 7, managed to reach 354 thanks to 44 from No. 10 Wahab Riaz. Fazl-e-Akbar removed the overnight batsmen – Waqas Ahmed and Junaid Zia – but Riaz hung around for 72 balls and added 39 with last man Aizaz Cheema, who scored an unbeaten 10. Fazl-e-Akbar finished with 4 for 74, while Samiullah Khan and Shakeel-ur-Rehman bagged a couple apiece.NWFP were given a good start by Rafatullah Mohmand and Yasir Hameed. The pair added 82 before Hameed fell for 37 while Mohmand went on to make 54. Wajahatullah Wasti, the former Pakistan batsman, scored 39 off 101 balls and Younis Khan added 36 off 51 balls. Younis was undefeated at stumps, with NWFP needing 174 more to take a first-innings lead. For Punjab, Waqas Ahmed, Junaid Zia and Abdur Rehman chipped in with a wicket apiece.

Auckland kept alive their hopes of defending the State Twenty20 title with a six-wicket win over Wellington at Eden Park., but they left it late, squeezing home with only two balls to spare when Gareth Hopkins slashed a six over extra cover.Auckland’s experienced attack was unable to peg back Wellington who reached 182 for 7, an innings built on Jesse Ryder’s 27-ball 66 and then given a late boost by Graham Napier’s 48 from 19 balls.Wellington had to restrict Auckland to under 105 to have any chance of reaching the final themselves, but on a batsman-friendly pitch that was never likely. Scott Styris and Lou Vincent added 96 for the third wicket off 9.2 overs, but Styris’ dismissal checked what was until then a routine chase. Auckland needed 20 from two overs and 11 off the last, bowled by Napier, but Hopkins clobbered a four and then the match-winning six.At the weekend, Northern Districts slipped to second place after losing by 19 runs to Canterbury in Christchurch, Johann Myburgh’s 68 – the only fifty of the match – the difference between the sides in a low-scoring contest.Central Districts took over at the top of the table with an easy six-wicket defeat of bottom side Otago in New Plymouth, coasting to the target of 173 with four overs in hand.

Auckland now need to beat Central Districts in the last match on Wednesday, and do so convincingly enough to lift their net run-rate above that of Northern Districts. If they manage that then they will again meet Central Districts in the final next Sunday.

Hashim Amla has resigned as South Africa captain following the second Test against England at Newlands. AB de Villiers will take over for the final two Tests of the series in Johannesburg and Centurion.Amla has come in for criticism of his leadership since the start of the series but had returned to form with the bat in Cape Town with 201 in South Africa’s only innings. Amla was named as Graeme Smith’s replacement as captain in mid-2014 and this was his sixth series in charge. After winning his first three against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and West Indies, he oversaw a rain-affected drawn series against Bangladesh and the 3-0 defeat in India.In a statement, Amla said: “This decision has not an easy one to make I felt I had to be true to myself. I am comfortable with my decision and I feel I need to work on my own game.”I was deeply honoured when the position was given to me. Throughout my time as captain, I have always had the support of my team-mates and coaching staff . I remain committed to the Proteas across all formats and I will fully support whoever is shown as my successor.”Amla said that he had begun to think about stepping down two weeks ago, before the start of the series against England. South Africa are currently 1-0 down, after defeat in Durban, but emerged with credit after a hard-fought draw in Cape Town.”Captaining your country is probably the pinnacle,” he said. “Why I did it now, it just so happened I got 200 and it fitted nicely that the South African team did exceptionally well on the last day. It was coming for the last two weeks.”I had chatted to a few of the guys in the team before this, so I don’t think it had come as a massive shock,” he added. “We have a very tight leadership team: myself, AB, Faf [du Plessis]. AB is very able and a brilliant leader and we will all follow similar goals. Whether I’m pulling the rope, or AB is pulling the rope or Dale [Steyn] is pulling the rope, as long as someone is going in the right direction, we all will go with him.”Despite reports that Amla had, at times, been a reluctant captain during his two-year tenure, he insisted he had not had to be coerced into the role in the first place, and that his decision to stand down was also entirely his own.”It was always my decision,” he said. “In life I have learned that if you are going to do something, you’ve got to do something you enjoy. I’ve always enjoyed captaincy.”When Graeme stepped down, it gave an opportunity for me to explore my captaincy. I thought at the time I could add value and I’d like to believe that I have added value. I am really surprised some people have suggested it was not my choice. You don’t look like me in this world without being firm on what you want to do.”Amla found his form with 201 in the Newlands Test•Getty Images

“The decision has been purely based on that I think somebody else can do a better job. It was just something that crossed my mind and was working on my mind. My leadership style, and we have a very young team, maybe somebody else would have done a better job.”Haroon Lorgat, the CSA chief executive, said: “We respect Hashim’s decision and the manner in which he thought about it and then communicated with me. It was consistent with his well respected personality”He still has a huge role to play in shaping the success of our team without the need for a leadership title. He is just that type of a person and we are very fortunate to have him in our stable.”I want to thank AB for readily accepting the challenge of rebuilding our Test team as we seek to remain the best team in the world.”De Villiers said that while being handed the job in such circumstances was not ideal, it would allow him to fulfil a dream of captaining his country in Test cricket.”I’ve said this before that it is an incredible honour to captain South Africa in any format. The captaincy has obviously come at short notice and is the realisation of a lifelong dream,” de Villiers said.”At the moment my priority and focus is placed on leading this team to what can be a memorable series win against England. This Test squad is motivated and determined to turn our performances around and I’m looking forward to taking up that challenge as captain. Hashim is a good friend and close colleague and I am grateful for his support.”Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach, added that de Villiers was the frontrunner for the role full-time, but said that the selectors would make a long-term decision at the end of the England series. He added that Amla’s achievements as South Africa’s captain stood up to scrutiny in spite of the criticism he received during his time in charge.”I feel that there hasn’t been enough respect shown for what he has achieved as a player,” he said. “People can say what they want to, [but] he is still averaging 45 as captain. He has gone to Zimbabwe, won a series there, gone to Sri Lanka and won a series there which no other captain has done. He won a series against West Indies. He has gone to India where a lot of captains have lost under tough conditions, and we’ve come here with six new players who have all played under 10 Test matches.”He has sacrificed himself for the rest of the team which speak volumes for him, and people need to appreciate that type of character and it seems we sometimes undervalue that on the field. He has got a lot of experience, and expertise and advice that he can give, particularly the younger players in the side.”

Ray Jennings, the South African coach, has warned his team not to take West Indies lightly despite holding a good record against them. The South African team left yesterday on an eight-week tour of the Caribbean that includes four Tests and five one-day internationals.”The past is history,” Jennings told South African Press Agency. “There’s no point sitting back and saying ‘South Africa have a good record at The Wanderers’, and then we lose a Test there. It’s the same with the West Indies. We have to approach each Test without thinking about what happened in the past. Conditions change, players change, and records mean nothing.”South Africa have won 10 out of 15 Tests against West Indies and have lost just two. They also dominated the last home series between the two sides, winning the Tests 3-0 the one-dayers 3-1.”We will approach each match as a new challenge, and focus on what we have to do,” Jennings said, emphasising that the amount of travelling involved on a tour to the West Indies was also a factor. “Touring is always tough, with all the travelling we have to do – and that travelling includes getting to airports, sitting around waiting for flights, travelling to the hotels. And when you tour the West Indies, there is the additional problem of passport control and customs at each new island. Touring the West Indies is like touring five or six countries on one tour”Jennings also mentioned that South Africa would be on the lookout to improve their overseas record – they lost to Sri Lanka and India by identical 1-0 margins last year. “South Africa haven’t played well away from home recently, and we are determined to turn that around.”South Africa have suffered an early blow to their Caribbean campaign with Shaun Pollock being ruled out of the first Test due to an ankle injury. The team commence their tour with a three-day camp in Antigua. “We don’t want any one player to dominate everything,” he said. “Hopefully, everyone will play their part in the success of the team. I expect the senior players like Makhaya Ntini, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Herschelle Gibbs who have been there before to lead the way and help the other players get used to the conditions.”Speaking about the sponsorship row which has hampered West Indies cricket recently, Jennings said he was hopeful that the dispute would be resolved. “But whether it is or not will not affect how we approach the series,” he continued. “Obviously, we would like to play the strongest opposition, but we have to focus on our own performance and not allow the problems in the opposition camp to distract us.”

The placid contours that had marked the first two World Cupcompetitions were disturbed quite markedly in the third editionin 1983. The competition, held in England for the thirdsuccessive time, started with a couple of upset results and endedin the biggest shock of all. At the end of it, West Indies hadbeen dethroned from their pedestal and surprisingly, the newchampions were not Australia or England but India who had beenranked 66 to one outsiders on the eve of the tournament.The format was once again the same as the eight teams were placedin two groups. While group A comprised England, Pakistan, NewZealand and Sri Lanka, group B comprised West Indies, Australia,India and Zimbabwe. By now Sri Lanka had joined the ranks of Testnations and Zimbabwe were the only associate member to make thegrade. But one important change in the format was that each teamwould be playing each other at the preliminary stage twice. Thismade each group quite competitive and had an impact on thesurprising results.The opening round itself was marked by two surprising resultswith Zimbabwe defeating Australia and India upsetting the WestIndies.Zimbabwe’s defeat of Australia was easily the biggest upsetresult in the history of the World Cup. The African nation hadbeen listed as 1000 to one outsiders to win the competition butwith a highly professional performance they won by 13 runs. Thebatsmen played Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Rodney Hogg and GeoffLawson with more than a degree of confidence while the bowlerswere able to restrict Kepler Wessels, Graeme Wood, Kim Hughes,Allan Border, Graham Yallop, David Hookes and Rodney Marsh.India’s victory over the West Indies was almost as big a shock.For starters, India had won just one of six matches in the twoprevious competitions. Secondly, West Indies had never previouslybeen defeated in 1975 and 1979.India had served notice that they might be coming to termsfinally with the intricacies of the limited overs game bydefeating West Indies at Berbice dur ing their tour to theCaribbean a few months earlier. But few expected a similar resultin the World Cup where West Indies had reigned as undisputedchampions.The two matches set the tone for some more surprising results tofollow and a few days later, Sri Lanka surprised hotly fanciedNew Zealand in a group match. But the tournament was not allabout surprise results.West Indies won their next five matches totop the group. England likewise won five and lost only one intopping their pool comfortably. But there was a keen tussle forthe second semifinalist spot from each group. Finally, India gotthe better of Australia in group A while New Zealand, underpressure because of their upset loss to Sri Lanka, were edged outby Pakistan in group B.The semifinals pitted India against England and West Indiesagainst Pakistan. Not unexpectedly, a second successive finalbetween England and West Indies was freely predicted. But Indiaupset the calculations even if Pakistan could not. It was anunexpected bonus for the sub-continent to produce two of thesemifinalists and Kapil’s Devils as they were now christenedproceeded to make the pundits scratch their heads in disbelief.The captain himself had played one of the great one-day knocks inthe return game against Zimbabwe. Entering when the scoreboardread nine runs for the four wickets, Kapil first extricated histeam from the dicey situation and then went on to launch into afurious counter attack that ultimately saw him get an unbeaten175, the highest score in a one-day international with the helpof 16 fours and six sixes. Inspired by their captain, the teammembers put up a splendid show.India’s advantage was that they had a number of utility players,so very essential in the limited overs game. Still it waspredicted that a confident England side playing at home would getthe better of India. England did start well with the 100 comingup for the loss of only two wickets but they then flounderedagainst Mohinder Amarnath and Kirti Azad who bowled 24 oversbetween them for just 55 runs and three wickets. India neversurrendered the initiative that they obtained with England beingbowled out for 213. Sensible batting by every one of their mainbatsmen Sunil Gavaskar, K Srikkanth, Amarnath, Yashpal Sharma andSandip Patil saw India home with six wickets and 5.2 overs tospare.

India were now one steep step away from the summit. But theystill had to get the better of the West Indies who in the othersemifinal coasted to an eight-wicket victory over Pakistan.Despite the impressive showing by the Indians, the West Indiesremained firm favourites on the eve of the title clash at Lord’son June 25. And a hat-trick of title triumphs was taken forgranted when India were all out for 183. The feeling gainedmomentum when West Indies were 50 for one with the incomparableVivian Richards in commanding form.Then followed an amazing turn about. Within a few overs, WestIndies had slumped to 76 for six and suddenly India were headingfor an astonishing title triumph. Kapil took a fine catch todismiss Richards, Madan Lal took three quick wickets and it wasleft to Jeff Dujon and the long tail to try and retrieve thesituation. The wicket-keeper and Malcolm Marshall did give therampaging Indians some anxious moments in putting together a 43-run seventh wicket partnership. But now Amarnath did the starturn. He broke the partnership by getting rid of Marshall andthen took the last wicket to herald Indian cricket’s greatestmoment. West Indies were all out for 140 and the whole of Indiaerupted in a riotous celebration. It was a well-deserved triumph,for after all India had beaten the West Indies not just once buttwice and had also added England’s scalp for good measure.The Indians got six man of the match awards and these includedtwo for Mohinder Amarnath for his all-round display in thesemifinal and final, while Roger Binny, with 18 victims, emergedas the leading wicket-taker.

Some interesting calculations await the members of the New Zealand cricket team as next season’s contracts are discussed by the national selectors.With a team also to be selected to tour Sri Lanka next month, there could be some nervous players after the disappointment that was the World Cup campaign.As they review their thoughts on what went wrong and why, the selectors will know specifically which players did what was asked of them and those who didn’t.But given the way things turned to custard in South Africa it is reasonable to assume that several players were guilty of not fulfilling their roles.That should impact on the selection for Sri Lanka, both in one-day play and in Test cricket.It would also be safe to assume that there will be some large swings in placement for those players among the list of preferred 20 players to be given contracts by New Zealand Cricket.The list of players is not made public by agreement between both parties.But from a season review standard the Wisden CricInfo New Zealand list might look something like this:Category A: Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Stephen Fleming;Category B: Chris Cairns, Jacob Oram, Scott Styris;Category C: Brendon McCullum, Mark Richardson, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori;Category D: Andre Adams, Chris Harris, Matt Horne, Craig McMillan, Lou Vincent;Category E: Ian Butler, Robbie Hart, Michael Mason, Shayne O’Connor, Mathew Sinclair.Category A players earn an annual retainer of $120,000, with each subsequent category earning $20,000 less than the one above, with Category E players earning $40,000 per annum.That leaves as victims from the first contracted list players like: Chris Martin, Chris Nevin, Kyle Mills and Paul Hitchcock.Given that the positions are decided upon results achieved in Test and One-Day International play and then the points from each section are added to get an overall figure, with some latitude taken for potential and performance, some players may be regarded as lucky to have their spots while others could feel frustrated with their placement.Shane Bond and Stephen Fleming are entirely deserving of their places in the top bracket given their performances this year. Nathan Astle is probably hanging on by virtue of reputation and improved form overall in his World Cup efforts.Chris Cairns can hardly expect to gain a top-tier ranking having only played in the World Cup and then as only a batting option. On performance alone, it was hardly his most successful summer.With his form in the West Indies, and his form in the Test series against India and the performance in finishing the second best batsman at the World Cup, Scott Styris is deserving of second-tier ranking and is not too far from the top.Jacob Oram, based on his performances against India, his 14 wickets in the World Cup which was second only to Bond, and taken at a reasonable economy rate of 4.21, has to be given a high rating.It continues to be a concern that the country’s best spin bowler has been so inactive in Test cricket for two summers now. Daniel Vettori can expect plenty of bowling in the Sri Lankan and Indian tours but his has been a difficult time and while not incisive at the World Cup, he did have a bowling economy rate of 3.98.Daryl Tuffey had such an outstanding home season that he too, is entitled to a mid-tier ranking and the hope has to be that the development continues in his game at home and a way.Wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum should gain a mid-tier place as the result of tidy ‘keeping, apart from ‘that’ catch and it can only be a matter of time before he also adds the Test duties to his resume. But Robbie Hart made the most of his chance last year and his performances in the West Indies, and against India in the Tests were sufficient for him to probably retain the role for the Sri Lankan tour at least.Mark Richardson must have had a frustrating summer, not only because he has found runs so hard to come by in the State Championship, but because he has had so little international play.Given his hunger in the past, it can be assumed that he is looking at the calendar with a lot more relish over the next 12 months. Certainly, he is a key part of the side for that period.His likely opening partner will be Matt Horne. Not required for international duty this year, but a contracted player nonetheless, Horne still has much to offer New Zealand while future opening options are developed.He probably deserves a slot among the fourth level while Andre Adams, Lou Vincent and Craig McMillan really have it in their own hands to lift their rankings for the future. Each has wonderful assets that have been seen to effect in the past, but regaining those glories is probably going to take some hard work from them.The contract system is supposed to be a method for allowing this and these players are the first probable test cases for the benefits to be had from the system.And you have to admire the tenacious Chris Harris. Just when it seemed he might be a passenger at the World Cup, he becomes a key player, albeit on pitches that might have been transported from New Zealand in the mid-1990s. There’s life in the old dog yet.The bottom level is probably where Test specialist Hart comes in while Mathew Sinclair deserves the chance to up his ranking purely by getting some match play. Michael Mason was only a hamstring tweak away from making his Test debut during the Indian series and appears likely to get his chance in Sri Lanka, a tour which should also see the recovery of Ian Butler and Shayne O’Connor to international status.Butler appeals as the obvious foil to Bond in one-day play, and Test matches for that matter while O’Connor as the country’s foremost left-arm fast-medium bowler has pushed hard through the domestic competition for recall.

Cricket Australia Code of Behaviour Commissioner Mr Alan Sullivan QC today reprimanded West Australian batsman Murray Goodwin for breaching Cricket Australia’s Code of Behaviour.Goodwin was charged by the Western Australian Cricket Association under Rule 9 of Section 1 of the Code for making detrimental public comment regarding the selection of the Zimbabwe Test team.The case against Goodwin, due to be held before a full hearing in Sydney tomorrow (Saturday 1 November) was brought forward after Goodwin advised of his intention to plead guilty.Mr Sullivan was asked to determine the question of penalty, if regarded as appropriate.Mr Sullivan found Goodwin’s comments were inappropriately timed and were potentially harmful to the interests of cricket.In handing down the verdict Mr Sullivan took into account Goodwin’s prior record and his genuine regret in making the comments.He considered that Goodwin intended no malice in the comments he made.WACA CEO Mrs Kath White, who brought the charge against Goodwin, said it was now time to move forward."It is regretful that this had to happen," Mrs White said."In my view Murray’s comments, inadvertent though they may have been, called other players’ abilities into question."We look forward to moving on and putting this matter behind us. I hope Murray can have a successful season for the Retravision Warriors."The reprimand means Goodwin is available to represent the Warriors in Sunday’s ING Cup clash against New South Wales at North Sydney Oval and the corresponding Pura Cup fixture beginning at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday 4 November.

The Indian government, severely criticised by the opposition for supposedly linking the cricket tour of Pakistan to the forthcoming elections, has given a tentative go-ahead for the series. The initiative was taken by Atal Behari Vajpayee, India’s Prime Minister, and Yashwant Sinha, the External Affairs minister, said as much in New Delhi this morning, leaving the BCCI with the onerous task of convincing several reluctant players to tour.Sinha announced that the tour would proceed as scheduled after a meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence. According to news reports, Vajpayee was especially keen that uncertainty over the tour shouldn’t derail the peace process. The foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan are meeting on Monday, and cricket will certainly figure prominently on the agenda.A three-man BCCI delegation, which returns from Pakistan on Monday, will brief both the board and the government about the security issues, and it will then be left to the BCCI to work out the modalities of the tour.Sami-ul-Hasan, the PCB media manager, said the board viewed it as a step forward, and that the controversy was needless.”We can look forward to a thrilling series and view the Indian initiative as a very positive step,” Hasan said. “There is generally relief, more so because the whole controversy was quite unnecessary to begin with. We can now concentrate on proceeding with the organizational aspects of the tour.”Earlier, it had been rumoured that the series would be postponed until after the general elections in April-May. With that in mind, reports had suggested that the Board of Control for Cricket in India has asked the government to arrange a bail-out clause which would help them to escape sanctions from the International Cricket Council.According to a report in the , Jagmohan Dalmiya had informed the government of the board’s willingness to put the tour off to a later date. This information was reportedly conveyed through Pramod Mahajan, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, who in turn has asked the External Affairs ministry to contact their Pakistani counterparts with a view to asking the Pakistan Cricket Board to acquiesce to India’s request for a postponement.Dalmiya’s earlier suggestion that the Test matches be played, and that only the one-day internationals be postponed to a later date, didn’t find favour with the government. Under ICC rules, the BCCI could be fined up to $2 m for failing to honour their commitments. The PCB has already ruled out any chance of the matches taking place at a neutral venue.No reasons have yet been given for the sudden volte face, which will be greeted with delight by many fans on both sides of the border. The chairman of the PCB, for one, was pleased.”It is a positive announcement,” Shaharyar Khan said. “We were never in doubt about India’s tour.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board has clarified that it will not initiate any investigation into the rape allegation against one of its players, which came to light yesterday. In a press release, the board said that a preliminary inquiry had been conducted by the team management, and stated that since no formal complaint had been made about the incident, the board wouldn’t press charges. It also warned that legal action would be taken against any report which made “defamatory references” against a player.”Despite the passage of a month, no formal complaint has been lodged either with the police or with the female harassment centre against any member of the team,” the press release stated. “In the absence of a formal plaint there is no legal basis to press further charges.”Legal opinion has been obtained through the Pakistan High Commission in Canberra and the team management on the uncorroborated and sensationalist reports by a small section of the Australian press and it is confirmed that legal notice will be served for any defamatory reference to the team or to individual players regarding an incident that has no basis in law. Cricket Australia have also been informed of the developments.”The press release went on to dismiss the allegation by stating that it could be a plot to demoralise the Pakistan team. “It is generally known that the tabloid press across the world has sometimes reported sensationalist items about visiting sports stars to undermine their morale. On other occasions the complainants seek personal publicity and notoriety by reporting such events to the press.”In a separate release, the board also clarified that Shoaib Akhtar’s return to Pakistan had nothing to do with this incident. Certain sections of the media had linked the two, but the PCB emphatically denied it: “The PCB wishes to clarify that the decision to recall him was taken in order for him to achieve full fitness in readiness for the India tour. His recall has no connection whatsoever with the uncorroborated and sensationalist reports relating to an incident in Melbourne.”The allegation first came to light on January 21, when it was revealed that the woman involved had reported the incident to a suburban Centre Against Sexual Assault, but had not made a formal police complaint. The incident was alleged to have happened during the team’s stay in Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test.