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.

When the organisers of World Series Cricket decided to play cricket under lights, they could not have believed just how much their revolutionary idea would catch on. It had been done earlier but by gaining a foothold in Sydney it won a respectable face among cricket’s traditionalists. In the 25 years since that first match in Sydney, on November 28, 1978, the cricket world has been treated to a remarkable infusion of innovation that has breathed new life into the old game.A match between Australia and the West Indies was played on that date to test lights, and cricket never looked back. More than 50,000 were similarly curious and they were hooked. Of all the venues in the world for day-night cricket it is hard to go past the SCG – not only because of the climate which makes it ideal for the day-night game, but because of the way the lights highlight the traditional elements of the ground to lend it more character.The day-night phenomenon was crucial to attracting the paying customer support that was necessary to fund the increased pay packets the players picked up. So successful has it been that rather than being the extraordinary, lights at grounds are the norm.A total of 115 ODI day-night matches have been played at the ground. Australia has won 65 of its matches and opposing countries 47.Most runs scored by an individual batsman in day-night matches is held by Allan Border, who hit 570 runs in 25 matches. Adam Gilchrist has the highest score, 131 against Sri Lanka in 1999 while Craig McDermott has taken most wickets, 28 in 20 games.

The board of directors of the new Northern Gauteng franchise held their inaugural meeting at SuperSport Park earlier this week to discuss some important matters concerning the new set-up.The board expressed its delight that the Titans’ and Easterns’ joint application for a franchise, to be based at SuperSport Park, had been successful, and they thanked the national board for the vote of confidence.The Northern Gauteng board consists of representatives of the Northerns Cricket Union, the Eastern Cricket Union and SuperSport. It comprises of Brandon Foot, the chairman, Andy O Connor, vice-chairman, Imtiaz Patel, Jesse Chellan, Andre De Villiers, Ashraf Seedat, Amarlal Soma, Prince Thethe and Imraan Soomra.The directors passed several regulations regarding both policy and operational matters. Firstly, it announced that the name of the team would be the Nashua Titans. Foot explained that Nashua had agreed to renew its sponsorship of the Titans for a furher three years. “The Titans brand is the oldest of all such commercial cricketing brands in South African cricket, and has proved to be eminently successful," Foot said. "It makes business sense to retain such a successful brand.”Another matter on the agenda was the the official team colours. The final decision was sky and navy blue, incorporating the colours of both the Northerns and Easterns. Furthermore, the name of the company to be formed by the franchise will include both Easterns and Titans in its title. The board will announce the coaching staff soon.

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.”

Michael Papps’s consistent performance in the one-day internationals against South Africa has earned him a berth in New Zealand’s squad for the first Test, which starts at Hamilton on March 10. Papps, who made an unbeaten 92 in the last ODI at Napier, has been slotted to open the batting with Mark Richardson.Also included in the 13-man line-up were Chris Martin and Michael Mason. Martin has had a good run in the domestic matches, while Mason impressed in the two one-dayers he played against South Africa.Commenting on the squad, John Bracewell, coach and chairman of selectors, said that the competition for places had been strong. “A number of players have put their hands up for selection during the South African one-day series by showing they have both the skill and aptitude to succeed at international level.”Michael Papps has carried on his strong domestic form and while he is still adjusting to the international arena, has shown the mental toughness needed of from an opening batsman. With Nathan Astle still working his way back to full fitness, from a coaching perspective it’s been reassuring to watch Michael developing positively in a position where we have recently struggled.”Bracewell also had a special word of praise for Mason. “In terms of his work ethic and commitment to the team Michael has impressed me. In addition to that he has taken every chance that’s come his way and has more than earned his place in the squad.”Commenting on the inclusion of Martin, Bracewell said that the ability to bowl well to left-handers had worked in his favour. “Chris bowls extremely well to left-handed batsmen. This ability brings him right in to the frame against the South Africans who have a number of good left handed batsman in their Test line up.”Squad
Stephen Fleming (capt), Mark Richardson, Michael Papps, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Chris Cairns, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum (wk), Daniel Vettori, Michael Mason, Chris Martin, Daryl Tuffey, Paul Wiseman.

Mumbai 613 drew with Tamil Nadu 294 and 353 for 4 (Badrinath 110*, Badani 77*) and won the Ranji Trophy by virtue of a first-innings lead
Scorecard
Mumbai won the Ranji Trophy – a staggering 36th triumph – by virtue of their first-innings lead, as their final against Tamil Nadu petered out to a tortuous draw. Any hopes of a competitive match had ended on the third day, so by the close of the fifth, Tamil Nadu’s batsmen were consoling themselves with personal milestones.Subramanium Badrinath crawled to his fourth century of the season – without doubt the least meaningful of the lot – and Hemang Badani was equally painstaking in compiling an unbeaten 77, as Mumbai’s part-time bowlers sent down 49 overs between them. Their season had long resembled a walk in the park, but in the final session of the day, they took it literally. At least Vinayak Samanth, the wicketkeeper, ensured that nobody dozed off completely with his bursts of raucous appealing, although on most occasions, the bat was nowhere close to the ball.Badrinath took 37 balls to move from 98 to his hundred, and a soporofic air enveloped the empty stadium. Barring a flurry of boundaries after lunch, the scoring rate was largely stagnant. Badani’s innings was the antithesis of his century in the previous year’s final, which had given his team a faint chance of victory. This time the match was already long gone.Badrinath and Badani’s partnership lasted for 349 pride-salvaging minutes, and came after Sadagoppan Ramesh had fallen plumb lbw in the fifth over of the morning (180 for 4). But at least Tamil Nadu redeemed themselves after their shoddy showing in the first innings. “We had a great chance to put up a big score after winning the toss,” admitted their dejected captain, Somasetty Suresh. “We also had the home conditions favouring us. It was a really disappointing show on the first day. We learnt a lot when Mumbai batted and showed so much application. We tried to bat like that in our second innings and we did that pretty well. But it was all too late.”Having backed their batting strength and prepared a shirt-front of a pitch, Tamil Nadu lost the game on the very first day. From a spectator’s point of view, the match finished on the third, after Mumbai ground Tamil Nadu out of the contest. After witnessing this drab encounter, the need for sporting pitches could hardly be more pressing, but with the notable exception of Dinesh Karthik, Tamil Nadu’s batsmen simply gave the final away.For Mumbai, though, it was a culmination of a great couple of years. As soon as play was called off, there were shouts and huddles all around. Like a philatelist adding one more to his collection, they neatly pouched their 36th stamp – a full 30 more than their nearest rivals, Delhi and Karnataka.

One of the players in dispute with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union has claimed that a leading official threatened to dig up the pitch for a recent international match if more black players were not selected for the series against Sri Lanka. Another local player told Wisden Cricinfo that the official had also said that he would orchestrate a pitch invasion if his demands were not met.Australia’s newspaper reported that the player, who chose to remain anonymous, explained to Ross Barrat – the chief executive of Albion, who make helmets and other cricket clothing – that the rebels had made it a legal matter. He claimed that the official has a track record of erratic behaviour, and last season allegedly assaulted an opposing player during a match.”Things have gone mad here,” wrote the player. “We’ve had non-stop meetings … for the last three weeks. We’re forcing them into arbitration, which they don’t like because they’re so guilty. It’s a dangerous move, but we’re doing it to try to save Zimbabwe cricket.”The report added that the letter (written before the latest round of negotiations) claimed that a number of individuals were considering joining the player exodus, with Australia the favourite destination.The signs that a settlement might be on the way, which came when four rebels were picked for the A-team match against the Sri Lankans, soon disappeared when it emerged that the other 11 rebel players were not being considered for selection in the squad for this week’s first Test. The Zimbabwean board – via the government-controlled Herald newspaper – said that the 11 were all “unfit”.This claim was met with a shrug of the shoulders by one senior player: “We all passed our fitness tests,” he said. He added that the ZCU again appeared to be trying to find a way out of the mess with a combination of half-truths and slyness. Whether this will work depends on the attitude of the four – Streak, Trevor Gripper, Sean Ervine and Ray Price – and whether the board meets the Tuesday deadline imposed by the rebels.One interesting aside was that Streak was given the biggest ovation of anybody by the all-black crowd at Takashinga when he went out to bat against the Sri Lankan tourists on Saturday. This is an indication of the respect he is held in by all sections of the community. The local press’s decision to label him as a racist clearly left the crowd unimpressed.

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.”

The International Cricket Council and the England & Wales Cricket Board today launched the ICC Champions Trophy 2004 in London. The event, dubbed by many as the Mini World Cup, will take place at three venues in England (Edgbaston, The Oval and Southampton’s Rose Bowl) between September 10 and 25.Several international captains marked the London launch by throwing down the gauntlet for the tournament. For a start, Ricky Ponting is acutely aware that this is one tournament that Australia has never won: “It’s one trophy we haven’t been able to get our hands on,” he said, “and we haven’t played anything like our best cricket in past events. It’s the second biggest one-day tournament we play, and I know a lot of the players in our side are keen to make sure we play well in England this time around.”Graeme Smith, meanwhile, is hoping for a strong performance to erase the memories of South Africa’s damp-squib exit from the 2003 World Cup at home. “It is a tremendously important event for us. We didn’t do too well in the last World Cup, so it is important to see how far we’ve come since then and to gain some experience against the world’s best. I’d like to believe our chances are good and our chances must be good if we prepare well, remain focused and play good cricket.”And England’s Michael Vaughan thinks the Champions Trophy will play an important role in the development of his new-look one-day side. “We are giving players experience all the time and making sure they learn and we are building all the time to the next World Cup,” he said. “We are progressing, but we are nowhere near the finished article. Playing in England is something that is a strength of ours, and we showed last year against Pakistan, Zimbabwe and South Africa that we are a match for any team on our day. But to win a trophy you have to play consistently well against good teams for three weeks.”Ehsan Mani, ICC’s president, expressed his delight that the world’s best cricketers would be gathering in England in September. “It is the only time outside the World Cup when all of the top teams assemble in one country,” he said. “With the World Cup not likely to return to England for at least a decade it will be a rare opportunity for English cricket fans to see the world’s best players.”I know that some people are wary that we have scheduled a cricket event in England in September. Our research has shown that it is England’s fourth-warmest month, and we have amended the playing conditions to give us every chance of matches being completed. All games have scheduled reserve days and, unlike two years ago, matches will be continued the following day rather than replayed in the event of showers or bad light.”The event will also enable us to draw attention to our strategic alliance with UNAIDS. Cricket cannot ignore this problem of HIV and AIDS and I look forward to the sport’s top players uniting in this common cause later this year.”Meanwhile David Morgan, the ECB chairman, was equally upbeat: “At ECB we are confident that the tournament will provide a spectacular climax to an exciting and invigorating summer of international cricket in England and Wales. What a feast for supporters of the game here – 15 games in 15 days with the best players in the world gracing three of our international venues – all who are interested in cricket will be excited by that prospect.”The total tournament prize fund is second only to that offered at the 2003 World Cup.This is the fourth time the ICC has staged the event. It began as the ICC Knockout in Bangladesh in 1998, when South Africa beat West Indies in the final. Two years later, New Zealand defeated India in Kenya. In 2002 the name was changed to the ICC Champions Trophy to reflect a new format. After a thrilling semi-final between India and South Africa, unseasonal rains prevented the completion of the final between India and the hosts Sri Lanka.The Champions Trophy is part of the ICC’s long-term commercial partnership with the Global Cricket Corporation. The global partners for the event are LG Electronics, Pepsi, Hutchison and Hero Honda.

Chris Read has reacted with shock and anger at his omission from England’s one-day squad for the NatWest Series. Speaking to BBC Sport, Read, who was replaced by Geraint Jones in the line-up, said: “I’m really surprised and disappointed. I find it difficult to comprehend. If Geraint was going to bat in the top five I’d understand it but there are other batsmen in the top five.”David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors, termed the decision to drop Read “one of the hardest that I have been a party to in my nine years as a member of the panel”, but that did little to cheer Read. “David made it clear it was a tough decision but that doesn’t help,” Read said. “It makes me a little angry. In the last 12 months I’ve helped England win several games and I’ve always been consistent. It’s a bitter pill to swallow.”Jones, who had earlier replaced Read in the Test squad as well, was selected because his superior batting skills, but Read has performed more than adequately with the bat in the one-dayers, scoring a crucial 15-ball 27 at Georgetown to steal a win against West Indies on England’s recent tour. Read’s wicketkeeping has been outstanding as well, making the decision all the more inexplicable.Read stated as much, saying that he understood the reason for his omission from the Test side. “When I was dropped from the Test team I thought it was a bit harsh but I was not doing what I needed to with the bat,” he said. “But in the one-day side I believe I’ve done everything I can and it seems it’s not enough.”