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Brian Lara has elected to go on the backfoot and tender a written apology to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) after hitting out at cricket authorities following India’s first series win in the Caribbean in 35 years.Lara forwarded a letter dated July 31 to Ken Gordon, the WICB president, acknowledging that he may have over-reacted in the comments he made during and after the final Test against India at Sabina Park.”I recognise that I broke the confidence placed in me as West Indies captain by my overreaction during and after the 4th Test against India and I apologise to all concerned”, Lara wrote. “I would also like to thank my team-mates for the progress we have made as a team over the last few months and I hope my unfortunate actions will not in any way deter our march towards further success.”Lara, in charge of the team for an unprecedented third time, threatened to quit after he claimed there was a month’s delay in informing him that he had been made a member of the West Indies selection committee. Lara, Test cricket’s leading runscorer, had been at loggerheads with the WICB over the selection policy and believed he was rebuffed in his efforts to get the players he wanted in the team.The WICB responded by appointing a committee headed by the president of the WICB, together with Sir Alister McIntyre, Clive Lloyd and Gregory Shillingford to investigate all matters relating to Lara’s statements and to take such action as they may consider appropriate after these matters were discussed with him. Gordon, in a letter to Lara, clearly felt that he should have handled the matter internally.

“Let me admit that I empathised with the rationale that you outlined during our conversation in support of additional pace against the Indians and the passion of your conviction that the series could have been won by three games to one”, Gordon wrote. “We need both conviction and passion to continue to build on what has been achieved.”But we also need to send a signal that a new start is being made. That we will resolve our differences internally and present a unified front to the cricketing world and that West Indies cricket is on the way up again. Your statement did not contribute to sending that message and that was unfortunate.”After India had won the last Test by 49 runs inside three days at Sabina Park, Lara said he might have to reconsider his position as captain. “I got an endorsement letter [from the WICB] a couple days ago saying that I was a selector since May 28,” he told reporters at the post match news conference on July 3. “I’ll revisit my decision to captain the West Indies team.”Lara said his reputation was at stake in light of his calls for certain players to be selected. “I was never given the team that I wanted,” he insisted.

Australia captain Pat Cummins has conceded he is unlikely to feature in the Boxing Day Test and may not play again in the series after his team was able to secure a “pretty amazing” Ashes victory in Adelaide to retain the urn in just 11 days of playing time.For Cummins, who claimed six wickets in the match, it was his first game for five-and-a-half months as he recovered from a back injury and while he said he came through the game well back-to-back Tests was always unlikely for him.”I’m feeling really good, [but] as for the rest of the series we’ll wait and see,” he said. “We had a pretty aggressive build-up knowing that it’s the Ashes there to be won and we thought that was worth it. Now that the series has been won, there might be a sense of job’s done and let’s reassess the risk.Related

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“We’ll work it out over the next couple of days, I doubt I’ll be playing Melbourne, and then we’ll have a chat about Sydney. But certainly before the series it was, while the series was live, let’s take on the risk and have a crack at it, now it’s done, I think we’ll need to have a chat about it.”Jamie Smith and Will Jacks raised the slim prospect of a remarkable England chase on the final day in Adelaide but Australia always had runs in the bank, although had to contend with the loss of Nathan Lyon to what looked like a series-ending hamstring injury.However, Mitchell Starc claimed three wickets on the final day – the vital one of Jacks courtesy of a spectacular catch at first slip by Marnus Labuschagne – and Scott Boland closed out the match.”It feels pretty awesome. Yeah, amazing,” Cummins said at the presentation. “It’s a series we’ve been thinking about for a long time. It wasn’t easy today, but we got it done. It’s a pretty excited changing room in there.”The relentlessness of Australia’s attack stood out throughout the game, while the fielding was superb and Alex Carey produced another masterclass behind the stumps.”I think that’s when we’re at our best, this cricket team,” Cummins said about maintaining the pressure on England. “You can’t really rush things here in Australia. I think you kind of will it to happen, but it doesn’t really work that way. It’s good old-fashioned grind a lot of the time. I loved the toil from all the guys today. It got a little bit closer than I would have liked, but I’m pretty happy.”He also praised the way his team responded to various challenges that came their way, including the loss of Lyon. “I think that’s one of the things I’m most proud about in this group,” he said. “Nothing ever really happens perfectly, there’s always something that gets thrown up.”Over the last few years, this groups have shown [it can] just crack on. Even I missed the first couple of games, Steve stepped right in and it was smooth and seamless. There’s always things that crop up; Nathan Lyon doing his hammy with a couple of hours left today.”The boys just go, okay, that’s happened. Let’s crack on. What’s next? I think that’s one of the big reasons why we’ve had our success over the last couple of years.”On his own comeback, he added: “The last two months have been a bit of a grind. [I gave] myself every chance, but it’s all worth it when you get days like this, packed crowd and retaining the Ashes.”

The ICC-appointed team from the Africa Cricket Association is due to arrive in Nairobi on Friday to begin their investigations into the crisis which threatens the future of the game in Kenya. The four-man delegation is led by Peter Chingoka, the chairman of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union and president of the ACA, and will be assisted by Percy Sonn, the ICC’s vice-president.”We have been told that we will meet the delegation twice on Saturday,” Sharad Ghai, the beleaguered chairman of the Kenyan Cricket Association told reporters. “We are ready to meet them and put our point across. We don’t have many things to discuss with them.”While Cricket Kenya, the body formed by the government to replace the KCA which has the backing of players, clubs and supporters, has not formally reacted to the ICC’s appointment of the ACA team, it is not thought to welcome the intervention.One local administrator explained that the ICC had been kept closely informed of the situation, and was aware of the long-standing problems concerning the KCA. He added that there was nothing else for the ACA to uncover and the whole exercise had the feel of the ICC wanting to be seen to do something rather than actually taking more decisive action.It is common knowledge that Jimmy Rayani, a former KCA chairman, has been trying to broker a deal which would enable some of the existing KCA officials to remain in office. But there is deep opposition within the cricketing community to a group that is seen as being responsible for the current parlous state of the game inside the country being allowed to retain any control. The feeling is that all the old guard needs to removed, and some senior officials within the ICC are known to share that view.The ICC’s decision to release US$54,000 to the KCA to enable it to meet its liabilities was also greeted with incredulity and anger. The KCA has no staff, no coaches and no players, and locals are bemused why the ICC decided to make the payment in the knowledge that it was unlikely to be used to promote the game but rather used to clear outstanding debts.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has sought legal advice on whether Mohammad Amir can get a visa to travel with the national side to New Zealand in January. Amir served three months in jail for his role in the 2010 spot-fixing case and New Zealand has rules against granting visas to individuals with criminal convictions.New Zealand’s immigration authority, on its website, states that “People with criminal convictions or who have provided false or misleading information will not be granted a visa unless a character waiver is granted.” It further specifies that, “In the case of character waivers, each application is considered on its individual merits and taking into account, for example, the seriousness of an offence, number of offences and how long ago the event/s occurred.”Amir’s visa for England was rejected last year and the PCB suspects that his case for the New Zealand series will be weak. ESPNcricinfo understands that PCB has engaged legal advice from England and has taken Amir’s lawyer on board in case there is a need to present evidence again.Amir was recently named in a 26-member squad for a conditioning camp and could be selected for the first time in five years for Pakistan’s upcoming limited-overs series in New Zealand. He completed his educational rehabilitation programme after serving a five-year ban for his role in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal.In November 2011, Amir – along with Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif – was sentenced in a London Court on charges conspiracy to accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat at gambling after a plot was uncovered in a sting operation to bowl deliberate no-balls in a Test against England in 2010.Amir was given a six-month jail sentence and served half of it at the Portland Young Offenders Institution in Dorset. In January this year, Amir was allowed to return to cricket ahead of schedule by the ICC. His five-year suspension period formally ended on September 1.

Sachin Tendulkar has dismissed speculation that he is thinking of retiring from one-day cricket or cutting down on the amount of ODIs to ensure a longer Test career. In an interview with the , the 34-year-old Tendulkar discussed a number of issues, from the challenges ahead against Pakistan and Australia to a look at his own fitness and form.On the question of quitting the one-day game, Tendulkar was emphatic he had no such plans. “I have honestly not thought about the fact that I only need to play one version of the game to play the other longer. I am enjoying whatever I am doing at the moment. The moment I feel I am not enjoying myself, I will start thinking about it.”I think I still like to do a lot of things on the cricket field. When I am bowling, I would want to do something more, surprise the batsman, beat him with a little bit of extra seam or some spin or whatever I am doing. That excitement is something else. Even today when I do that I feel happy. When you hit a cover drive, a straight drive or a cut, the feeling touches your soul. The sound of bat hitting the ball, even hitting it exactly where you want to do it, those feelings are special. I enjoy that feeling, I live for it.”Plenty has been written about his inability to dominate attacks in the last few years, but Tendulkar saw it differently, saying he is now more adept at shaping his game according to the needs of the situation.”My batting has changed for the good, I would like to believe. I won’t be able to pinpoint but I know when I go out in the middle now I do things a little differently, things I was not able to do earlier. You continue to raise that bar, to get better. I definitely feel there have been a lot of changes; my shot-selection has improved, I have more options now. If somebody is bowling a particular ball, maybe earlier I had only one or two options; now I may have four or even five options. And I am able to pick the best option for that particular moment and I go for it.”He also spoke at length about his battles with James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom during the Tests against England earlier this year to illustrate the fact that he had improved in his ability to mould his batting to suit the needs of the team.”I thought on both the occasions I went in to bat at the most crucial moments in the Test matches,” he said. In the second match at Old Trafford, Tendulkar overcame a terrific spell by Sidebottom, getting beaten several times and hardly scoring a run off him. “If I had lost my wicket at that stage, we would have been on the back foot. Even the result might have been different. I am not saying the batsmen behind me would not have done the job, but we would have been under more pressure. At that particular stage it was important that we didn’t lose any wicket. Just play out that spell and gradually start building our innings again.” Tendulkar finally fell for 91, but by then India were in command at 342 for 4, and a platform had been set for a huge first-innings lead.

In the next game, at The Oval, Anderson tested him with several short deliveries on the first day but Tendulkar refused to be baited into playing the pull or hook and instead took several blows to his body. “That evening spell [by Anderson] was very crucial. I thought if I could just hang in there it would put us in a better position.”[The body blows] were all intentional. I though that was the best way of playing at that point. He was trying to intimidate me and I said fine, ‘try it as long as you want’. I had basically used a different technique, a different approach to overcome it. I don’t know how to express this but I was like ‘if you are going to do this I will handle it like this’.Tendulkar also explained why he didn’t try to hook. “They had fielders there for that specific shot and if I mistimed even one shot they would have been successful in their plan. And I wasn’t going to let that happen. Here it is not a battle between Anderson and me; it is about the team. I was looking at the big picture all the time. I knew he won’t be able to go on and on with that line and length. And that’s exactly how it worked out. Later on when the other batters came on, the pressure had eased out.”Probably ten years ago I would have played my strokes, tried to dominate. I didn’t mind not doing it that time.” Anderson did eventually dismiss Tendulkar, but not before he had made 82 and put India on the road for a sizeable first-innings total.

India’s national selectors have deferred the appointment of a Test captain, which was scheduled to happen during the selection committee meeting in Ahmedabad on Saturday. The focus of the meeting will now be on the squad for the first two ODIs of the series against Pakistan beginning on November 5.Bhupinder Singh, the North Zone selector, said that the selection panel wanted to observe Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy for a while longer before taking a decision on the Test captaincy.”We had originally decided to watch Dhoni for 12 games and it’s only five games now so we will have to wait,” Bhupinder told Cricinfo. He, without confirming, indicated that the announcement could happen at the next selection meeting on November 8 in Mohali, when the squad for the rest of the ODI series against Pakistan would be announced.Dhoni, who led India to the World Twenty20 title in his first assignment as captain, is one of two chief contenders for the Test captaincy along with Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar is also widely tipped for the job after two earlier stints during which he led India in 25 Tests.With India’s search for a full-time coach producing no results – and the coach selection committee only meeting on November 3 – former India and Mumbai opener Lalchand Rajput is likely to be retained as the interim cricket manager for the home series against Pakistan. The announcement is expected to be made during the selection meeting on Saturday.

Xavier Marshall, the Jamaica opener, and team-mates Leon Garrick and Damion Hardware are expected to face the St Ann Cricket Association’s disciplinary committee today after failing to turn up for a match. The trio failed to appear on the second day of their rain-hit game against Kingston & St Andrew in the Red Stripe Cricket Championship and were consequently not selected for the following match last weekend.Ivan Anderson, president of the St Ann Cricket Association, told the that their breach carried a light fine. “It [disciplinary hearing] will be done on Wednesday, but more or less what he [Marshall] did, would only warrant a one-match ban, or we might have a serious talk with him and let him know the implications,” he said. “Sometimes they don’t think before they do certain things… and don’t realise that they are role models. We have to make sure we nip the bud as soon as we see certain things happening… we have to really step at it; we can’t really try cover up on anything for them.”Anderson, the man credited for spotting Marshall’s talent at the age of 10, maintained that Marshall “should have still turned up” even though he was informed by a team-mate that it had been raining on day two of the fixture.Marshall scored a hundred to propel West Indies to the final of the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2004. He played two Test matches and ten one-day internationals for the senior side but has yet to fulfill his evident talent. In early 2005, Marshall was suspended for off-field indiscretion while on tour with the senior team. Garrick, 29, played a solitary Test for the West Indies but has also had many run-ins with cricket authorities at all levels.

Andre Nel, the South African fast bowler, has been called up to replace Loots Bosman in the squad for the ICC World Twenty20 that starts next week. Bosman was ruled out of the tournament after he was advised six weeks’ rest due to a back injury he suffered while fielding during a match against Zimbabwe last month.According to Joubert Strydom, convener of selectors, Nel’s inclusion would strengthen thebowling line-up, which was looking “a bit under-done”.”We are well stocked in the top three batting department with five players – Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers, Goolam Bodi and JP Duminy – all technically equipped to deal with the new ball and having the expansive strokeplay to force the pace where necessary,” Strydom said.Denying claims that Nel’s inclusion in the squad would cause a quota-imbalance, Norman Arendse, president of Cricket South Africa, said while the board aimed at having seven players of colour in the squad, this was not a binding obligation.”Quotas are set in stone while targets are something to strive for. The selectors have convinced me that there are logical and rational cricket reasons for opting for Nel,” he said. “These included an examination of strike rates, economy rates, number of wickets taken and the like of the leading candidates.”Nel will join the South African training camp in Potchefstroom as soon as possible toenable him to participate fully in the preparation phase.

David Parsons, the acting director of the ECB’s Academy, has expressed his disappointment at Rod Marsh’s comments that England have gone backwards since winning the Ashes last year. Marsh was critical of Duncan Fletcher and said England had done themselves a huge disservice by losing their bowling coach Troy Cooley.”We’ve had two disappointing results here in Australia, but I don’t agree that our Test standards are slipping fast,” Parsons told . “When I read those comments, I thought it was a shame. Rod did a really good job when he was in charge and he got the academy up and running. It’s just sad that someone who has been so heavily involved in the programme feels that it is right to make that sort of comment.”Parsons also defended the decision to have the academy side based in Perth during the Ashes, despite the fact they have played only two one-day matches – both ending in defeat – and have one remaining game before their stay in Australia ends. He described the policy as “a risk worth taking”.”Given the injuries that England had last time, it was important to know someone was on stand-by if something was to go wrong,” Parsons said in the . “The other side of it is that you get the advantage of being out here in the sunshine on some really good pitches. Even if none of the players get the call-up they will still have benefited from being out here in the middle.”Parsons mentioned Ravi Bopara, Steven Davies, Stuart Broad, Chris Tremlett and Graham Onions as players who could help form the next generation of England cricket and who would take the most from the trip.

Speculation is rife that Aziz Al Kaiser Titoo, the vice-president of Bangladesh Cricket Board, has resigned as the row over a secret deal regarding television rights grows. The rumours come in the wake of the resignation of Reazuddin Al Mamun , the board joint-secretary and media committee chairman, in protest at the deal.Speaking to the Dhaka-based daily, , Titoo denied submitting any resignation letter, but did not rule out its possibility in the near future. “Honestly speaking, I am looking forward to the next board meeting to clarify my position. I will definitely raise some burning issues like the TV and sponsorship deal and the resignation of our joint-secretary in the meeting and if there is no satisfactory outcome then I will definitely think about my resignation.”Titoo also expressed his dissatisfaction at the way Ali Asghar, the board’s president, has handled the TV deal. “There is an elected committee in the board and I think nothing should be passed or accepted bypassing the executive committee. I don’t know whether president has accepted one of our top members’ resignation or not, but I think it should be discussed in the board meeting before taking a final decision.”He also expressed his ignorance about the alleged secret deal that Asghar struck with Aston Moore Sports and Entertainment in July, and demanded an inquiry into the affair.. “I’m not aware of such deal. If such deal was struck then it is certainly a big issue. I know Aston Moore but to be honest the company is not experienced enough to handle such a big matter. We should form an inquiry committee to bring out the truth.”