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The South African Cricket Board are understood to have sought an assurance from the BCCI that no police action will be initiated against Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje for their alleged involvement in pending matchfixing cases when they tour India later this year, reports The Khaleej Times. The Delhi police, at the forefront of matchfixing investigations which began in 2000, have maintained all along that they would like to interrogate Gibbs and Boje if they got the chance.The two cricketers in question were frequently cited by investigating officers along with Hansie Cronje, back in 2000. That investigation by the Delhi police eventually led to Cronje’s startling admission of guilt in front of the King Commission in South Africa.The United Cricket Board of South Africa has been in touch with their Indian counterparts regarding this matter. Maobi Litheko, a spokesman for the South African board said that BCCI officials had undertaken to raise the matter with the Indian government. At the moment, no response has been received.South Africa are in India only for a short duration, a total of 18 days, and play seven one-dayers but no Tests. In contrast Australia are scheduled to tour India for a Tests-only series. They play a four-Test series before the South Africans arrive and it is as yet unclear where the Tests will be staged. Delhi and Kanpur are two venues that should get Tests according to the BCCI’s rotation policy, but there is a chance that neither ground will be ready in time, says the report.

The twilight twist
With gloom settling in and bad light almost certain tobe offered, enter India’s favourite umpire,celebrating his 100th test. Sachin Tendulkar and RahulDravid were in the midst of a rescue act, quicklytransforming into a match-turning one. Tendulkar hadjust completed his half-century, with a rasping square-drive off Abdul Razzaq.Razzaq, in the middle of a disciplined and variedspell, started testing Tendulkar with short balls. Inhis next over, the first ball was again short, it wentpast Tendulkar’s outside edge and swung away aftergoing past his bat. As replays confirmed, the ballmissed the outside edge by some distance. Kamran Akmaldived to take the catch and appealed meekly, as didRazzaq, protractedly. Nothing came from Steve Bucknor,Tendulkar moved away from the crease and as Razzaq’sappeal withered, Bucknor suddenly raised his finger.Tendulkar jumped as if facing another short ball,stunned, Pakistan went ecstatic and the match took, ona day of twists, one final controversial one. A caseperhaps for offering light to the umpire?The Golden Arm
Younis Khan drove a full one back past Lakshmipathy Balaji and haredoff down the pitch. Sourav Ganguly from mid-off and Sachin Tendulkarfrom mid-on gave chase, and Ganguly pulled the ball up just before theropes. Tendulkar received the flick, and threw the ball to thelongest distance on a ground that is acres big. The ball thudded intoDinesh Karthik’s gloves at the far end, and he had the bails offbefore Asim Kamal got back for the third run. Tendulkar’s throw wasjust another reminder of the man’s presence of mind and his sheernatural ability on a cricket field.

Sunil Gavaskar plans to institute a trust fund for former Test and first-class cricketers who have fallen on hard times. His decision to do so comes soon after the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced a monthly pension of Rs 5000 for all former Test cricketers. That trust that Gavaskar plans to establish will be funded with money donated by the more affluent former players.According to reports, he had been considering the idea for a while, and decided to go ahead once he received a favourable response from several contemporaries. Many former cricketers who have carved out a niche for themselves in various fields after retirement have expressed their desire to contribute to the trust, which will help those who lost their way once they were divorced from the game they contributed to.

Zimbabwe’s first black Test cricketer, Henry Olonga, is to join a campaign aimed at stopping New Zealand’s cricket tour of his homeland, according to Rod Donald, co-leader of the Greens Party. Olonga fled Zimbabwe in 2003 after wearing a black armband during a World Cup match to mourn what he called the death of democracy in his country.Donald said he would take Olonga on a speaking tour to “turn up the heat” on thegovernment. “We want Henry to give the government, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and the people, the message loud and clear that the Black Caps should not be touring Zimbabwe,” he said. “The Government should be doing everything in its power to get the Black Caps offthe hook, and needs to match its tough talk with decisive action.”The government’s position is that it does not want the team to tour, but will not stop it because that would need legislation authorising the removal of passports. Foreign Minister Phil Goff last week announced a diplomatic offensive against all sporting contacts with Zimbabwe, and is urging the International Cricket Council to waive financial penalties that would be imposed if the tour does not go ahead.Goff has said the government will refuse to issue visas to the Zimbabwe team for areturn tour to New Zealand scheduled in December. NZC’s chief executive Martin Snedden said his association has no alternative but to go on tour or face crippling fines believed to be at least US$2million.Donald drafted a bill that would allow the government to stop the tour, but it hasbeen vetoed on the grounds that it would cut across New Zealand’s human rightslaws. He said: “We hope Henry’s visit will lead to public pressure increasing on the Government to stop the tour.”The Greens are bringing Olonga to New Zealand, and he will speak at public meetingsin Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland in the coming week. President Mugabe’s order to destroy thousands of homes and businesses triggered the Green’s protest.

Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh stadium has emerged as a leading contender to host the ICC Champions Trophy matches following commercial glitches at the venues originally selected for the tournament. Maqbul Dudhia, the ICC representative, and Rick Jamieson, a Global Cricket Corporation (GCC) official, inspected the venue which hosted a one-dayer between India and Sri Lanka in October 2005.According to the host nation agreement of the ICC, the venues chosen must be free from ground signages and other sponsorship obligations. Nagpur, Mohali and Hyderabad are the other centres in the running to host the matches. Subhash Joshi, secretary of the Rajasthan Cricket Association and former Ranji cricketers Taposh Chatterjee and Shamsher Singh met with the ICC and GCC officials.”We shall submit our report to the ICC and the final decision will be taken. We will be visiting Nagpur, Mohali, Kolkata and Hyderabad to look at alternative venues,” said Dudhia. Joshi said Jaipur had a better chance of being awarded matches as neither the association nor the venue had any kind of sponsorship contract.New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata were the venues originally identified by the ICC, but all these cities have pre-existing contracts with various corporates, which goes against the ICC’s sponsorship policies.

South Africa 301 for 7 (Smith 50, Bacher 56, Rudolph 50, Gibbs 40, Boucher 49, Utseya 3-40) beat Zimbabwe 136 (Hall 3-29, Ntini 3-42) by 165 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

On a day which will be remembered for the surprise announcement of the impending return to international cricket of Heath Streak, there was nothing at all unexpected about this result: Zimbabwe were hammered by 165 runs in the first one-day international at the Wanderers. A solid team effort propelled South Africa to 301 for 7, and then Makhaya Ntini and Andrew Hall took three wickets apiece as Zimbabwe were washed away for 136.After they were put in by Tatenda Taibu, Graeme Smith, Adam Bacher and Jacques Rudolph all stroked fifties to set up a solid platform, before some swashbuckling stuff from Mark Boucher (49 off 29 balls) and Ashwell Prince (24 not out off 15) lifted South Africa to their expected 300-plus total.Smith and Bacher made a steady start to the innings against the youthful opening pair of Tinashe Panyangara and Christopher Mpofu, in front of a paltry crowd, which numbered fewer than 1000 at the start. Smith led from the front, crunching a series of exquisitely timed fours, but as soon as Taibu turned to his spinners he met with success, albeit somewhat unexpectedly: Smith completely missed Stuart Matsikenyeri’s first ball, a juicy full-toss, and was trapped lbw. His 16th one-day fifty came from 55 balls and contained nine spanking fours (87 for 1).Bacher, anxious to impress after his surprise recall, struggled occasionally and finally fell for 56 as he found Hamilton Masakadza at deep midwicket off Prosper Utseya, who was the pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers with 3 for 40.South Africa were still well set, at 128 for 2, and Rudolph and Herschelle Gibbs cemented their grip on the contest by adding 56 for the third wicket. Gibbs, continuing to relish his new-found freedom down at No. 4, looked to dominate from the off, but the spinners managed to contain him in the early stages. And Rudolph started innings in patient mode, but then boundaries started to come thick and fast for both batsmen.Utseya prospered again at a vital time as Rudolph (50) attempted one cheeky shot too many, top-edging to Matsikenyeri at short square leg (184 for 3). And Utseya then struck for a third time, as the dangerous Justin Kemp danced down the wicket and failed to connect – Taibu completed the stumping (197 for 4).Matsikenyeri and Barney Rogers also bowled well to peg South Africa back but, just as Zimbabwe were tightening the screw, Boucher launched his spectacular assault, crashing four fours and three sixes in his short innings. It took the return of the medium-pacer Elton Chigumbura to remove him, but by this time South Africa were on 276 for 6, and Albie Morkel (16 from six balls) and Prince lifted them beyond 300. Inevitably, it proved to be far too much for Zimbabwe.The tourists made a disastrous start to their mountainous run-chase, and their batsmen’s bid to keep up with the stiff run-rate precipitated a predictably grizzly end.Rogers was the first to fall, when his attempt to dispatch Hall resulted in Nicky Boje’s fine catch heading backwards (4 for 1). Masakadza slapped Ntini back over his head for four, but he was made to pay later in the same over when a leading edge found Rudolph at cover (36 for 2).Matsikenyeri showed signs of a fight: he cracked two successive fours off Hall – one through mid-on, one through backward point – and collected three more boundaries as he marched to 25. But his stand came to an end when he sent Ntini to Gibbs, and Zimbabwe slipped to 41 for 3. Hall picked up his second wicket soon after, as Brendan Taylor (3) edged to first slip, where Smith took a good low catch to his right (55 for 4).Zimbabwe were struggling and when Morkel picked up two wickets in one over – Alester Maregwede lbw for 16, and Chigumbura caught by Prince at cover without scoring – the match was all but over (85 for 6).From there it was just a case of crossing the Is and dotting the Ts. The indomitable Taibu, in fighting mood as ever, top-scored with a rugged 28 – but when he fell to Boje, however, it was all over, including the shouting.Jenny Thompson is assistant editor of Cricinfo.

On the same night that the official New Zealand Cricket Awards were being presented at a prestigious dinner in Auckland, the Beige Brigade, the country’s official unofficial supporters group, revealed their own less serious annual gongs.The comments appended to each award are those made by the judging panel.Disappointment of the Year
South Africa, for ruining New Zealand’s world record run chase by more than 100 runs.Jerry Collins Trophy
Awarded for the most meritorious tackle by a security guard or policeman at one-day international: Security Guard v Woman Streaker at the Twenty20. Unconsciousness almost Dean Lonergan-style shaking. And she was quite nice looking.Merv Hughes Memorial Trophy
Awarded for the most meritorious effort by a piece of cricket clothing in international cricket: Although Chris Cairns’ beige shirt was hanging on for dear life in the Twenty20, Lou Vincent’s self-downtrou was a winner. The risk factor was brilliant – it was almost an on-field streak. Extra points for partial nudity as well.Bloodbath Cup
Awarded to the crowd with the most arrests at international cricket: Eden Park, Twenty20. The high calibre of security guards in place after the Australian series debauchery in the terraces was no match for this crowd. There were streakers galore, none of whom even came out of the terraces. The ones from the out of the family area were magnificent.The Adolf Medal
Awarded to the ground with the stupidest rule: A hotly contested prize with loads of contenders but the “No sitting in the front three rows” rules at Eden Park, Wellington Stadium and Jade Stadium was the dumbest of the lot. Even our nanas could throw an apple, a bottle or a small child that far if they really wanted to hit a player. Other nominations included Eden Park where spectators were only allowed to buy two beers at a time at the terraces, even if there was no queue; McLean Park, scene of the infamous “No girls kissing” farago; Wellington Stadium where spectators were told not to “yell too loud”; and the runner-up was Eden Park where, it is claimed, men weren’t allowed to buy wine.The Beige Brigade Player of the Year
A pre-eminent award, presented to the player whose performances in New Zealand Cricket have best honoured the “yesterday’s men” of cricket: Disappointing that it goes to an Aussie, but Victorian Mick Lewis should be Adidas’ new poster boy (‘Impossible is Nothing’) for his extraordinary effort to destroy Martin Snedden’s worst bowling figures in an ODI record. Lewis bowled a full two overs less than Sneds and we assume he is now ‘retired’ from all international cricket. Other nominees included Andre Adams for his consistent use of the headband even in domestic cricket and Jeetan Patel, for his sneaky little moustache he grew for the Twenty20 match.“In A Terrible State” Plate
Awarded to the oddest looking person in New Zealand cricket: F Payne. Good bloke, great statistician. Look for him on Sky TV (perhaps even with his own show?)

Bangladesh, who caused one of the biggest upsets in one-day history when they beat Australia at Cardiff last June, may well be looking for a repeat as the three-match one-day series kicks off tomorrow at Chittagong.Following a 2-0 Test series loss, when they came perilously close to beating Australia in the first game, Bangladesh needed a shot in the arm. They have always looked more at home in the shorter version, and would take inspiration from their recent form. In March, Bangladesh completed a 4-0 whitewash over Kenya, and even took one match off Sri Lanka in a three-game series in late February. Both successes secured their place in October’s Champions Trophy in India.On the flip side, Australia’s last one-day match has been well-documented. March 12, 2006 will always be remembered as the day South Africa chased down 434 in arguably one of the greatest one-day internationals ever. Ricky Ponting, though, has urged his side to forget about the Johannesburg epic and transfer their recent Test success – they have not lost a Test since surrendering the Ashes last September – into the one-day format.In the ODI Championship table, Australia sit 13 points clear of their nearest challenger, South Africa, while Bangladesh lie at the 10th spot. An unlikely two wins will see Bangladesh’s rating rise by six points to 30 (Australia will slip to 128) and a miraculous 3-0 success will lift them to 33 rating points (Australia 126).From the side that lost 2-0 in the Tests, Enamul Haque jnr and Abdur Razzak, both left-arm spinners, have made way for Tushar Imran, the middle-order batsman, and Syed Rasel, the young left-arm medium-pacer.Dan Cullen, the offspinner, is set to make his one-day debut. “Dan Cullen will make his debut tomorrow and we get to have another look at Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Bracken is back in the team for us,” Ponting told reporters. He expected the Chittagong pitch to take plenty of turn, but said there should be plenty of runs in it as well for the batsmen. “We’ve got two spinners in [Brad] Hogg and Cullen which we think will suit the conditions.”Australia (probable): 1 Simon Katich, 2 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Andrew Symonds, 7 Brad Hogg, 8 Brett Lee, 9 Nathan Bracken, 10 Dan Cullen, 11 Mitchell Johnson.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Javed Omar, 2 Shahriar Nafees, 3 Habibul Bashar (capt), 4 Mohammad Ashraful, 5 Rajin Saleh, 6 Aftab Ahmed, 7 Khaled Mashud (wk), 8 Mohammad Rafique, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza, 10 Syed Rasel 11, Shahadat Hossain.

Silver League finalBuoyed by Bhilal Khilji’s 132, Multan made full use of the absence of Rao Iftikhar and allrounder Azhar Mahmood from the Islamabad line-up, as they posted an impressive 326 for 4 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Both Iftikhar and Azhar are with the Pakistan squad in South Africa, thus denting Islamabad’s chances to get promoted to next season’s Gold League.Khilji’s knock came off 218 balls with 22 fours and a six. Opener Usman Tariq chipped in with 56. Bilal was joined by Kashif Naved in a 134-run stand for the fourth wicket. Naved’s 72 came off 109 balls with 11 boundaries.Gold LeagueFawad Alam hammered his second century of the tounament, as Karachi Harbour ran up an impressive total of 323 for 6 against Faisalabad at the National Stadium in Karachi. The 21-year-old, who was tipped earlier in the season to at least make Pakistan’s preliminary World Cup squad but eventually didn’t, came in at number five with his team at 140-3 and proceeded to score his third first-class hundred.Fawad faced 149 deliveries to make 103, that included 15 boundaries. He dominated the 132-run fifth-wicket partnership with Fahad Iqbal. Karachi Harbour, led by Danish Kaneria, won the toss and decided to go in first. Khalid Latif and Wajihuddin got off to a good start, adding 53. Wajihuddin scored a resolute 67 off 121 balls with nine fours and a six and his second-wicket stand with Akbar Rehman was worth 85. Seamer Asad Ali bowled usefully for Faisalabad with figures of 3 for 97 from 27 overs, although he conceded 13 no-balls and a wide. Ahmed Hayat picked up 2 for 57 in 16 overs.Sialkot took a step closer to toppling Karachi Urban from the top of the Gold League table, as they dismissed their opponents for just 164 at the Jinnah Stadium on Wednesday. By the close of play, the Sialkot openers batted out the remaining overs, adding 53.Seamer Kashif Daud, playing his first match for Sialkot after having captured 21 wickets for Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) in the Patron’s Trophy earlier in the season, picked up five wickets for 54 runs in 11.5 overs. Only wicketkeeper Amin-ur-Rehman reached 30 for the visitors. Four others got good starts but couldn’t go beyond that. Sialkot’s in-form paceman Tahir Mughal struck three times before Daud took over.Mohammad Wasim and Babar Naeem scored half-centuries as Rawalpindi compiled 330 in the opening day against Lahore Shalimar at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. At stumps, the hosts lost opener Ashfaq Ahmed for a third-ball duck, finishing at 15 for 1.After being put in to bat, Rawalpindi lost two early wickets before Naeem smacked 63 runs off just 77 balls with five fours and five sixes. Wasim was joined by Awais Zia in a 69-run sixth-wicket stand. Wasim’s 75 came off 119 balls with 10 boundaries. Four more wickets then fell for an addition of 59 runs to make it 264 for 9. Yasim Murtaza and Najaf Shah proceeded to add 66 in a rollicking last-wicket partnership that took the score to 330 in less than an hour.Yasim made 42 off 54 balls with five fours and a six while Najaf remained unbeaten with 31. Mohammad Khalil returned figures of 3 for 57 in 19 overs.

Ed Cowan, the New South Wales batsman, has been ruled out of the ING Cup and Pura Cup matches against Western Australia at Perth this week. Cowan hurt his toe in grade cricket and could be out for four to six weeks after doctors ruled that he needed surgery. He has been replaced in the one-day squad by Craig Simmons, a 22-year-old left-handed opener, while Greg Mail has been named as Cowan’s replacement in the Pura Cup squad.Simmons was with Western Australia till last season, but moved to Sydney in the hope of furthering his first-class career. The match against his former state will be his first one for New South Wales.Meanwhile, Aaron O’Brien has also been picked in the Pura Cup squad after scoring an unbeaten 227 in a second XI game against Victoria. O’Brien, an allrounder, has been a member of the one-day squad this season.