Karachi Whites overcame a tough challenge posed by Karachi Blues, clinching a narrow 7-run win in the thrilling first semi-final of the One-day tournament (Associations), played at Karachi’s National Stadium

Mahmood Ahmad10-Dec-2011Karachi Whites overcame a tough challenge posed by Karachi Blues, clinching a narrow 7-run win in the thrilling first semi-final of the One-day tournament (Associations), played at Karachi’s National Stadium.Defending a modest 216, Karachi Whites saw the opposition reaching 135 for 2 in 29 overs, after Tariq Haroon, maintaining his excellent form, had compiled 65 off 92 balls. However, after his departure in the 30th over, Karachi Blues’ innings just collapsed against some fine bowling by Whites’ spinners.Tabish Nawab, bowling gentle off breakd, and Adnan Malik, slow left-arm orthodox, spun their magic as the Karachi Blues’ middle order just crumbled under pressure. Tabish bagged four wickets for 28 (8.1 overs) and Adnan got three for 46, as Blues were all out for 209 in 48.1 overs.Apart from Tariq Haroon, Mansoor Baig also played well for Blues getting 41 off 74 balls. Their last pair, comprising Rajesh Ramesh and Irfanullah, showed some grit by adding 30 runs for the tenth wicket, but they just could not steer past the opposition’s total.Earlier, Karachi Whites were helped by a 113-run second wicket partnership between skipper Shadab Kabir (61 off 78) and Naumanullah (54 off 101), after Shahid Afridi was dismissed for a duck.After reaching 120 for 1 by the 28th over, Whites were expected to post something bigger than what they managed in the end. However, the fate their middle order met was not much different from that of their counterparts.Saeed Bin Nasir (30 off43) was the only other batsman, apart from Shadab and Naumanullah, who could enjoy a comparatively long stay at the crease. Otherwise, their just capitulation in front of some fine bowling by Irfanuddin (3 for 33), Mansoor Khan (2 for 39) and Haaris Ayaz (2 for 43).Karachi Whites now meet Sheikhupura, who beat in Rawalpindi in the second semi-final, in the Final to be played at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on May 13.

Phil Jaques has said he has no regrets over his decision to have surgery on his back in 2008, a move that effectively ended his international career

Brydon Coverdale01-Feb-2012Phil Jaques has said he has no regrets over his decision to have surgery on his back in 2008, a move that effectively ended his international career. However, Jaques said it was “very disappointing” that his injury prevented him from playing any more than 11 matches in a Test career that brought him three centuries, including one in his final innings.At 32, Jaques has realised his opportunities with New South Wales would continue to dwindle with the rise of young batsmen like Nic Maddinson and Kurtis Patterson. And the potential shrinking of the Cricket Australia contract list could have meant Jaques was no certainty to win another state contract, with the possibility of several fringe Australian players returning to the state list.A two-year deal with Yorkshire was on the table and Jaques, who holds a British passport, chose the security and signed as a local player. It was a decision that will mean the end of his Australian career when this summer finishes, but Jaques will leave the Australian scene pleased with his achievements for New South Wales and in the baggy green.He became a permanent member of the Test side when Justin Langer retired, but carried a serious back injury through his entire international career. It became so severe in late 2008 that he had surgery that kept him out for nearly a year, and he never played for Australia again, stuck on 11 Tests with an average of 47.47.”I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to play more Test cricket at the time,” Jaques told ESPNcricinfo. “It was very disappointing. Ten months out of any career, anyone would be disappointed. But I’m pretty happy and proud of the things I achieved in the game.”I won a few Pura Cups, one-day comps, played for Australia, toured overseas, scored a couple of hundreds – I can’t complain about my career. I was probably just unfortunate I played in the era when I did, when we had guys like Hayden and Langer who did so well.”In the end, Jaques had no choice but to have an operation, such was the seriousness of his injury. His time out of the game allowed Simon Katich to consolidate his place as Test opener, before Phillip Hughes and Shane Watson also moved in at the top of the order. It was hard for Jaques to let his opportunity go, but cricket was secondary in his decision.”I just couldn’t get out of bed, I couldn’t stay in bed, I couldn’t walk around, I couldn’t sit. There was just nothing that I could do that made it comfortable,” he said. “It was starting to affect my sleeping and you can’t live without sleep. It was becoming a real issue and it was something I worked really hard at trying to fix and trying to manage, and I stayed in there for as long as I could. I probably had the back injury the whole time I played for Australia.”I played with it for two or three years, on really high doses of anti-inflammatories, which weren’t good for me. I made the decision to get it operated on based on my health. It got to the point where the drugs didn’t help me anyway. It was about getting my life back ahead of actually playing cricket. It was life first, cricket second. I’ve been blessed that it’s all gone really well and I’ve got my life back first and foremost. Cricket is a bonus.”Unfortunately for Jaques, he hasn’t hit the same batting peaks since his surgery, at least, not consistently enough to attract the attention of Australia’s selectors. He said it took him some time after the operation to get back into the swing of top-flight cricket, particularly learning what he physically could and could not do, but he is confident he has plenty to offer Yorkshire.”I’m feeling really good at the crease again,” he said. “I got a few hundreds last year in the Shield, I got back-to-back hundreds in a game, which I’d never done in my whole career. I hit 170 in a one-day game. So I can still play, it was just a matter of being able to work out what I could and couldn’t do with my training and modify it accordingly.Now the challenge for Jaques, the son of a Yorkshire-born father and a Lancastrian mother, is to find consistency in all three formats in the county game. Technically he could still qualify to play for England, but he knows his Test days are over.”I’m done with international cricket,” Jaques said. “I’m just focused on Yorkshire and playing some good cricket there, playing all three forms of the game hopefully and enjoying my cricket. I want to help them get back up into the first division where they belong.”

Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland has defended the selectors for suddenly ending Ricky Ponting’s one-day international career mid-series

Brydon Coverdale21-Feb-2012Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland has defended the selectors for abruptly ending Ricky Ponting’s one-day international career mid-series. Ponting was axed from the squad after playing the first five matches of the tri-series and could have been given a home farewell – Australia’s next game is in Hobart on Friday – but instead has made way immediately.Ponting said on Tuesday that despite his poor run of form in one-day cricket he had not seen the decision coming, but that he accepted that the national selector John Inverarity and his panel were looking to the future. Sutherland, however, said that Ponting, at 37, would have known that a long lean patch would leave him at risk of being dropped, and that players were not always able to leave on their own terms.”I don’t know many players that aren’t disappointed when they get dropped,” Sutherland said. “That’s just the facts of the matter. I don’t think you should … have any misunderstanding about where Ricky knew he was up to. I think to a certain extent that’s inevitable at the age and stage he’s at in his career. Players know that. They would know it in their own subconscious mind. But I can assure you he also knew that from [former chairman of selectors] Andrew Hilditch and he also knew that from John Inverarity.”The selectors have to make a decision without fear or favour that is in the best interest of Australian cricket. They’ve made that decision. Not everyone will agree with that but they’ve made that decision and that’s their job to do that.”Ponting’s one-day form might have forced the selectors to make the tough call but his Test form remains strong, and he will play on for Australia in the baggy green. That means Ponting will need to return to state cricket, having played only six Sheffield Shield matches for Tasmania over the past decade, in order to maintain his fitness and touch between Australia’s Test series.The Tigers have two Shield matches remaining this summer and still remain in contention for the final, which could give Ponting three games ahead of the Test tour of the West Indies in April. Ponting’s presence will mean that a younger batsman will miss out on exposure to state cricket but Sutherland said that was outweighed by the benefits Ponting would bring to his less experienced colleagues.”The right players going back to Shield cricket is fantastic for Shield cricket,” Sutherland said. “There is no doubt that Ricky Ponting is the right player to be going back to Shield cricket. The influence he’s had on young Australian players this summer … the example he sets but also the conscious effort he takes to mentor players and talk about his preparation, I think the Tasmanian cricket team is incredibly fortunate to have his presence for the next couple of Shield games and however long it goes from there.”Ponting will end his one-day international career having played 375 matches and scored 13,704 runs, comfortably Australia’s most capped player and most prolific run scorer. Sutherland said his 17-year ODI career, which included triumphs in World Cups and Champions Trophies, as well as captaining more ODI victories than any other player, had been unparalleled.”I think his career is incomparable in one-day cricket: five World Cups, four finals, three championships and two as captain, plus all the runs and special feats in the field,” Sutherland said. “I just can’t think of a player that has made a greater contribution and been a better one-day cricketer, particularly in the big moments.”

A round-up of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2011-12 semi-finals

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2012Mumbai are in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, after they decimated Delhi at the Feroz Shah Kotla. The semi-final was a one-sided affair, with Mumbai’s batting stars firing to take their team to 295 for 5 before Delhi collapsed for 155 in 45 overs. All of Mumbai’s big-name batsmen contributed with the bat: Ajinkya Rahane scored 42 at the top of the order to give the team a steady start, Wasim Jaffer anchored the innings with his 92 off 110, and Abhishek Nayar’s explosive 72, which came off just 41 balls and included eight fours and two sixes, took the total from a competitive one to an imposing one.Delhi were hurt early by medium-pacer Kshemal Waingankar, who finished with remarkable figures of 8-3-15-2. They slipped to 57 for 5 and never recovered. Anup Revandkar took three wickets, and the spinners finished the job, to make it a 140-run trouncing.

An unbeaten 53 from Wriddhiman Saha helped Bengal beat Punjab by three wickets in a low-scoring match at the Model Sports Complex in Delhi, and join Mumbai in the final. Saha’s innings was the key one in a tense, seesawing chase of 206. Bengal looked solid at 86 for 2 but two Rajwinder Singh strikes later they were 98 for 4, which became 111 for 5 when Bipul Sharma dismissed Laxmi Ratan Shukla. Saha forged a 41-run stand with Debabrata Das to swing it back Bengal’s way but Punjab kept fighting and took two more wickets before Saha was joined by Shami Ahmed, who smashed 22 off seven balls to bring the match to a quick end.Punjab had been in big trouble early in their innings when Bengal’s medium-pacers reduced them to 34 for 5. Mandeep Singh and Bipul Sharma scored half-centuries, and shared a 104-run stand, to start the recovery. Harbhajan Singh chipped in with 39 to help take the score past 200, but it was not enough.

The final will be played on March 12, at the Kotla.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has said it will lodge a complaint with the Asian Cricket Council about an incident in the final over of Bangladesh’s chase in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Mar-2012The Bangladesh Cricket Board has said it will complain to the Asian Cricket Council about an incident in the final over of Bangladesh’s chase in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan. The incident, during the first ball of the 50th over, involved a collision between the bowler Aizaz Cheema and Mahmudullah as the latter tried to come back for a second run – something the BCB claims the Pakistan bowler did deliberately.”We have seen video footage of the incident repeatedly. It is clear that Cheema blocked Mahmudullah deliberately,” Enayet Hossain Siraj, the chairman of the BCB cricket operations committee, told reporters in Dhaka. “We will lodge a written appeal with the ACC very soon and will also give a copy to the ICC.”The rules of cricket (Law 42.5) sanction a strict penalty for the fielding team if a fielder is found by the umpire to deliberately obstruct a batsman while attempting a run. Neither batsman can be dismissed (if a run-out has taken place), five penalty runs are awarded to the batting side, the delivery will not count as one in the over, the run will count even if the batsmen haven’t crossed and the batsmen can choose which of them faces the next delivery. Whether or not there was intent behind the collision is for the umpire to determine; in this case, after the players had collided, the umpire Steve Davis was seen having a word with both players. The delivery yielded a single.”It is clearly written in the playing conditions that it will be a dead ball if the batsman faces an obstacle while running by a bowler or fielder. The batting side will get a five-run penalty,” Siraj was also quoted as saying in the . “In that case, we would have required only four runs off six balls. We have footage which clearly shows that the bowler in question created an obstacle to [Mahmudullah] Riyad.”Intikhab Alam, the PCB director, said it was “sad and disappointing” to hear Siraj’s statement. “It was a thrilling final and everyone praised Bangladesh for their fight. Their decision to appeal is just an afterthought after the result,” Alam said. “The fact of the matter is that no match umpire or referee complained about this to Pakistan management and Bangladesh’s complaint will spoil a wonderful final which everyone enjoyed.”Bangladesh needed nine to win at the start of the 50th over; they lost by two runs. Had Pakistan been penalised, Bangladesh’s task of chasing down 237 for a win would have been made significantly easier.

Stuart Broad has been ruled out of action for the next three weeks as he continues his rehabilitation from a calf strain sustained during England’s recent tour of Sri Lanka

George Dobell10-Apr-2012Stuart Broad has been ruled out of this season’s IPL in order to continue his rehabilitation from injury. Broad, who is contracted to Kings XI Punjab, sustained an injury to his right calf during England’s recent tour of Sri Lanka. Broad also missed the 2011 IPL season after sustaining a rib injury.Arvinder Singh, chief operating officer of Kings XI Punjab, said the franchise were “sorely disappointed over Broad’s absence but will soon finalise a suitable replacement”.Broad’s aim now is to return to cricket with Nottinghamshire in early May. He will train at Trent Bridge and receive regular assessments from the ECB’s medical staff. It is, at present, anticipated that he will return to duty in the County Championship against Middlesex at Trent Bridge May 9. Broad is also contracted to Kings XI Punjab for the 2013 season, subject to England commitments.Under the terms of Broad’s central contract with the ECB, he had originally been due to return to from IPL duty on May 5. Any England centrally contracted player appearing in the IPL – including Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan – is monitored by the ECB’s medical staff who keep in touch with the franchises to oversee the treatment of niggles and adherence to any predefined programmes.The workload of Broad is beginning to concern the England team management. Broad, 25, is a member of the England squad in all three formats of the game and has suffered a series of injuries over the last 18 months. A stomach muscle strain ruled him out of three Ashes Tests in Australia before a rib injury curtailed his World Cup campaign. Towards the end of the English season he then damaged his shoulder and missed the end of the India home series and Twenty20 matches against West Indies, plus the return contest in India during October which meant Graeme Swann was required as a stand-in T20 captain.The ECB have also announced the availability of the rest of the squad that toured Sri Lanka. While some players, such as Monty Panesar, Ravi Bopara, Steve Davies and James Tredwell will be available for this week’s round of championship games, others – such as James Anderson, Graeme Swann and Alastair Cook – will be rested until the start of May.

Kolkata Knight Riders set up a first qualifier match against table-toppers Delhi Daredevils as they took the No. 2 spot with a comfortable win over Pune Warriors

The Report by Abhishek Purohit19-May-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBrendon McCullum struggled to adapt to the lack of pace but kept the runs coming•AFP

Kolkata Knight Riders set up a first qualifier match against table-toppers Delhi Daredevils as they took the No. 2 spot with a comfortable win over Pune Warriors. Like they had done against Mumbai Indians in their previous game, Knight Riders posted a decent total on a difficult pitch and their spinners choked the Warriors batsmen into a futile crawl. The home side ended a second disappointing season with their ninth consecutive defeat, an IPL record, and one that involved some questionable selections.On a slow and low pitch which Man-of-the-Match Shakib Al Hasan said reminded him of Bangladesh, Warriors gave only two overs to Ali Murtaza, the lone specialist spinner they played ahead of their two first-choice spinners, Murali Kartik and Rahul Sharma. While Shakib, the only batsman on either side to feel at home on the pitch, rode his luck to provide the boost Knight Riders’ stumbling innings needed, Warriors left out his Bangladesh team-mate Tamim Iqbal for the 16th and final time this season.Shakib’s onslaught and his 67-run stand with Brendon McCullum were crucial given Knight Riders did not have the luxury of a breezy start from the in-form Gautam Gambhir. McCullum, too, struggled to adapt his attacking game to the lack of pace but managed to keep the runs coming.Knight Riders reached 50 as late as the 12th over, when the innings shifted gears rapidly. From 49 for 2 after 11 overs, Knight Riders took 87 off the next nine, largely due to Shakib. It was McCullum, though, who began the onslaught, pulling and swinging Ashish Nehra for consecutive fours.Shakib could have been dismissed twice in the next over, bowled by Michael Clarke, instead Knight Riders looted 20 runs. Robin Uthappa failed to stump a charging Shakib, on 5, off the first ball and conceded four byes. Shakib charged again and lifted the second over deep midwicket for six. Off the fourth ball, a slog-sweep was put down by Parnell at deep square leg. The sixth disappeared over deep midwicket again.The first 50 of the innings had taken 68 deliveries; the next 50 took 19. At 101 for 2 after 15 overs, Knight Riders were eyeing 150, but Warriors hit back with the dismissals of McCullum and Shakib in the 17th and 18th overs. McCullum drilled Wayne Parnell to extra cover to depart for 41 off 43, while Shakib got a yorker from Bhuvneshwar Kumar to be bowled for 42 off 30. Yusuf Pathan got a couple of fours away as Knight Riders ended on a score that ensured their three spinners had the runs to squeeze Warriors.And that is what happened. Apart from Jesse Ryder, briefly, no Warriors batsman appeared comfortable against Knight Riders’ army of spinners and medium-pacers. Robin Uthappa did guide the first delivery of the chase to the third man boundary. That was to be the only four in the Warriors innings. Uthappa soon spooned a catch to cover off Iqbal Abdulla.Ryder skipped out to hit a couple of sixes and at one stage, Warriors were 51 for 1 in the eighth over. It was a matter of time though. Clarke, back from his wedding in Australia to play a lone inconsequential IPL game, ahead of Tamim, was stumped off a Yusuf wide for 13 off 18. In his next over, Yusuf, who has had a forgettable season, dislodged Ryder, bowled after a weak attempt at a sweep.Sourav Ganguly lasted eight deliveries before Shakib trapped him in front. A season that had started with three wins in four games soon ended in the ninth successive defeat for Warriors. Given their form, it is good for them that they ran out of games to play.Knight Riders now have two shots to try and get into the final. They will be playing Daredevils on this ground on Tuesday.

Michael Hussey has been allowed to skip Australia’s tour of Ireland and England to be with his family after the premature birth of his child

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jun-2012Michael Hussey has been allowed to skip Australia’s tour of Ireland and England in June and July to be with his family after the premature birth of his child. Cricket Australia said he will be replaced by Queensland batsman Peter Forrest in the 15-man squad.”Due to our baby being born three months early, it is important for the family for me to be here at this time,” Hussey said. “It is always difficult to miss any tour for Australia and I thank CA for their understanding of our family’s situation.”Forrest, who has played 11 ODIs so far, had been named as the stand-by player when the squad was named in May. He will now be part of the touring party that leaves Australia on June 14.The Australians will play Leicestershire in a tour game on June 21 before taking on Ireland in a one-off ODI in Stormont on June 23. After another tour game against Essex, Australia will play England at Lord’s on June 29 in the first of five ODIs.

Notts were put in trouble after another top order collapse left Chris Read having to rebuild the innings

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge18-Jul-2012
ScorecardNottinghamshire do not care much for flat pitches that lead to dull draws. Their winning philosophy involves surfaces prepared with a more than even chance of a result, one way or another, the reasoning being that to chalk up enough victories to win the County Championship you have to risk the odd defeat.Not that they lose too many on their Trent Bridge pitches, even when they have been five wickets down before lunch on the opening day. Recoveries engineered by their under-appreciated captain, Chris Read, are as common as top-order collapses. There is another under way in this match.The signing of quality recruits such as Michael Lumb and James Taylor was supposed to bring stability to the batting, or at least limit the frequency of mishaps, but the pitch prepared for this match was revealed to have variable bounce as well as surface grass and Read must have feared it would be another day for his well-honed experience as soon as Surrey’s latest captain, Zander de Bruyn, won the toss and chose to field.De Bruyn was leading the side here, in the continuing absence, on indefinite compassionate leave, of Rory Hamilton-Brown, after the previous stand-in, Gareth Batty, was left out in favour of an extra seamer, which is an indication of how Surrey assessed the conditions.There was no Chris Tremlett, recovering from back surgery, who played against Lancashire in a four-day match last week but was rested from this one, nor Jade Dernbach, who is still missing with the side strain that forced him out of England’s one-day series against Australia.But the seam quartet that was wheeled out – with Tim Linley and Chris Jordan added – took the first five wickets for 84 in 23 overs nonetheless, although it might be argued that they could have done so at a smaller cost, given that only Jordan conceded runs at fewer than four an over, giving the Nottinghamshire batsmen width to play with on both sides of the wicket.They were helped by the vagaries of the bounce. Lumb’s dismissal leg before owed something to the ball keeping low, Taylor edged one that climbed on him more than he foresaw and Alex Hales, trying to defend on the back foot to Jon Lewis, misread the ball sufficiently to inside edge it on to the ground and into his stumps.In between, Samit Patel played a poor leg-side shot that had him caught behind off a thin edge as Nottinghamshire slipped from 35 without loss after five overs to 59 for 4 in the space of 11 more overs.This followed an extraordinary opening in which Hales and Riki Wessels, who had shared an opening stand of 89 in 9.4 overs in a CB40 match against Hampshire on Tuesday evening, seemed intent on continuing in that vein, Wessels taking three fours in Lewis’s first over before Hales took two more boundaries as Linley opened at the other end. Not surprisingly, this bold approach ran into trouble as Wessels, having rushed to 23 off 23 balls, edged Linley to first slip.Taylor’s dismissal ushered in Read to join Voges and what followed was the familiar story. Voges was missed on 5 without further addition to the score, which was a significant moment given that this Nottinghamshire side has a lengthy tail, but thereafter the pair took their chances without risking too much and added 34 in five overs up to lunch without further scares.In the afternoon, they had to negotiate two stoppages for rain before the last one proved terminal — limiting play to 42 overs – but maintained their concentration admirably and the partnership so far is worth 94 runs, which could prove invaluable if this match is a low scoring one.They have rattled along, in keeping with the pace of the innings overall, scoring their runs off 108 balls. Read has 49 from 63 balls with eight fours. The Notts skipper clocked up 11,000 first-class runs for the county during the match against Middlesex at Uxbridge last week. He has compiled 63 first-class half-centuries in 225 matches for the county, turning 19 of them into centuries, and more often than not it has been in circumstances similar to these.

Independent research that may have swayed the ICC’s executive board into approving mandatory use of the DRS was not shown at its meeting in Kuala Lumpur

Daniel Brettig09-Jul-2012Independent research that may have swayed the ICC’s executive board into approving mandatory use of the DRS was not shown at its meeting in Kuala Lumpur, despite being pivotal in convincing both the cricket committee and the chief executives’ committee of the technology’s accuracy.Wally Edwards, the Cricket Australia chairman, has revealed that the research on ball-tracking conducted by Dr Ed Rosten, an expert in computer vision technology, was left off the agenda of the executive board meeting, which concluded without the issue of DRS even being put to a vote due to India’s reluctance to accept its use.The ICC will now send a mission to India to show Dr Rosten’s research to the BCCI, alongside details of the enhancements made to Hot Spot, the infrared cameras used to detect edges that had their accuracy questioned after the 2011 Test series between England and India.Edwards told ESPNcricinfo that while other members of the board had also expressed some reluctance to go ahead with mandatory use of the DRS, he believed the tabling of Dr Rosten’s research may have resulted in a different outcome.”ICC had got some independent research done on the accuracy and all those issues. Now unfortunately they didn’t present that information to the board,” Edwards said. “India have agreed and the boards have agreed for ICC management to go to India and take all the information, take their presentations, take their technical support and talk to them over there.”India are willing to look at it, but they’re sceptical, and others are too – it’s not just India. I think it is part of the game for the future, but it’s a good time to review. Unfortunately if that presentation, or whatever it is they had, had been presented to the board it might have changed things. But we probably need another process, because people would have to go back to their boards and say ‘this is the latest, can we move from where we are to there’. Obviously Australia supports it, and we understand there’s still an error factor, but overall it’s better than what we had.”The accuracy of the DRS had been warmly endorsed by both the ICC’s cricket committee and chief executives committee, with Dr Rosten’s research a critical part of winning their approval. Following the CEC meeting, an ICC statement read: “CEC recommended to the Board the universal application of the DRS after being satisfied with the technology enhancements provided by new Hotspot cameras and the results of the independent research on ball tracking conducted by Dr Ed Rosten, an expert in computer vision technology. Dr Rosten had tested the accuracy and reliability of ball tracking in a recent Test series and concluded that the results were 100% in agreement with the outcomes produced from his assessments.”Much has been made of the back-room politics of the executive board, which appears to be far more consequential to the running of the global game than anything said in formal meetings. Edwards, however, said he did not find it unusual that the DRS was not tabled for a vote, based on his previous experience on various corporate and cricket boards in Australia. Instead, he awaited India’s response to the research they will be presented with.”Obviously if there are debatable issues we try to debate them. The more difficult the issue, the more you should talk,” Edwards said. “But in any boards that I’ve been on, there are very few decisions that will actually go to a ‘we’re going to count the votes here’ situation. Governance is one of them, but most others you’ll find a consensus that says ‘yeah right we’ll give that a run’. I didn’t find it unusual.”We knew where India stand on it, and at this point in time they’re not ready to change their thoughts. Those lines you see on TV, are they accurate, that’s the scepticism. It looks accurate, but from their point of view they are reluctant just to accept it as gospel. I think it is possible they’ll change, but we’ll have to wait and see how they go with this new information in India.”Previous attempts have been made to demonstrate the intricacies and accuracy of ball-tracking and other technology to the BCCI, notably via a planned trip to Australia during the 2010-11 Ashes series. On that occasion the visit was at first approved by the BCCI but then ruled out due to “scheduling difficulties”.