John Bracewell claimed to have inside knowledge on why Adam Gilchrist was rested for Thursday’s final match of the Chappell-Hadlee Series before apologising to Australia’s vice-captain for being misleading. Less than a week after refusing to pass Shaun Tait’s action, Bracewell was back in the limelight with a strange response to a question about whether he was surprised by Gilchrist’s omission for the deciding game in Hobart.”No, not at all because of the circumstances of why he’s left out of the team,” Bracewell was reported by NZPA. “[The reasons are] not for me to reveal. It’s down as ‘rested’, but they’re not for me to reveal. Could it be family reasons? I don’t know. It’s not necessarily rested.”Gilchrist told the Australian: “I don’t care what they say. They’ve had a lot to say over the last week. I wonder what they’ll say next?” A New Zealand spokesman later told the Sydney Morning Herald Bracewell had phoned Gilchrist to “clarify the situation and apologise”.The incident continues a string of strange accusations involving Bracewell when New Zealand play Australia. Before the Test series in 2004-05 he said Australia were vulnerable the longer the match lasted, during the tour he claimed Hawkeye was altered to suit the home team and at the end of it he complained a pitch had been swapped to negate the spin of Daniel Vettori.In 2005 he suggested Brett Lee could be taken to court if one of his high full-tosses hurt a batsman and he also believed the Australians, who were being hit by objects thrown from the stands, stopped play to disrupt a New Zealand chase in a one-day game. Bracewell had refused to comment on the Tait issue in Adelaide and this time said it was “never mentioned in our camp”.He deflected queries about whether he was satisfied Tait operated within the laws by saying: “I just haven’t spoken to the match referee. He’s a bowler like everyone else. He’s damn fast and good on him.”Australia lead the series 1-0 and New Zealand need a victory at Bellerive Oval to retain the trophy. The second match in Sydney was washed out with the visitors in severe trouble at 3 for 30, but Bracewell was not concerned.”To go down to Hobart and have to win a game to win a trophy is a good position to be in,” he said. “It was only a six-over game. Everything starts afresh so the psychological advantage finishes with a non-result.”

Gary Kirsten believes the “spirit of cricket was breached” during the controversial Sydney Test, and feels both the captains need to sit together and resolve the issue.”I’m not sitting on the fence. The game doesn’t need two nations saying ‘I was right’,” Kirsten, who joined the Indian team as a consultant in Perth, told Cricinfo.Refusing to take sides, Kirsten, set to become India’s head coach from March 1, said there couldn’t be smoke without fire from either side. “One needs to be a careful. I have got to look at this thing objectively. I have got to be very careful in what I say. To me what’s going on is sad.”I’m looking at it objectively because I wasn’t in the heat of the battle. Maybe I’d have a different perspective if I was in the heat of battle saying India were unfairly treated, and there were comments made, but the way it’s going is not good for the game at the moment.”Kirsten felt it was up to the players to find the best way to resolve the issue. “I read that Ricky Ponting and Anil Kumble are meeting up and that is very good. They need to sit down with the players and tell them, ‘Listen, we are the custodians of the game at the moment and we’ve got to make sure we uphold this game and the passion with it should be played’.”He wanted both teams to take a fresh approach to the way they go about playing in the remainder of the series. “No individual is greater than the game. These are two great cricket nations and as players, they need to stand up and say, ‘This is the way we are going to go about our business now’. I don’t think for one minute that takes away the aggressiveness and competitiveness with which you should play the game. I think there has been an overstepping of the mark and once players breach that anything can happen.”

Catch of the day
Mahela Jayawardene’s low pluck at short midwicket to remove KevinPietersen. He didn’t have to move so it was routine in most senses,but it travelled like a bullet and had been tossed a mile in the airalmost before anyone had registered what had happened. Pietersentrudged off ruing the vagaries of fortune. For the first time in hiscareer, he’s failed to make a fifty in a completed Test series.Over of the day
At every critical juncture of this series, England have faltered andSri Lanka have surged. So it proved in a thrilling over before lunch,when the menace of Muttiah Muralitharan combined with the fear of theEnglish batsmen to produce a catastrophic implosion. Pietersen’sdismissal had created a ripple of disquiet, but when Paul Collingwoodwas confounded by the doosra and stumped by two feet, a precipiceopened up beneath England’s innings and poor Ravi Bopara stumbledstraight in. A panicky edge, a stuttered attempt at a run, a thrillingpounce, a despairing backflip, a gleeful whip of the bails. SuddenlyEngland were embracing oblivion for the second innings running.Drop of the day
Prasanna Jayawardene has been a picture of anonymity in the field,which for a wicketkeeper can only be a good thing – Matt Prior canonly dream of the day he’s not got a mention in the morning papers.Even so, he produced something of a blooper in the second over of themorning, when Alastair Cook had added just one run to his overnight53. The ball was fired down the leg-side, and brushed the face of thebat as Cook shaped to glance. But Jayawardene missed his moment, andEngland’s survival prospects lived on.Innings of the day
England hadn’t gone through an entire Test series without at least onecenturion since they were overturned by New Zealand in 1999. Thatresult, coincidentally, left England rock-bottom in the worldrankings, so symbolically it was rather important that someone -anyone – stood up to be counted today. The honour eventually went toCook, who doesn’t turn 23 until Christmas Day. Yet has now racked upseven centuries in his young career, which equals Javed Miandad at thesame age. Only Bradman and Tendulkar, with eight, have managed more.That’s some illustrious company.Self-publicising numpty of the day
Yesterday, a banner appeared on the fort which caught the attention ofthe England team – Cook included, who commented on it after the match.Today, clearly chuffed by the amount of publicity his little stunt hadgenerated, the same chap turned his sheet around, and scrawled: “15days of torture – thanks for nothing England”. Pillock. If you’re thatbored of the cricket, go and sit on the beach. Or walk around thefort. Or lounge on a shady verandah. Or go home to damp, freezingBlighty.Stat of the day
Ryan Sidebottom (253 balls) faced more deliveries in theseries than Pietersen (250). There are England’s shortcomings ina nutshell.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

South Africa prevented a repeat of the summit clash between India and Pakistan in 2006, with a convincing 98-run victory in a rain-affected semi-final in Kuala Lumpur.South Africa’s bowlers picked up 8 for 67 on Saturday after play was resumed on the reserve day because of a monsoon shower, which brought a halt to the game on Friday, with Pakistan on 86 for 2 in 18.5 overs.The rain threatened to ruin play on Saturday as well for it had been pouring since the wee hours of the morning. On most grounds around the world, play would have been abandoned but the drainage at the Kinrara Oval is such that after the showers eased at 11.00 am local time, the ground staff had the ground ready for a 12.20 pm start. Pakistan needed 166 to win off 28.1 overs with eight wickets in hand at the start of play butSouth Africa’s medium-pace attack bowled a tight line and length and four quick wickets irreparably damaged Pakistan’s chances. The D/L target, which had to be kept in mind given the overcast conditions, spiralled out of control.The game turned in South Africa’s favour with the first ball – Pieter Malan slipped one down leg side and Bradley Barnes completed a sharp stumping after Umar Amin had over-balanced. The D/L par score, which was 91 for 2 after 20 overs, inched upwards following the first ball wicket. A second quick wicket put the D-L par score out ofPakistan’s immediate reach. Ali Asad was adjudged leg-before to Roy Adams though the ball had pitched outside leg.Pakistan were 95 for 4 but Ahmed Shehzad, who was on 40 overnight, was still batting and he briefly kept hopes alive through his fluent strokeplay. He reached his 50 with a lofted six against Yaseen Vallie but was lucky to get there because Jonathan Vandiar dropped a hard chance right on the long-on boundary. However, on 60, Shehzad fell while trying to raise the tempo, top-edging a slower delivery from Adams to Sybrad Engelbrecht at point.Shehzad had fallen after a brief stand of 29 and as has been the trend inPakistan’s innings another wicket fell quickly – Umair Mir bowled roundhis legs by Vallie – to reduce them to 124 for 6.The game as a contest was finished with Pakistan needing 128 with four wickets in hand and the remaining batsmen lost their wickets holing out in the outfield while trying to find the boundary. South Africa’s victory means that India, after waiting for more than 24 hours to know the identity of the other finalist, will face the team they beat during thegroup stages. South Africa, however, have improved remarkably since that six-wicket defeat and will pose a sterner challenge.

There are three candidates seeking to become the new USACA president in elections set to take place on March 29.A list of all candidates for the various executive posts, including secretary, treasurer, and vice presidents, was announced by USACA after the vetting processes required under the new constitution were completed.As expected, Gladstone Dainty will be seeking re-election as president, and he faces a strong challenge from Ram Varadarajan. A third candidate, Kamran Khan, a former USACA president and captain of the US side, is also standing.The main battles for the other posts are between existing USACA officials and those who have lined up on Varadarajan’s ticket.Click here for a full list of candidates

ScorecardIt was restrictive bowling at its best as ICL India XI, led by Ali Murtaza’s miserly spell of 2 for 22 in four overs, shut Pakistan XI out of the contest after an aggressive start in their chase of 177. Pakistan XI pinned their hopes on Imran Farhat and Hasan Raza to guide them through but were unable to cut loose against the slow bowlers and eventually ended on 144 for 6, 32 short of the target. The win sealed India XI’s place in the final on Tuesday.The win was setup by an attacking half-century by Tejinder Pal Singh, whose 52 off 32 balls piloted India XI to 176. Ibrahim Khaleel and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala added 66 for the second wicket before a doube-strike by Arshad Khan set them back at 84 for 3. Tejinder and S Abbas Ali staged a recovery with a blistering stand of 52 in just 4.4 overs. Abbas Ali hit two fours in his 22 before he was run-out by Abdul Razzaq at the bowler’s end for backing up too far. Tejinder continued the assault and launched two sixes, including one which towered high over long-on. He fell for 52 off just 32 balls, bowled by Naved-ul-Hasan off the penultimate ball of the innings.Pakistan XI suffered an early setback after Imran Nazir was forced to retire hurt early owing to a groin injury. Razzaq meanwhile launched the chase into overdrive, smashing seven fours and a six in his 38. G Vignesh, the medium pacer, then struck twice in the space of two overs, sending back the dangerous Razzaq to bring the Indians back into the contest.Farhat and Raza came together with the score at 52 and for a lengthy period, ensured Pakistan didn’t ensure any further loss of wickets. However, the required rate began to climb once the left-arm spin duo of Murtaza and Syed Mohammad and the seamer T Kumaran operated in the middle overs, giving very little away. The odd six lifted Pakistan’s spirits but the fluency was missing. India XI’s fielding inside the circle was of a very high standard, forcing the batsmen to improvise. Cheeky glides to third man and straight drives were intercepted and the nagging stump-to-stump line by Murtaza only made life difficult for the pair as almost every slog failed to make contact with the bat. Farhat finally hit out in the 18th over, skying a catch to R Satish off Kumaran. Vignesh finished with the best figures for the Indians with 3 for 22 in four overs.Pakistan XI needed an improbable 43 off the last two overs and the contest was effectively sealed. With India XI already in the final, tomorrow’s match between Pakistan XI and World XI is a virtual semi-final.

Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, fears for the future of international cricket if administrators don’t carve out a six-week window for the Indian Premier League. The tournament opens in Bangalore on Friday and while the cricket world is waiting to see how big it will be, Ponting is concerned about how it could influence players.”If they don’t [have an international window], I fear for the long-term impact that it will have on the game,” Ponting wrote in the Australian. “Much has been said about the veterans coming to the end of their careers, but what about those players just starting out?”I think it’s vital that we have a six-week period carved out of every international team’s program because the money being thrown around becomes very appealing to young kids coming into the game.”Ponting expressed concern that players might choose the lucrative Twenty20 league over national duties. “Seeing the big dollars there and having the chance to take that and turn your back on international cricket is the biggest danger that will be posed out of this event,” Ponting said. “For those young guys starting out who haven’t had a taste of international cricket, they might not want to put themselves through the rigours of travelling the world for the next 15 years.”And the guys at the end of their careers have family at home and it’s getting harder and harder for them to go away on tours every year. For them, they could make the equivalent amount of money in only seven weeks.”Ponting highlighted the exodus faced by countries such as New Zealand, with key players like Shane Bond having joined the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League. “I know it has lost a couple of its bigger and better players because of the difference in pay playing for New Zealand,” Ponting said. “The Kiwis’ IPL contracts are probably four times the value of their international contract.”That’s where the dangers are. You would hate to see a situation where New Zealand is no longer playing international cricket because it has no players.”John Buchanan, the former Australia coach who is with the Kolkata Knight Riders, expressed similar concerns in the . He said cricket needed to sort out its finances and the likes of Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire hoping to revive West Indies cricket, should be welcomed.”With the exception of Australia, England and India, every country in world cricket is struggling to pay their players sufficiently,” he said. “For example, we have Brendon McCullum with us, and there’s no way New Zealand Cricket could be paying him in a day what the IPL is.”But there shouldn’t be any debate in terms of him playing for his country. That is of utmost importance. But administrators should allow the IPL to subsidise his income with New Zealand Cricket.”

Muttiah Muralitharan has plans to work alongside Anil Kumble to coach subcontinent players in spin bowling after his retirement. “He [Anil] is one of the greatest bowlers I have seen and he knows a lot”, Murali told , a Mumbai daily.”We will see which country needs help. We are looking at subcontinent countries and academies.” Murali said they wanted to spend one to two weeks working with each academy. “I think bowling coaching is not about technique but how to access the conditions and bowl in those conditions. When both of us call it a day we will look at coaching together. Hopefully, it will help future generations.”Murali said he hoped to play for at least three more years so that he could complete 20 years in international cricket. “I am enjoying Twenty20 now so much so I might play a few years. I have signed for three years so I have to play for these three years. Then I have to see if I can play for one year or more. It depends on how I bowl.” In the IPL so far, he has taken three wickets in three matches for the Chennai Super Kings, who are at the top of the points table having won all their games.Murali said Twenty20 was as much a game for bowlers as it was for batsmen. The key, for bowlers, he said, was to read what the batsman is going to play very early. “Mainly people like to see sixes and fours and if there are wickets where batsmen can’t score then people will get bored. But bowlers also have to give themselves chances.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsNasir Hossain collected three wickets to rattle Chittagong•Raton Gomes/BCB

Dhaka Dynamites bounced back from their defeat on Wednesday, securing a convincing six-wicket win against Chittagong Vikings. In yet another low-scoring encounter, Dhaka’s bowlers showed good control, rolling over Chittagong for 92. The top-order batsmen then complemented the bowlers as Dhaka chased down the target with 17 balls to spare.Chittagong’s innings began on an undesirable note: Tamim Iqbal was given out caught behind despite the ball not grazing the bat or the glove on its way to Kumar Sangakkara. Tamim dragged himself off the field, after which Anamul Haque was out lbw, trying to pull Farhad Reza in the next over.The 19-year old Yasir Ali, however, started off with three fours off Abul Hasan. He drove past cover, over mid-off, and pulled over midwicket to briefly revive the innings. However, he nicked a Mustafizur Rahman cutter behind in the next over.Tillakaratne Dilshan struck a four and a six soon after, but left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain had him lbw for 20. Chittagong promoted Mohammad Amir to No.6 but he made only 2 before chopping on Yasir Shah as Chittagong slumped to 50 for 5 in 8.4 overs. Naeem Islam, playing his first match of the season, hung around with the lower order after Jeevan Mendis (1) and Ziaur Rahman (9) were undone by Nasir Hossain.Naeem launched a six in the 18th over but ran out of partners and finished unbeaten on 29 off 38 balls. Mustafizur and Nasir claimed combined figures of 7.4-1-26-6.Shykat Ali and Shadman Islam, playing his first T20 game, laid a solid foundation, for the chase, with a 45-run opening partnership. Shykat went about his work impressively, the highlight being a pick-up shot that sailed over square leg for a six. However, he holed out to long-on for 23 off 17 balls.Nasir Jamshed then was caught at long-off in the 13th over, for 12, and Nasir was bowled by Naeem two overs later. Shadman, who was largely becalmed early on, then unleashed two square-cuts off Shafiul Islam. The opener fell with his side two runs away from the target but Kumar Sangakkara completed the chase with a pulled four.

Mohammad Amir may have spent five years in the wilderness, but Pakistan chief selector Haroon Rasheed has said he is ‘still better’ than most of the competition.Amir became eligible for national selection within four months of completing an ICC ban for spot-fixing. Rasheed told ESPNcricinfo he was assessed solely on his cricketing skill. “As a selector what we see is the overall ability, skills, form, fitness and performance so this is all we have taken into account before considering him for the New Zealand tour. He is still better than most of those who played in last five years. We have seen him performing at domestic level and he has stood out. But now we want to assess him at the international level and see how well he can deliver.”Fourteen fast bowlers (including bowling all-rounders) have made debuts across formats for Pakistan since Amir’s five-year suspension in 2010. In that time, only Wahab Riaz has made a case for a permanent place in the XI across formats. Fellow left-arm seamer Junaid Khan had a promising start to his career, but his threat has diminished greatly and has not been part of a Pakistan team since June. Umar Gul has had a tough time with injuries; he is still pushing for a comeback. Rahat Ali has been a workhorse at times, but is not an automatic selection. Imran Khan and Mohammad Irfan have fitness concerns.Pakistan chief selector Haroon Rasheed on Mohammad Amir: “We are not undermining other players and forcing him [back] but there is always a difference between normal and extraordinary players.”•AFP

Amir, 23, resumed his career in March playing grade two cricket in Pakistan, after the ICC allowed an early return to cricket. He moved onto grade one and caught further attention in the Bangladesh Premier League where he picked up 14 wickets in nine matches at an average of 12.64.”We are not undermining other players and forcing him [back] but there is always a difference between normal and extraordinary players,” Rasheed said of Amir. “We are not axing anyone to bring him in. They are all part of the circuit and part and parcel of our planning.”But about Amir, it’s not just his bowling but his all-round ability. He is good fielder and can bat with surety. Had he kept on playing in last five years he could have been developed into an established allrounder. We have good bowlers but they are not known for their batting. I don’t want to point to anyone, but we need our players to cover all the three dimensions of the game.”Amir has a top score of 73 against New Zealand in ODIs, and has a couple of fifties in first-class cricket as well.”Pakistan hasn’t been really a bad ODI team,” Rasheed said, “What has been hampering them is the fielding and fitness. Skill was never really a problem. So we want to pick a boy who has everything and as a selector we have seen something in him.”Pakistan’s one-day team is in transition, and the inconsistency in selection has not helped their cause. They have had four selection committees in three years. And following the retirements of Misbah-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi after the World Cup 2015, there was a widespread revamp with Azhar Ali appointed as ODI captain.”One thing is certain, we didn’t have readymade back-up sitting behind. We know we have tons of players performing in the domestic circuit, scoring heavily and taking wickets and after the World Cup, we wanted to give all of them a chance and test their potential.”Now the experimentation is over and we came to understand that most of them lacked the temperament, confidence and the fitness. We have told them [that] and sent them back to domestic cricket to work on their limitations. At the same time we have stuck with some of them and given them a longer run in the national team.”Rasheed also stressed on the need to give players a longer stint in the team, to help them gain experience and settle into the team set-up.”We definitely have to digest failure and we are throwing our full confidence behind the players we have selected after extensive experimentation for almost an entire year. Realistically, we may be behind the rest of the cricketing world in ODIs but we have to stick with the boys and let them gain experience.”The team for Pakistan’s limited-overs tour of New Zealand will likely be announced by Saturday, since they fly out on January 10.