Almost everyone, either openly or secretly, had a good laugh when Kapil Dev called those who joined the Indian Cricket League (ICL) “the cream of the country”. That was because the players picked by the ICL did not promise a competitive league. But now, at the start of the first-class season, looking at the situation in terms of the loss to the Ranji Trophy rather than the ICL’s gain, the impact of the exodus seems huge; and it is only natural that it dominates pre-season thoughts.Moving from one Indian domestic season to another has long been a seamless transition, with not many changes, or changes that place too slowly to be noticed. It is usually difficult to identify the start of one season from another, but the huge exodus to ICL – about 15% of the total workforce – means this time will be different. When in two days’ time Bengal play Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens, more than 10 regular players from both sides will be missing. Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Baroda, Maharashtra, almost every team has been affected by the migration. The teams hit by ICL have never been too far from the semi-finals, which makes this one of the most unpredictable seasons in recent memory.It will be interesting to see how they cope with the predicament they find themselves in. “Cricket doesn’t stop with a few players”, has been the general, outwardly brave attitude of the teams severely hit. But only on the first morning will we know if Railways can do without JP Yadav, if Bengal without Deep Dasgupta, Baroda without Rakesh Patel, Punjab without Dinesh Mongia and UP without Shalabh Srivastava. This season will test the resilience of Indian domestic cricket and the supply of talent from junior cricket.Not a pointless exercise
From this season, holding on to a draw will get teams a point. What used to happen earlier was once a side had conceded the lead, it would play devil-may-care cricket in the second innings and get bowled out, in turn handing four easy points to the leading team. That usually hurt other teams in the group competing to make it to the semi-finals.Another aspect the BCCI might want to look into is that the team is awarded no points for gaining a first-innings lead if it eventually loses the match. This keeps the teams from going for outright wins, once a lead is attained.Getting the order right
The decision to schedule the Ranji Trophy before the Duleep Trophy this season, has meant that Ranji will have an early start on November 3. It also means the best performers can be picked for the Duleep Trophy for playing in an inter-zone tournament should be an apt incentive for performing well in the inter-state tournament.

Ump, you are being watched
Lack of feedback and proper appraisal has long been the umpires’ grudge in domestic cricket. Starting this season, every decision made by them will be logged and there will be an appraisal for umpires based on reports from the umpiring officer, the match referee and the captains. The umpiring officer will be assisted by the video-feedback system.But that is not where the umpiring officers’ work ends. Off the field they will have to guide the umpires on the match management; communication and team work; professionalism; preparation; and fitness, diet and appearance.Welcome to the big league
Orissa and Himachal Pradesh (HP) are the teams promoted to the Super League this season. HP, the Plate League champions, and Orissa, the runners-up, have made it on the back of dominating performances last year. While HP conceded a first-innings lead once last season – trailed Orissa by 51 runs – Orissa’s record was unblemished. But they will know this is a different league and to stay here for more than one season they will have to considerably up their performance.**First-round matches
Himachal Pradesh v Saurashtra in DharamsalaMumbai v Karnataka in MumbaiTamil Nadu v Maharashtra in ChennaiOrissa v Uttar Pradesh in CuttackPunjab v Andhra in AmritsarBengal v Hyderababad in Kolkata*Delhi v Rajasthan in Delhi**The two matches will start on November 4.

Kookaburra diplomacyBefore the game began, as the Australians walked out to the boundary ropes for a stretch the boisterous crowd began its sickening chant of “Aussies Suck”. It’s a Mumbai speciality, and though you hardly expect respect from the crowds for some of the best performers in the game, you don’t want to see this kind of thing either. Mike Young, Australia’s fielding coach, did his bit to win the crowd over, walking around the outfield and tossing a ball into each of the stands for a lucky spectator to catch. Handy souvenir from someone you’re booing.BlackoutAfter its initial reluctance to warm to the idea the Board of Control for Cricket in India has now embraced Twenty20 as fully as possible. But the organisation, or at least some parts of it, were a shambles when play began. For nearly ten overs there was no electricity in two stands and the tower housing the broadcasters and the media. The BCCI are quite good at keeping the media in the dark when they want, but this surely was the first time they did so literally.

Twelve and outBrett Lee used to be part of a band that called itself . On the day it was 12 and out for Adam Gilchrist. Off the very first over, in a supercharged atmosphere, Gilchrist carted the second, third and fourth deliveries from RP Singh for boundaries. A streaky edge between slip and keeper, a slash over point, a whip to fine-leg and middle stump uprooted next ball by a superb yorker. In all his innings consumed just three minutes. Not even enough time to cook instant noodles.Bounce ‘imWith the DJ pumping music that was geeing the crowd up – as if they needed any help – it was perhaps not surprising that Sreesanth, never one to keep his calm at the best of times, chose to bounce Matthew Hayden. The ball was pacy and climbed sharply on Hayden, but he was up to it, pulling off the front foot, with such monstrous power that the ball didn’t merely go high, it went far as well, clearing first the ropes and then the stands on the leg side, sailing out of the ground. Hitting sixes is one thing, but clearing the stands? That takes some doing.End of the road?Brad Hodge, for all the long rope he has been given, has failed to come up with one meaningful score in this Indian sojourn. His latest knock, perhaps his last in green and gold, lasted all of six balls and produced two runs, before Irfan Pathan got a straight one to slide through. Hodge, attempting to biff the ball over midwicket, was nowhere near the ball and the middle stump landed in Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s gloves.First sighting of HilfyBen Hilfenhaus has travelled to Bangalore, Kochi, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Vadodara, Nagpur and Mumbai without bowling a single ball. When the swing bowler from Tasmania got his first go, it should have produced a wicket. Gautam Gambhir sliced one high and wide towards mid-off, and it was safely pouched by Stuart Clark. Just as the Australians began to celebrate Suresh Shastri, the umpire, signalled the no-ball with a smile on his face. The free-hit cost nothing but one wasn’t too sure if Hilfenhaus saw the funny side of it.

Premier Limited Over Tournament

High-riding Bloomfield, without their prolific scorer Tillakaratne Dilshan who was leading a Sri Lanka President’s XI against England, suffered their first defeat of the season when Colombo CC won by one wicket during an exciting encounter at the Bloomfield ground. Allrounder Laknath Perera was Bloomfield’s adversary taking four wickets with his gentle medium-pace and then showing a cool head to score an undefeated 25 off 29 balls to enable CCC to pass the target of 198 in the 48th over. Despite the defeat Bloomfield continue to head the points table hotly pursued by Colombo Colts.Colombo Colts kept pace with NCC by defeating Ragama CC by nine wickets at the Colombo Cricket Club. Angelo Mathews, the former Sri Lanka Under-19 captain, knocked out the top and bottom of the order with four wickets. Colts made short work of the modest target, cruising home in the 23rd over mainly through an opening stand of 100 by Shantha Kalavitigoda and Dilruwan Perera, who made his ODI debut against England last month.Player of the week – Riki Wessels
Although there were a number of closely fought matches, the overall standard of batting has been disappointing with many young players failing to play straight. But one player who has stood out is Riki Wessels, the 22-year-old son of former Australian and South Africa cricketer Kepler Wessels.An Australian by birth Wessels, who plays for English county Northamptonshire and has set his sights of representing England in the future, signed up for one season with Nondescripts CC. According to the club’s vice president Ranjith Fernando he has making a good impression. “Riki’s fitted into the system very well. The way he is batting he’s certainly shown that he is enjoying himself.”Having started the season with an impressive knock of 83 against Tamil Union, Wessels has shown consistency as an opener averaging 53 from five matches. Last weekend he hit back-to-back half-centuries – 61 and 53 against Bloomfield and Chilaw Marians. However, despite Wessels’ contributions NCC are struggling to keep pace with the rest of the clubs. They are lying sixth and need to lift their game in the remaining four matches to have any chance of qualifying for the knock-out stage.

Delhi 278 for 5 (Manhas 74, Chopra 73, Bhatia 66*) lead Maharashtra 219 by 59 runs
Scorecard

When Delhi batted on the second day on a tricky Nagothane track, the difference between the two sides came down to one factor: experience. While the Maharashtra batsmen played too many shots, the Delhi batsmen applied themselves, saw out the tough periods, strung together partnerships and by stumps had put their side 59 ahead of Maharashtra’s total of 219 with five wickets to spare. The main contributors were Mithun Manhas, Aakash Chopra and Rajat Bhatia, each of whom scored a half-century.Manhas, who came in to join Chopra after Chetanya Nanda, the nightwatchman, and Virender Sehwag fell in quick succession, looked the most comfortable batsman. From the outset, he batted with ease off both front and back foot, choosing to wait for the ball to come to him rather than commit to playing strokes. He opened his account with a flick off the pads through midwicket, which was a feature of his innings. He hit seven boundaries in his 74 and strung together two important partnerships – 75 for the fourth wicket with Chopra and 91 for the fifth with Bhatia – before his dismissal against the run of play and when he looked good for his second century of the season.If Manhas made batting look easy, Chopra weathered the tough period, just before stumps yesterday and in the first hour today. He survived a couple of confident lbw appeals, when the fielders contended that the bat was hidden behind the pad. One edge fell short of slip and there was a big caught-behind shout too. On a pitch with variable bounce, he took a blow from one that kicked disconcertingly from a good length.While all that happened, he didn’t let the scoring slow down, rotating the strike consistently and hitting eight boundaries. He was comfortable against the spinners, playing the first pull shot of the match when he hit Sairaj Bahutule to the midwicket boundary in the 24th over. He stepped out to hit Agharkar for two fours down the ground and crossed 50 for the fourth time in this Ranji Trophy, one of which he has converted into a double-century and another into a century. The knock, which comes ahead of the selection for the Australia tour and with Bhupinder Singh, a national selector, watching, ended when he was on 73. He was given lbw off a Bahutule delivery that came in and was visibly unhappy with the decision, standing motionless at the wicket for about eight seconds before shaking his head and walked off.After Chopra got out, Bhatia, a five-for in his bag already, joined Manhas and the two carried Delhi through to the first-innings lead with ease. Bhatia batted with the same sense he had shown with the ball and played only when the bowlers made him play. When he went for the big hits, they cleared the boundary and he hit the only sixes of the match so far. He ended the day unbeaten on 66 off 190 deliveries.Sehwag, meanwhile, once again played an innings where he promised a lot and delivered little. In one over from left-armer Fallah, he walked down the wicket to take two boundaries – one flicked to fine leg and one driven straight down. But in the same over he went for another big drive, and beaten by the angle from round the stumps, played it on to the leg stump.The young Maharashtra bowlers bowled with heart, creating chances, and beat the bat on several occasions. However, like the Delhi seamers, Samad Fallah and Wahid Sayyed lacked the discipline, Fallah bowling eight no-balls and the two bowling two wides each. The young side’s inexperience showed as they appealed almost every time the ball hit the pad or beat the bat. The fielders stayed chirpy till the end of the day and kept cheering even wide balls, which were left alone. The new ball, taken in the 84th over, did not do any tricks for Maharashtra either, as Mayank Tehlan and Bhatia negotiated the period before stumps easily.

Mark Gillespie, the New Zealand fast bowler, has been ruled out of the second Test against Bangladesh after he aggravated the shoulder injury which forced him to miss the first Test while playing for Wellington against Auckland.Gillespie took 3 for 36 off 4.2 overs during his comeback for Wellington but the injury, which he sustained in the second ODI against Bangladesh in Napier, resurfaced and forced him to leave the field.”He [Gillespie] is definitely out of the Test line-up,” Durning told stuff.co.nz. “He bowled a complete spell the other day but yesterday he was three or four overs into a spell and all of sudden something happened again. We’ll wait and see the results of the Tests before making another other decisions.”Wellington coach Anthony Stuart also couldn’t explain what the problem with Gillespie’s shoulder was. “He [Gillespie] was confident of getting through ten overs and he got three wickets for us early and then just pulled up lame so it doesn’t look good,” Stuart said. “I’ve got no idea and to be fair I don’t think many people have got any idea about it. But there’s obviously a problem in there, whether it’s a rotator cuff or a nerve.”It only hits him at certain times and I don’t know if there’s an apparent reason for it or not, whether there’s something in his action, I don’t know, we can’t pinpoint it.”Gillespie did not take part in New Zealand’s practice session at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on Thursday. Fast bowlers Iain O’Brien and Michael Mason were the contenders to replace Gillespie though offspinner Jeetan Patel also had a chance depending on the nature of the pitch.

John Emburey has left Middlesex to continue his career in coaching.”John’s role as director of cricket was becoming more administrative, taking him away from the area of the game where his strengths lay,” explained Vinny Codrington, the county’s chief executive. “After lengthy discussions with the club, and a full review of our cricket structure, it was mutually agreed that John pursue his ambitions in coaching. He leaves behind a strong coaching team, led by Toby Radford, and a squad under Ed Smith more than capable of competing for all four domestic competitions. The club’s cricket structure has a solid base for an exciting future and we are very grateful to John for this.”John was open and honest throughout as he always is, and I’m certain we will see plenty of him in the summer and in the future”.Emburey has spent the bulk of his career with Middlesex, firstly as a player and then, after stints with Northamptonshire and Berkshire, as a coach. In 2001 he signed to coach Berkshire with the intention of emigrating to Australia at the end of the summer, but on the eve of the season he was appointed as Middlesex’s third coach in as many seasons, taking over from old team-mate Mike Gatting.In six years he struggled to motivate a side in transition, bringing in some distinctly average players as well, and at the end of 2006 the county were relegated from the top flight in both the Championship and National League. In 2007 Middlesex brought in Richard Pybus to coach with Emburey moving to the more hands-off role as director of cricket, but when Pybus unexpectedly quit five months into his contract, Emburey returned. In between he had briefly – and remarkably – been shortlisted for the India coaching vacancyLast autumn Middlesex appointed former player Toby Radford as first-team coach, signalling another move to a less hands-on role for Emburey, and it appears to have been that which led to today’s announcement.”I’ve really enjoyed my time here, but I want to continue my career in a direct coaching role,” Emburey said in a short statement. “I believe I leave the club in great shape and look forward to the club’s success in the future”.

Venkatesh Prasad, the former India new-ball bowler who is currently the team’s bowling coach, has revealed his chat with Dennis Lillee, the former Australian fast bowler, played a part in India’s historic win in Perth.Prasad, who had worked under Lillee at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai, met him on the morning of the second day of the Test in Perth and learnt how his bowlers could utilise the conditions.”I was under him at the MRF Pace Foundation,” Prasad said. “He’s a fantastic person and has a great knowledge of fast bowling. He told me how to use the breeze. He said that was the best thing to do here.”Prasad in turn passed on the advice to the Indian medium-pacers, who played a big part in Australia’s first defeat in Perth since 1997. “It depends on the line each bowler is bowling,” he said on the plan to use the Fremantle Doctor, the breeze at the WACA. “If you feel the breeze is blowing across and it’s coming back a long way you need to bowl on the fifth or the sixth stump to get it to come back towards the off and middle stump. You need to gauge that out in the middle.”I’ve always been saying our bowlers are the best in the business. Almost all can swing it at a good pace. All have a great wrist and seam position at the time of delivery. With the breeze here it helped them more. They’re usually bowling at 135-140 [kph] and swing it at a good pace. They trouble any batsman with their pace – not express but quick.”Prasad, who toured Australia in 1999-2000, was happy his bowlers had stuck to their plans for each batsman. “The venue doesn’t really bother us,” he said. “For some batsmen it’s about bowling full when they come in. For others it’s about bowling outside off. I’ve seen a lot of batsmen not being comfortable against swing bowling and our bowlers have shown they can produce that anywhere in the world. They did it in England and did it here. We’ve done it in Bangladesh and India as well.”The fact that a number of young Indian fast bowlers have managed to make an instant impact on the international circuit heartened Prasad. “The biggest difference between domestic and international cricket is in the mind. A good ball in domestic is a good ball here. But it’s about adaptability, planning and execution. In India you play on pitches that aren’t so encouraging to fast bowlers. A bowlers job is really hard and they don’t get as much credit as the batsmen do in India. Considering the wickets we bowl on, they deserve a lot of credit.”

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

Shahadat Hossain and Junaid Siddique were the heroes as Bangladesh had thebetter of the second day of the opening Test in Mirpur. Having establisheda 22-run first-innings lead, they were then indebted to Siddique for astodgy unbeaten 64 that stretched it to 147 by stumps. Dale Steynproduced another superb new-ball spell as Bangladesh slumped to 29 for 3before tea, but a 56-run partnership between Siddique and MohammadAshraful thwarted South Africa for a fair while in the final session.Shahadat, who bowled at a lively pace and with tremendous control forcareer-best figures of 6 for 27, may have been the main man but thetalking point of the day was provided by Ashraful. By the time he broughthimself on shortly before lunch, the momentum had swung towards SouthAfrica, with AB de Villiers riding his luck to 46 and Johan Botha offeringstout resistance.But it all changed in the space of one ball. And what a ball it was.Ashraful is no Shane Warne, and after the ball left his fingers, itbounced twice before reaching de Villiers. He chose to play it from thecrease, but could only top-edge it back to the bowler. Cue massivecelebrations from Bangladesh and no movement from de Villiers, who wasconvinced that it was a dead ball. Steve Bucknor finally sent him on hisway though, much to the dismay of the South African dressing room.Botha’s 91-ball vigil ended soon after, trapped lbw by Shahadat, and whenMornè Morkel followed on the stroke of lunch, Bangladesh were poised totake a slender lead. They did too, with Shahadat trapping Mark Boucher infront and then bowling Makhaya Ntini to complete an impressive spell.Bangladesh weren’t in the ascendancy when de Villiers was going strong.Coming to the crease after a shambolic mix-up sent Ashwell Prince on hisway in the second over of the day, he quickly signalled his intent withdrives, cuts and powerful pulls through midwicket. There was an element ofgood fortune too, with Ashraful, running back from mid-off, dropping acatch off Mohammad Rafique when de Villiers was on 30.On a pitch where the odd ball stayed exceptionally low, concentration wascrucial, and Botha played his part in a partnership that got South Africaback into the contest. He let de Villiers do the bulk of the scoring, butthere was also a lovely on-drive off Rafique and an impudent reverse-sweepoff Shakib Al Hasan in his innings of 25.There was a phase in the session where the South Africans were becalmedfor more than five overs, but once de Villiers smacked Shakib for a bigsix over midwicket and then took him for two fours in an over, the tideappeared to be turning. A bizarre dismissal though put paid to that.South Africa needed breakthroughs quickly and Steyn provided them. TamimIqbal was cleaned up by a quick one, and after Shahriar Nafees had playeda couple of lovely strokes square of the wicket, Steyn got one to shapeback and catch him in front. Habibul Bashar, whose career is in free fall,followed soon after in similar fashion and Bangladesh were once again indanger of squandering a promising position, as they had in Multan againstPakistan in 2003 and later in 2006, against Australia in Fatullah.But Ashraful and Siddique eschewed flamboyance for the most part to put onsome crucial runs. Ashraful, who was in one-day mode in the first innings,was remarkably controlled, showing his big-hitting prowess only with ahuge six over midwicket off a listless Botha.Ntini finally picked up his first wicket of the match, getting Ashraful toedge one behind, but Aftab Ahmed and Siddique saw it through to stumpswith a few dollops of luck. Edges fell short of slip and flashy drivesevaded fielders as Graeme Smith was reduced to trying out even NeilMcKenzie’s innocuous medium pace. It wasn’t South Africa’s day and unlessthey improve dramatically on Sunday, the cream of the Bangladeshi crop mayjust reprise their Under-19 team’s heroics in Malaysia.

Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, has warned his team-mates to be on their guard against Sri Lanka when the two-Test and five-match ODI tour starts later this month. Both sides are coming off a run of indifferent form – West Indies struggled on tour in South Africa and Sri Lanka won just two matches in the CB Series – and Gayle says the visitors boast a strong core of senior players.He picked out the batting of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara and the bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas as major challenges for West Indies to overcome. Although Sri Lanka have struggled of late in ODIs, they won their most recent Test series – against England in December – and played some impressive cricket.”Those two guys [Muralitharan and Vaas] have been their [main] wicket-takers in Test cricket,” Gayle told . “You have the likes of [Lasith] Malinga, those guys are playing international cricket now and getting a feel and getting more experienced and so forth playing overseas.”The batting line-up as well, Jayawardene and Sangakkara are in terrific form,” he said. “You have to work really hard to score runs and actually get wickets against them. We are looking forward to the challenge and hopefully the preparation can be good going in against Sri Lanka as well.”Gayle was reappointed as captain after impressing as a stand-in for Ramnaresh Sarwan on the tour of South Africa and previously in England last year. However, he was also injured in South Africa and was forced to miss the final Test plus the one-day series.”The build-up was very good in South Africa but unfortunately a lot of injuries came into play and then guys had to sit out for whatever reason as well including myself, I sat out a number of games overseas.”It’s a new series now so hopefully we’ll be strong and ready to go againstSri Lanka. We’ll see what the selectors can come up with, [hopefully] the best possible 13 and see how well we can have the right combination going in.”The first Test starts on March 22 in Guyana and the second match is in Trinidad from April 3.

The last time South Africa played a Test in Ahmedabad it was their first in India. India’s current coach was one of their opening batsmen, Hansie Cronje and Mohammad Azharuddin were the captains and Graeme Smith was just a school cricketer in Johannesburg’s King Edward School.Twelve years on and South Africa don’t have a single player from that match – the hosts have four – but they look a side rather accustomed to India, and that’s because they have put in the hard yards in the subcontinent.South Africa have had some extremely tough visits – namely Sri Lanka in 2004 and 2006, Pakistan in 2003 and India in 2004 – but under Smith over the last four years they have toured enough to understand what it takes to win.The visitors appear a much more confident and relaxed team than some touring sides of the past, who came with limited mindsets, and with personnel not always pushing for victory. Their batting has clicked in the subcontinent recently, their bowling attack is balanced and they are led by a man who doesn’t care too much for the past. On the eve of the second Test, Smith was markedly laidback compared to his opposite number, Anil Kumble, who briefly addressed the media while looking sterner than when a leg-before appeal has been turned down. Virender Sehwag took South Africa’s attack to the cleaners during a manic 319 last week but Smith said his side had worked out a few things to contain him. Nor was he too concerned about the Motera pitch, which he described as “good, with some grass covering on it.”Smith’s attitude reflects the state South Africa are in: confident after gaining a psychological advantage from the draw in Chennai and free of injury hassles. They know all too well that in Dale Steyn, Makhaya Nitini and Morne Morkel they have the bowling firepower to trouble India, who will be without the injured Sachin Tendulkar. And, crucially, they have a spinner who inspires faith in his captain. It makes for a hungry side.While the Motera track historically breaks up to interest the spinners there’s also evidence to suggest those cracks could aid the fast men. In 1996 Javagal Srinath exploited the craters on a poor surface to take 6 for 21 and skittle the South Africans, chasing 170, for 105. If Steyn were to stumble upon a breaking pitch there’s no reason why he couldn’t – with his tearaway pace – have India in trouble. Smith strongly felt this could happen.India have struggled against reverse-swing, even as recently as the home Test series against Pakistan where, Shoaib Akhtar, when fit, hustled them in a couple of hostile spells. As the ball gets older around the 30-over mark, Steyn remains the biggest threat but Morkel, who bowled some top spells in Chennai, can summon up mean pace too.

India look likely to play three spinners but Smith wasn’t worried about young legspinner Piyush Chawla, who could play his second Test. “We’ve had a look at him in the one-dayers in Ireland so we have an idea of what he bowls,” he said. “There’s video footage as well so it’s not a major area of concern.”South Africa are pretty certain to go in with the same team, with Paul Harris playing as the specialist spinner. “We have prepared well and are confident. It’s all about executing our plans right,” said Smith. “After the last game, India have a few more things to think about than us in terms of combination, in terms of the selections of bowlers. So they have to answer our challenges, to make sure we come back down to neutral.”Ultimately the ground, the country or the continent doesn’t matter: A team with skilled players that is looking to dominate can hold down any side, and it’s with that belief South Africa are going into the second Test.