Vettori in NZ squad for SA ODIs
Wellington: Former captain Daniel Vettori has been included in New Zealand’s 14-man squad to play the first of three one-day internationals against South Africa on Tuesday. The 35-year-old left-arm spinner played the most recent of his 275 one-dayers for New Zealand against England in June last year. He has since been sidelined by an ankle injury. Vettori bowled 10 overs for a New Zealand XI which played Scotland last week to satisfy national coach Mike Hesson belief that he is ready for a recall. Batsmen Dean Brownlie and Tom latham have also been recalled to the New Zealand squad in place of Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson, who are injured. Taylor is expected to miss the entire series with a calf muscle strain while Williamson will miss the first match at Tauranga with a wrist injury.
Gambhir retained as Delhi skipper
New Delhi: Out-of-favour India opener Gautam Gambhir has been retained captain of the Delhi team for the upcoming Ranji season as the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) announced a 15-member squad for the one-day Vijay Hazare trophy to be played in Himachal Pradesh. Gambhir, who ran into a controversy in February with DDCA chief curator Sundaram, was once again chosen the leader by the committee comprising chairman Yashpal Sharma, Nikhil Chopra, Rakesh Shukla, Vinay lamba, Sidhartha Verma, coach Vijay Dahiya, convenor Sunil Dev and the captain himself. Gambhir, who was accused by Sundaram of using abusive language in order to change the nature of the track at Feroz Shah Kotla, had denied the aggressive verbal exchange with the senior groundsman. Gambhir, who last played for India against England in a Test series this year, will be looking to impress the selectors before the 2015 World Cup. While the team will meet Jammu and Kashmir in its first match in Bilaspur on November 6, the players are instructed to report to coach Dahiya on Tuesday morning. Squad: Gautam Gambhir (c), Virender Sehwag, Minthun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia, Unmukt Chand, Yogesh Nagar, Punit Bisht (WK), Ashish Nehra, Parvinder Awana, Milind Kumar, Pawan Negi, Sumit Narwal, Varun Sood, Vikas Tokas, Shivam Sharma
Sl keen to host India next year
Colombo: After having agreed to play a five-match ODI series in India on a short notice post the West Indies pull-out, the Sri lankan board is looking for a return in favour from the BCCI in August next year by playing three Test matches in the island nation. “We have already confirmed our participation in the five ODI slated to held between November 1 and 14. And yes, we are now looking to host India for a three-Test series in August next year,” a Sri lankan official said. “The talks of the series are still in the preliminary stages, so it’s too early to confirm it. But we are looking forward to host India,” he added. Originally, Sri lanka were to tour India in August 2015 for a three-match Test series according to the amended Future Tours Programme, but now SlC wants to reverse the hosting. SlC is also expected to make around $8 million by hosting the three Tests against India. There has been no word from the Indian board, which will only take the next course of action in the emergency meeting of the working meeting slated to be held on Tuesday.
CA sets up amnesty period
Melbourne: In a first of its kind initiative, Cricket Australia has decided to establish an amnesty period for its players to report corruption-related suspicions in an effort to weed out match fixing in the game and shady characters behind it. Cricketers face bans of up to five years if they are found to have failed to report information relating to a breach of CA’s anti-corruption code but in an Australian first have been told they will be spared from penalty if they come forward with any evidence from their careers by the end of November. The move comes as anti-corruption investigators prepare to confront the threat of match and spot fixing at next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, a report in Sydney Morning Herald said. International Cricket Council last year signed a memorandum of understanding with the Australian Federal Police in a bid to assist them in combating corruption in the showpiece tournament to be held in February-March next year.