lBW rulings favouring hosts dropped
london: An Indian-origin researcher’s study has come to a conclusion that the number of lBW decisions in favour of the home team has dropped considerably following the introduction of neutral umpires in Test cricket. The findings, published by the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, come amid renewed debate on whether neutral umpires are still required in Test cricket following the emergence of Decision Review System (DRS). Both umpires in Test matches would be from the home nation till around mid 1990s. The rule was tweaked a bit in the beginning of new millennium and it was decided in 1994 that one of the two umpires was required to be from the home country. However, since 2002, both on-field umpires in Test matches were required to be neutral. The researchers observed that the bias among the umpires “may have been unconscious” and a possible explanation for the finding is that home umpires were unduly influenced by pressure from local crowds.
lara stars in losing effort
Perth: legendary West Indies batsman Brian lara stroked a typically flashy half-century but failed to prevent Australian legends from a 50-run defeat to Perth Scorchers in an exhibition Twenty20 clash here. Chasing 180 to win at Aquinas College, the legends XI ended on 129 for five with the left-handed lara finishing unbeaten on 51 from 50 balls Monday, reports CMC. The double world-record holder was the only batsman in his star-studded side to pass 20 as Dean Jones (16), Andrew Symonds (13), Justin langer (9) and Adam Gilchrist (1) all fell cheaply.
IPl: 123 players retained, 5 traded
Mumbai: As many as 123 cricketers were retained by the Indian Premier league (IPl) franchises while five Indians were traded during the player trade window for the 2015 season, a BCCI statement said Tuesday. Of the 123 retained, 79 were Indians and 44 overseas players. The released players have the option of featuring in the 2015 player auction. The player trade window closed Monday. “It is a way to balance the need for continuity whilst allowing for churn which is very important from the league’s perspective. The released players will have the option to put their names up for the player auction for the 2015 season.” The franchises have a salary purse of Rs.63 crore for the eighth season — a 5 per cent increase over the last season’s purse. The salaries of the players retained will be deducted from this amount.
lanka thrash Eng in 7th ODI
Colombo: Sri lanka thrashed England by 87 runs in the seventh and final ODI and won the series 5-2 as Tillakaratne Dilshan starred with bat and ball, smashing his 18th hundred and snaring three wickets on Tuesday. Electing to bat first, Sri lanka posted 302/6 thanks to Dilshan’s 101 off 124 deliveries, Dinesh Chandimal’s unbeaten 55, and an aggressive 26-ball 54 from Thisara Perera. England’s reply started badly, Moeen Ali out for a duck in the second over, and fellow opener and captain Alastair Cook for 32 at 51-3. Joe Root easily stood out with 80 in a lost cause, as England was bundled out for 215 in 45.5 overs. The last England wicket was fittingly taken by Mahela Jayawardene, off a stumping by Kumar Sangakkara, in their last ODI at home. Brief Scores — Sl: 302/6 (Dilshan 101, Chandimal 55*, T Perera 54) beat Eng: 215 (Root 80, Prasanna 3/35, Dilshan 3/37) by 87 runs.
WI face tough test in SA
Centurion: The West Indies will trade its off-field problems for a tough on-field cricket examination when it meets No. 1-ranked South Africa in a three-Test series starting on Wednesday. It will be the team’s first action since its tour of India was abandoned in October because of a pay dispute. The repercussions of that remain unresolved and a damages claim from the Board of Control for Cricket in India hangs over the WICB. A young West Indies side can expect little comfort against the world’s best team at a venue where the hosts have won 14 of 19 tests. It will be without talismanic opening batsman Chris Gayle, whose longstanding back injury flared up in the last month when playing Twenty20 cricket for a South African franchise, and Darren Bravo, who opted out of the tour for personal reasons.