A decision on whether to move the ICC Champions Trophy from Pakistan in September because of security concerns will be made this week. On Sunday, the International Cricket Council held a security briefing for the eight teams taking part but said a decision had not been reached. The ICC is concerned about potential security threats beyond the Pakistan Cricket Board's control. This is because last month a suicide bomber killed 15 people in Islamabad.
In a statement the ICC said: "While there was recognition the PCB had gone to great lengths to provide a high level of security during the Asia Cup and would do so again during the ICC Champions Trophy, concerns were expressed about the potential for threats beyond the PCB's control."
These concerns will now be taken to the ICC board during the course of this week with the board then arriving at a definitive decision on the location of this year's Champions Trophy.
"Until or unless the board decides otherwise, the tournament will proceed in Pakistan."
Eight teams - Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England and the West Indies - will participate in the tournament, scheduled between 11 and 28 September.
But England, Australia and New Zealand have voiced concerns about safety and security after bomb attacks in Pakistan over the past several months. ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said: "If it was up to player representatives, they would prefer not to be in Pakistan because of the environmental or external risks."
Sri Lanka and South Africa are possible alternatives to host the competition.
Group A: Australia, India, Pakistan, West Indies
Group B: South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England
Each side plays the other three sides in each group - the top two sides in each group will progress to the semi-finals. Group A winners will play Group B runners-up, Group B winners will play Group A runners-up.
All matches will be day/night.
September
11 Pakistan v West Indies, Lahore
12 New Zealand v Sri Lanka, Karachi
13 Australia v India, Lahore
14 England v Sri Lanka, Karachi
15 South Africa v New Zealand, Rawalpindi
16 West Indies v India, Karachi
17 Pakistan v Australia, Rawalpindi
18 South Africa v Sri Lanka, Lahore
19 England v New Zealand, Rawalpindi
20 Pakistan v India, Lahore
21 Australia v West Indies, Karachi
21 England v South Africa, Rawalpindi
24 1st Semi-final, Karachi
25 2nd Semi-final, Rawalpindi
28 Final, Lahore

 

The West Indies-Australia series ended with another nose-dive for the hosts. Having gone down in the test series 0-2, the Windies were thrashed 0-5 in the one dayers. In fact, the West Indies lone high moment was in the T20. Shivnarine Chanderpaul took the man-of-the-series award.
Summarised Results
May 16-18: v Jamaica Select XI, Jamaica
Match drawn
May 22-26: 1st Test, Jamaica
Australia won by 95 runs
Australia 431 & 167
West Indies 312 & 191
May 30-June 3: 2nd Test, Antigua
Match drawn
Australia 479-7 declared and 244-6 declared drew with West Indies 352 and 266-5
June 12-16: 3rd Test, Barbados
Australia won by 87 runs
Australia 251 & 439-5
West Indies 216 & 387
June 20: Twenty20 International, Barbados
West Indies won by seven wickets
Match reduced to 11 overs each
West Indies 102-3 (9.1 overs)
Australia 97-3 (11 overs)
June 21: v UWI Vice Chancellor's XI, B/dos
Australia won by 211 runs
June 24: 1st ODI, St Vincent
Australia won by 84 runs
Australia 273-8 (50 ovs)
West Indies 189 (39.5 ovs)
June 27: 2nd ODI, Grenada
Australia won by 63 runs (D/L method)
Australia 213-5
West Indies 140-8 (41 overs)
June 29: 3rd ODI, Grenada
Australia won by seven wickets
Australia 227-3 (40.3 overs)
West Indies 223 (48 overs)
July 4: 4th ODI, St Kitts
Australia won by 1 run
Australia 282/8 (50 ov);
West Indies 281/6 (50 ov)
July 6: 5th ODI, St Kitts
Australia won by 169 runs
Australia 341/8 (50 ov);
West Indies 172 (39.5 ov)

 

Tour Schedule
July 23 - 27: 10:15 local, 04:45 GMT
1st Test - Sri Lanka v India
Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo
Jul 31 - Aug 4 : 10:15 local, 04:45 GMT
2nd Test - Sri Lanka v India
Galle International Stadium
August 8 - 12: 10:15 local, 04:45 GMT
3rd Test - Sri Lanka v India
R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Aug 18: 10:00 local, 04:30 GMT
1st ODI - Sri Lanka v India
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium
Aug 20: 10:00 local, 04:30 GMT:
2nd ODI - Sri Lanka v India
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium
Aug 24: 14:30 local, 09:00 GMT
3rd ODI - Sri Lanka v India
R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Aug 26: 14:30 local, 09:00 GMT
4th ODI - Sri Lanka v India
R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Aug 29 : 14:30 local, 09:00 GMT
5th ODI - Sri Lanka v India
R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

 

July 10-14: 1st Test, Lord's
England 593-8 dec drew with S Africa 247 & 393-3
July 18-22: 2nd Test, Headingley
South Africa 522 & 9-0 beat England 203 & 327 by 10 wickets
South Africa beat England by 10 wickets on the fourth day of the second Test to take a 1-0 lead into the final two Tests of the series.
Resuming on 50-2, Alastair Cook batted well for 60, but Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell fell cheaply as Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel made England suffer.
Stuart Broad, who hit a superb unbeaten 67, and Darren Pattinson shared 61 for the last wicket to help England reach 327 and just avoid an innings defeat. But the tourists needed seven balls to hit the nine runs needed to win.
South Africa set the stage for the win by scoring 522 in their first innings. A. Prince made 149 and AB de Villiers 174. England had faltered for 203 before this, and seeking to off-set a deficit of 319, they got to 327.
South Africa then formalized the win.
Remaining games
July 30- Aug 3: 3rd Test, Edgbaston
Aug 7-11: 4th Test, The Oval
Aug 14: v England Lions, Leicester
Aug 16: v England Lions, Derby
Aug 20: Twenty20 International, Riverside
Aug 22: 1st ODI, Headingley (d/n)
Aug 26: 2nd ODI, Trent Bridge (d/n)
Aug 29: 3rd ODI, The Oval
Aug 31: 4th ODI, Lord's
Sept 3: 5th ODI, Cardiff (d/n)

 

Match Summary: Scotland 374 (Lockhart 151, Sheikh 92, Dhaniram 4 for 61) beat Canada 79 (Nel 4-32, Lyons 3-6) and 130 (Jyoti 43, Lyons 4-36, Nel 3-38) by an innings and 165 runs.
Scotland, led by fine bowling performances from left-arm spinner Ross Lyons and seamer Dewald Nel, bowled out Canada for 130 to claim an innings-and-165-run win on the third day of their Intercontinental Cup match in King City.
Canada resumed on Day 3 on 36 for 2, needing a further 259 runs to make Scotland bat again. However, their hopes suffered an early blip when Nel struck twice in successive overs, removing Qaiser Ali for 4, and Arvind Kandappah for no score. Sandeep Jyoti and Abdool Samad then put on 39 for the fifth wicket, the best partnership of the match for Canada.
Once Samad was stumped off Lyons for 18, the home side veered off track, losing wickets regularly. Sunil Dhaniram was dismissed by offspinner Majid Haq for 13, while Jyoti's sedate 43-run vigil ended when he was caught by Neil McCullum off Lyons, who had more success when he had Eion Katchay stumped.
With victory in sight, Scotland were made to wait by a 21-run eight-wicket stand between Saad Bin Zafar and Sami Faridi which took up 75 deliveries. Lyons provided the much needed breakthrough by inducing Zafar into a fatal drive to Gordon Drummond at mid-off, and the match was brought to a close when a top-edged pull by Faridi was taken safely by Lyons off Haq. Lyons and Nel both finished with seven-wicket match hauls, but the Man-of-the-Match award was reserved for wicketkeeper Douglas Lockhart, whose 151 laid the foundation for Scotland's win.

 

Former Indian skipper Kapil Dev, who led the team to a World Cup victory in 1983, has charged the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) with wanting "only yes men in their team".
Dev said the BCCI administration had become "very smart" and only wanted "yes men" in their team. "That is why despite producing many legends in the world cricket, India is still searching in alien lands for someone suitable for the job of a coach of our national cricket team."
"I revered the board as my parents and (was) ready to work with them but they are adamant to keep us away from their working of cricket board," said Kapil.

 

"Many of my contemporary cricketers also want to work for the betterment of the sport but the board does not allow us to do so. They might be afraid of us that they would not be able to take sceptical and irrational decisions in our presence," said Kapil, while addressing a meet-the-press in Chandigarh on Sunday.
Kapil was named as the Indian cricketer of the century in 2002 by Wisden for his outstanding services to the sport. He also held the record of the most wickets in Tests for a period of five years in nineties.
On the issue of dropping Yuvraj Singh from the national squad for the Sri Lanka tour, Kapil said that Yuvraj did not perform well in the last few games, so he deserved this. "He is a bit wayward in his approach towards international cricket as every other day he is involved in one or the other scandal."
"He should avoid such things for at least another 10 years and single-mindedly focus on cricket if he wants to prolong his career. He has immense talent and ability but there is a dire need to use this talent in performing consistently on the field," he added.
Kapil said that the Indian cricket league (ICL) has no rivalry with Indian Premier League (IPL) started by the BCCI but they oppose those people who hinder the progress of cricket in the country. He added that ICL has many surprises and new things to offer in its next session in October this year.

Yuvraj Singh's mother Shabnam on Monday lashed out at Kapil Dev for criticising her son's party animal image, saying the former India captain is no angel himself.
"I was indeed pained to read Kapil Dev's highly provocative comment on Yuvi's party life. As a mother, I am hurt mainly because Kapil has known Yuvi ever since he was born," an enraged Shabnam said in a statement.
"He has obviously gone by the media reporting which was proved wrong," she added, referring to the late-night party that Yuvraj allegedly attended during the Asia Cup.
Kapil had criticised Yuvraj for putting parties over cricket and had urged him to concentrate on his game to realise his potential.
Shabnam said Kapil had a past of his own and should therefore refrain from taking a high moral ground. "All I want to remind Kapil that people who stay in glass house shouldn't throw stones at others," she fumed.
"He should introspect his misdeeds during the time he played cricket. If he rewinds his life, he will find that he wasn't an angel," she said.
According to Shabnam, Kapil's comments are stunning, considering her son has won applause from several former greats for his game. "Sad that such a great cricketer should stoop so low when across the border Hanif Mohammad has been comparing Yuvi with Sir Garfield Sobers," she said.