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Gurkeerat Singh Mann led Punjab to a clinical, five-wicket win with a brisk 91 off 86 balls in their chase of 197 after Haryana had reduced them to 75 for 4. It was Harbhajan Singh’s figures with the ball – 10-0-33-4 – that put Punjab in a position of strength by bowling Haryana out for 196 in the penultimate over. After Siddarth Kaul removed Shubham Rohilla for a 12-ball duck, Nitin Saini and Chaitanya Bishnoi put on 68 for the second wicket in 109 balls, the biggest partnership of the innings. Punjab’s bowlers provided regular breakthroughs thereafter, led by Harbhajan, who had four batsmen lbw. Punjab’s chase got a steady start through U-19 opener Shubman Gill and Mandeep Singh, who added 47 in 81 balls. Legspinner Rahul Tewatia took three wickets and Harshal Patel had Yuvraj Singh bowled to pull Haryana back. Gurkeerat and Nikhil Chaudhary added an unbeaten 71 for the sixth wicket, of which the latter added 14.At the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, Assam aced their chase of 216 against Railways to register a four-wicket win with 12 balls to spare. After being asked to bowl, Assam restricted Railways to 215. An 85-run third-wicket stand between Akash Verma and Pratham Singh – after Railways were reduced to 8 for 2 – was the only phase in the game that Railways dominated. Arup Das took three wickets, while Pritam Das, Amit Verma and Swarupam Purkayastha claimed two scalps each. Handy contributions from Assam’s top order – Pallavkumar Das (44), Arun Karthik (42), Verma (35) and Riyan Parag (32) – ensured there wasn’t much trouble in the chase.Akshay Karnewar, an ambidextrous bowler, led Vidarbha to a comfortable seven-wicket rout of Odisha with figures of 4 for 21 from 10 overs. Odisha chose to bat, and were given a steady start by Govinda Poddar’s 68-ball 58. However, a score of 87 for 2 in the 23rd over quickly turned to 162 all out in the 46th over as the Vidarbha bowlers took control of the game. No other batsman scored more than 30. After a stable base, Vidarbha’s chase was never in doubt. Jitesh Sharma struck a 71-ball 70 before he was lbw off Rajkishan Patel. A patient 30 from Ambati Rayudu took Vidarbha home with 59 balls to spare.

Mohammad Yousuf was named international cricket’s Test Player of the Year at the ICC Awards in Johannesburg.Yousuf topped the poll ahead of England’s Kevin Pietersen and last year’s winner Ricky Ponting of Australia. “This is the first time for a Pakistan player to win this award so I am particularly delighted with that,” he said.During the ODI-dominated voting period of August 9, 2006 to August 8 2007 Yousuf played six Tests. In that time he scored 944 runs at an average of 94.40 including five centuries and two fifties in just ten innings.He had a remarkable home series against West Indies last November and December, scoring four centuries in the three-Test series and finishing with 665 runs at an average of 133. Yousuf is the fourth recipient of the Test Player of the Year award following on from Ponting last year, Jacques Kallis of South Africa in 2005 and India’s Rahul Dravid in 2004.The Test Player of the Year was one of 11 individual and team honours handed out during the ICC Awards, presented in association with the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations. The event recognises cricket’s star performers over a 12-month period.

Yashpal Sharma and Gopal Sharma, two former Indian selectors, have reacted sharply to the recent statements of Kiran More, the outgoing chairman of the national selection committee. More had implied that the decision to include Sourav Ganguly in the Test squad for the home series against Sri Lanka in November 2005 was pre-planned by three of the five selectors.More was quoted by , a news channel, as saying that three selectors had come to the meeting with a finalised squad. ” … three selectors walked into the meeting and said this is what they want. Greg Chappell [coach] and Rahul Dravid [captain] were also present. There is no further discussion.”Ganguly, who had earlier been stripped of Test captaincy, was one of three players, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rudra Pratap Singh being the other two. They were brought in at the expense of Zaheer Khan, Dinesh Karthik and Dheeraj Jadhav. More had then explained that Ganguly had been picked as a “batting allrounder” .Since the interview was aired, VB Chandrashekhar, another selector in the same panel, has backed More’s claims, leaving no doubt about the identity of the three selectors in question: Yashpal, Gopal and Pranab Roy.Yashpal and Gopal, though, insisted that all decisions were taken collectively. “If he wants to reveal details, he should come on air and say all details,” Yashpal told Cricinfo about the Chennai meeting . “I have given my view on air nearly a year back. I am not changing my stance. All other selectors gave their opinion and I gave mine. Everyone gave their own verdict. It was not as if three of us walked in with some previously-made decision.”Ganguly was struggling in one-dayers, he was taking rest but the way he performed in Test cricket – he got a hundred in Zimbabwe – he deserved to be in the side. The whole nation voted for that. The whole media wanted Sourav to be in the side. It was not the way to treat a man who was the most successful captain for India. I felt that he had cricket in him and he deserved that on performance.”Also, Ganguly has been picked in the team even after we finished our terms. He was taken to Pakistan. So why can’t you ask him why Ganguly was picked then? If we three selectors voted for Ganguly that time then some other selectors must have picked him for Pakistan tour.”The other Sharma – Gopal – also backed the claims. “I don’t know what he’s saying,” he said. “because the Chennai incident was a collective decision. When you have five selectors picking a side, you have to go by majority. It was discussed. Not as if we had decided everything before the meeting. It’s never happened. You can rarely have all five selectors agreeing on a player.””Nobody can say Zaheer Khan was dropped because of us,” Yashpal continued, “because he hasn’t found a place even after that. Why can’t they pick him now? More is leaving his seat now, that’s why he is saying all this out of frustration.”Gopal couldn’t understand the fuss behind the other decisions. “The other selections have turned out to be good decisions,” he said. “Dhoni was selected ahead of Karthik and he’s proved his worth. RP Singh had a good tour of Pakistan and showed he deserved to be selected. If More felt strongly about anything, he should have said all this after the selection meeting. He should have said it in the press conference. There he said Ganguly was picked as an allrounder.”

On Wednesday, the ICC indicated that it was not about to review the international status of Zimbabwe. We asked for your feedback and here are a selection of your viewsKeep sending us your feedback

The ICC is basically gutless when it comes to the issue of Zimbabwe. When Malcom Speed says that the ICC does not make decisions on political grounds, he is really just passing the buck. If the ICC had one shred of moral integrity they would dismiss Zimbabwe from the organisation altogether. On top of that, there is the standard of cricket being offered by Zimbabwe to consider. There you have a compelling reason to withdraw Zimbabwe’s status of a Test-playing nation. I don’t really think many people in Zimbabwe care about the cricket anyway. Ask the 700,000 displaced citizens what their feelings are about cricket.
Geoff HodgkinsonI would have thought that England and any other major cricketing country could sponsor their failure to play against Zimbabwe. Forget the ICC – just pull out and let the ICC wear it. They won’t last long without Engand and Australia or any other country that refuses to play there.
Christopher Monie ICC is right not to interfere with internal politics. The countries who are calling for a boycott of Zimbawe have their own political agenda. Why single out Zimbawe – injustice to a section of the people in all these counries are common. It is a case of white man against black man.
OdumbeWith all due respect to Speed and the board of the ICC, any person that believes that sport and politics are separate have a distorted view of what a politician is trying to achieve and what the sports administrators want from them. The ICC is contributing to the plunder of the nation with the support of the outrageous claim that their decision won’t be based on politics. Fine, what about ethical, decency and self respect?
Vishal PillayThe ICC has brought our sport into disrepute. One gets the impression that even if the players have to step over corpses to access the stadium the ICC would insist that the matches still proceed.
Steve Pullinger “We don’t take decisions based on political judgments.” So said Malcolm Speed. Of course by doing so he just has and is basically saying its business as usual and sweep the growing furore under the carpet.
Martin RipperThe ICC should not impose a ban on Zimbabwe but instead impose heavy fines on countries not allowing Zimbabwe to travel to their country or cancelling their own tour to Zimbabwe.
Tahir MueenThe ICC should take a stand against Zimbabwe not just because of their poor human rights but because they are a joke at the moment. The ICC will have to do something about it soon because sponsers will soon realise they are not getting any value for their money as no-one is interested. The ICC won’t listen until, then so I think presure needs to go on the sponsers and TV rights.
Toni HillICC is right not to get involved in political arguments. However, individual countries can (and should) take stand on such issues. If they decide to do so, ICC should not take action against them. Many countries decided not to play with South Africa due to their aperthaid policy and that was right.
Gautam RayI do think that what Speed has decided is right. Game and politics shouldn’t be judged same. I agree with him 100%.
Faraz A ShaikhThrough its woeful display of inertia over the Zimbabwe issue, it is beginning to look as if the ICC is as incompetent as the government in Harare. If the grandees who run world cricket cannot comprehend that Zimbabwe need to have Test status revoked, if only for the sake of the players who must be punch drunk by now and the spectators who stay away in droves, then they should take up administrating tiddlywinks or similar. They are utterly gutless – even the International Olympic Committee seems dynamic in comparison.
David Payne

Unseasonably atrocious weather disrupted the latest round of the Twenty20 Cup, with the matches between Middlesex and Sussex at Richmond, and the floodlit affair between Essex and Surrey both called off.Elsewhere, however, the show went on unscathed. A remarkable spell of bowling from Neil Killeen sent Leicestershire crashing to a 41-run defeat at Grace Road. After Durham set a fairly mediocre total of 138 for 4, Killeen ripped through Leicester’s top order to pick up 4 for 7 from four overs.At Trent Bridge, Matthew Wood narrowly missed out on a century, finishing unbeaten on 96 as Yorkshire set a very competitive 207 for 7. Nottinghamshire’s reply stumbled to 56 for 4, before the arrival of Mark Ealham at the crease. He went ballistic, smashing nine sixes on his way to a 31-ball 91, but when he fell with 21 needed off two overs, the game swung back into Yorkshire’s favour. However, with cool heads, Samit Patel (14*) and Richard Logan (11*) batted Notts to victory with one ball to spare.
Match abandoned due to rain

Scorecard
Scorecard
Match abandoned due to rain

Pakistan police have registered a case against Wasim Akram after he was accused of defaulting on the payment for a jeep he had purchased from a friend.Saadat Hayat, the friend in question, claimed that Akram had taken the vehicle on the pretext of buying it, but had not paid for it. Akram’s wife, Huma, countered this allegation and said that the jeep had been a gift which the Akrams had wanted to return, but which Hayat had allegedly demanded money for.

West Indies Under-19s won the three-Test series against their English counterparts after rain forced the final day’s play in the Third Test to be abandoned at the Riverside.The draw meant West Indies won the series 1-0 after triumphing in the First Test.Yesterday a century by Tonito Willett had put West Indies into a virtually unassailable position.Already holding a 29-run first innings lead, they had resumed the third day on a promising 193 for three, with Narsingh Deonarine and Willett linking up impressively.Bad weather held up the visitors’ progress but once play resumed Willett went on to make 103 before he was caught by Nicky Peng after being lured into a rash stroke by James Tredwell. The Kent youngster finished with two for 48 and was the pick of the English bowlers.Together with Deonarine, 89 not out at the close, Willet added 170 for the fourth wicket to put West Indies firmly in the driving seat.Omari Banks joined Deonarine at the crease and added three before stumps, with West Indies on 322 for four.

Brad Haddin flew home to Australia on Tuesday evening for family reasons, ending an unhappy Ashes tour early to be with his wife, Karina, and children.After a poor display in the first Test of the Ashes series in Cardiff, Haddin withdrew from the team for the Lord’s match to spend time in hospital with his ill daughter Mia, and was then not re-selected for the third Test at Edgbaston, a decision that not all members of the touring party agreed with.Haddin took the decision with good grace, and provided plentiful support to Peter Nevill, the gloveman who replaced him, while playing a more peripheral role around the squad.There have been signs that Haddin’s mind has been on other things the longer the tour has gone on, as his net sessions in particular became more perfunctory.He was unlikely to be chosen for the final Test of the series at The Oval, and a Cricket Australia spokesperson confirmed he had now flown home while also asking that the family’s privacy be respected.

Take a look at the scorecard from West Indies’ tour match in Geelong at the weekend and you’d be forgiven for thinking it was as meaningless as warm-up games get. A two-day match against a Victorian XI featuring only two players – neither of them bowlers – with first-class experience. But Darren Bravo hopes that if his fellow batsmen gained just one thing from the game it is this: confidence.West Indies have been sorely lacking it of late. In Sri Lanka in October they were roundly defeated and none of the batsmen scored centuries in the two Tests; in fact, only Bravo and Jermaine Blackwood managed so much as a fifty. That was followed by a tour game in Brisbane that the team lost to a rookie Cricket Australia XI, which in turn was followed by a crushing three-day loss in the first Test.But as poor as West Indies were in Hobart, there were a couple of encouraging signs. Bravo himself scored a classy 108 in the first innings, but was let down by the complete lack of support from the rest of the batting order. In the second, Kraigg Brathwaite found himself in a similar position, posting 94 out of a total of 148. A bit more back-up in either innings and it could have been a much tighter contest.So, as weak as the Victorian attack was in Geelong, West Indies were still pleased that Blackwood, after making a pair in the Hobart Test, managed 69, that Brathwaite backed up from his Test effort with 78, and that Marlon Samuels and Denesh Ramdin at least spent some time in the middle. Bravo did not bat in Geelong but was pleased with what he saw, and hopes that the batsmen will be better for it come Boxing Day.”It’s just a matter of confidence,” Bravo said. “Coming in to this series most of our batsmen didn’t really have that confidence. We lost the series in Sri Lanka, we lost the practice game as well in Brisbane. It’s a matter of confidence.”It’s important that whenever we go to bat we spend some time out in the middle. If we spend time we’re definitely going to score runs. Naturally we play aggressive cricket where batting is concerned. It’s just a matter of us spending time out in the middle and putting up a very good fight.”It’s very important we look at the positives. In the practice game young Blackwood played pretty well, as well as Kraigg Brathwaite. The bowlers had a very good run, including Jerome Taylor. The guys are putting in the work, it’s just a matter of us going out there and executing.”West Indies trained at the MCG on Tuesday for the first time ahead of the Test, which starts on Saturday, while the Australians will begin training on Wednesday. The Victorian fast bowler Scott Boland has been added to Australia’s squad as an injury replacement for Nathan Coulter-Nile, and while Josh Hazlewood, Peter Siddle and James Pattinson remain the likely attack, Bravo knows from his Hobart ton that scoring opportunities will present themselves.”The Australian bowlers, they have a plan exactly how they want to get us out,” he said. “You respect the good balls and put away the bad balls. Yes they are a very good team but at the end of the day they are still humans. They’re going to present bad balls and it’s just a matter of putting it away. I don’t think you should be bogged down too much. Don’t be intimidated by the Australian bowlers. Just back yourself and your ability.”When you’re not scoring runs it is difficult to pick yourself up. I believe the guys have that sort of resilience in them. Most of us have scored international hundreds. We have proven that we are definitely capable of playing at this level. It is just a matter of going out there and spending some time.”It was also easy to forget after the three-day result in Hobart that at lunch on day one, West Indies were arguably in the stronger position, having picked up three wickets after Australia chose to bat. However, they then allowed Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh to compile a record fourth-wicket partnership that batted West Indies out of the match.”It’s very important that whenever we’re in the driver’s seat we try and stay there,” Bravo said. “I remember in the first Test match we had Australia three for 100 or something like that. We were in the driver’s seat and we let loose. We need to maintain the momentum in the game.”

Jersey followed up their victory at the European Under-19 Division 2 Championship, with a win over France in the final of the Under-23 tournament in Guernsey on Thursday.They were not troubled by France, winning by seven wickets. Put into bat, the French were bowled out for 80 with only one batsman, Ali Sarfraz, reaching double figures with 18. Jersey then needed just 16.2 overs to knock off the runs.The tournament hosts, Guernsey, missed out on a place in the final to eventual runners-up France. In the group stages, both sides produced victories over Italy, but the deciding fixture between the two sides did not produce a result due to bad weather. France qualified for the final against Jersey on run-rate, leaving a disappointed Guernsey to play off for third place against Gibraltar.Guernsey won the play-off at College Field by seven wickets, with 12 balls to spare as 15-year-old Tim Ravenscroft enjoyed a good all-round game, following up his three wickets with an undefeated 58.