His wasn’t the most notable resignation in recent weeks, but it was probably the most controversial one. Mohammad Naeem, the treasurer of the Pakistan Cricket Board for over four years, handed in his notice on May 13, but details of the four-page document containing the reasons behind his departure have only just been made public, at the ongoing probe by the Senate Standing Committee in Sports into the PCB’s affairs, and they make for some explosive reading.Naeem levelled a number of serious charges against the board, ranging from gross financial misdemeanours, mismanagement and favouritism, to the lack of transparency and accountability and misuse of power in the workings of, in particular, Shaharyar Khan, the chairman, and the former chief executive Rameez Raja, who resigned last week. He questioned, among other things, why an amount of US$3million that was deposited with the Allied Bank had been held back by the bank, despite written instructions by Shaharyar to transfer the amount from the Board’s account as long bago as April 9 this year.”This is a serious violation and unacceptable behaviour on the part of this bank and the same is liable to be reported to the State Bank [of Pakistan] for penal action,” Naeem said in his letter. “Obviously Allied Bank Ltd would not have taken such a daring step if one of their employees was not the CEO of the PCB.” The employee and the CEO in question was Rameez, who has held a senior position with the bank for some years now, alongside his Board and commentary duties.Other allegations included a lack of transparency in awarding a number of contracts for various services such as the provision for lunches and seating during the home series against India. Naeem also criticised the ongoing involvement of Riaz Mahmood as marketing consultant to the PCB. Mahmood, who was hired by the PCB chairman, had thus far received, according to Naeem, Rs2million for his services, plus, possibly, a percentage of the total income generated from the Pakistan-India series. Shaharyar has been persistently criticised for hiring Mahmood as an expensive consultant – whom, it is alleged, he knew personally – and not a fulltime marketing employee.While the accusations constituted a serious blow to Shaharyar’s continuing campaign to transform the PCB into a modern, efficient, and above all a financially transparent organisation, there were concerns that they are little more than part of a wider agenda by Naeem and the Senate Committee to discredit the PCB. reported, the day after the allegations were published, that Naeem’s anger stemmed from the decision by the PCB in March to cancel 400 tickets that he had bought for his friends and family for the Lahore one-dayers against India.The newspaper, quoting a source in the board, reported that the chairman had allocated a certain quota of paid tickets for board officials and their family and friends for the one-dayers against India. But owing to the increased demand from the public for tickets halfway though the series, it was decided at an emergency board meeting to reduce drastically the number of tickets allotted to officials, and instead offer them for sale to the general public. And it was here that the trouble apparently began; while other officials had their ticket allocation reduced, Naeem’s allocation of 400 was scrapped altogether.The Senate Committee, led by the vociferous Enver Baig, has hounded the PCB relentlessly since the end of the Indian tour. The committee meeting, at which Naeem’s resignation was made public, was the third in a series of uncomfortable grillings for the PCB’s top brass. Their inquisitions were a belligerent mix of the incisive and the comically ill-conceived, encompassing questions of the PCB’s continued ad-hocism, but also including thinly veiled personal attacks on Shaharyar and Rameez.At times, the questioning revealed poor research and knowledge on the part of the committee. The committee had previously asked Wasim Bari, the chief selector, whether he was involved in the controversial selection of Tauqir Zia’s son Junaid, overlooking the fact that it was Aamir Sohail – and not Bari – who was in charge of selection then. And they continued to ask, with a dangerously nationalistic fervour, for the reasons behind Pakistan’s loss to India at home.The PCB hasn’t yet replied to Naeem’s charges officially, although it had expressed its displeasure at the way the committee leaked what is essentially confidential information. A source in the PCB, while talking to Wisden Cricinfo, suggested that the whole affair was little more “than a childish tit-for-tat spat. It is like an argument between children. The treasurer is just annoyed at the way he has been treated and is taking it out on the PCB. And the committee, well, they are just committed to dismantling the PCB at whatever cost.”Whatever the reasons behind the charges, they come on the back of a harrowing period for the PCB. Rameez’s resignation came after those of other senior PCB staff, including the media manager Samiul Hasan and Irfan Mirza. And little over a month ago, Javed Miandad was replaced as coach of the national teamby Bob Woolmer. Unlike the resignations, this issue is likely to drag on and on.

Scotland will play meet the qualifier from the Africa region – in all likelihood Kenya – while Canada will face the winner of the Asian group – either UAE, Malaysia or Nepal – in the semi-finals of the Intercontinental Cup in Sharjah in November. The draw was made at Edgbaston during the Kenya v Pakistan ICC Champions Trophy match.The decider in the African group will take place in Nairobi between October 1 and 3 when Kenya host Namibia. The Asian group’s final game is between Malaysia and UAE in Kuala Lumpur between September 17 and 19.The semi-finals will take place in the United Arab Emirates from November 16 to 18, with the three-day final starting on November 21.Scotland was the first Associate Member to qualify for the semi-finals, defeating Ireland by eight wickets in Dublin to win the European group. Canada was the second country to qualify, drawing the final match against Bermuda in Toronto and so squeezing out USA by three points.

Close

Pakistan’s tour of Australia threatened to get off to a wretched start as their batting imploded on the second day of the tour opener against Western Australia’s 2nd XI at Perth. Chasing a modest target of 94, the Pakistanis were reeling on 6 for 44 at the close.Justin Coetzee did the damage with 5 for 23 as the Pakistanis slumped to 5 for 25 before Yousuf Youhana, with an unbeaten 28, checked the collapse.An hour and a half before the close the match appeared to be drifting to a tame conclusion. Danish Kaneria ripped apart Western Australia’s second innings with 7 for 45 after Shoaib Akhtar and Abdul Razzaq had struck early blows. Craig Simmons held fast with 65 as wickets tumbled, and Peter Worthington (25), Justin Coetzee (30) and Aaron Heal (20) each made a decent start but Western Australia were bowled out shortly after tea for 192.Earlier in the day, Pakistanis were dismissed for 257 with Younis Khan finishing on 142. Coetzee collected 5 for 66 and Matthew Petrie 4 for 26.And, despite not being in the 12 selected players for the match, Razzaq was allowed to bowl to gain some vital practice ahead of the three-Test series against Australia which starts in two weeks. Salman Butt and Shahid Afridi have also been given practice. The tourists will also play a Chairman’s XI and the Western Warriors before the first Test starts at the WACA on December 16.

Close England 139 and 30 for 0 (Trescothick 7*, Strauss 21*) trail South Africa 332 (Kallis 162, Pollock 43) by 163 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball

A masterful century from Jacques Kallis put South Africa firmly in control of the second Test on the second day at Durban as they took a first-innings lead of 193 runs. England’s batsmen chipped away in reply as the lights came on, but they head into the third day under the kosh, trailing by 163.England’s tiring pace attack threw everything at the classy Kallis throughout the day but he never wavered. When he finally fell for 162 – pulling Matthew Hoggard to the waiting substitute Paul Collingwood on the leg-side boundary – South Africa were in the box seat and they were odds-on favourites to level the series.It was a remarkable rescue act by Kallis, who dragged South Africa from 118 for 6 to 332, with some capable assistance from a reinforced lower order. Shaun Pollock contributed 43 in a stand of 87 which took the home side ahead. Then Makhaya Ntini upped the ante, striking 22 and scoring only in boundaries as his four fours and a six formed part of another vital partnership with Kallis. Between them, they struck 50 in 58 balls.But the day belonged to Kallis, who was patient at first, grinding down the bowlers in the heat and leaving anything outside off stump before he cut loose after tea. His chanceless century was the embodiment of exemplary concentration as he peppered shots to all parts, and a glorious straight drive back past Matthew Hoggard brought up his fifth century of 2004, and the 18th of his career. From then on, he stroked boundary after boundary as he found his groove.

England’s pace bowlers were up against it from the off as Ashley Giles was off the field all day with back spasms. Michael Vaughan sent down ten overs of his occasional offspin to allow the pace attack some respite – but they had no answer to the majestic innings of Kallis and the tailenders.Pollock eventually fell to Vaughan, as he chased one down the leg side and edged to Geraint Jones, but not before he had worked hard to gain the home side an important advantage. And there was no let up after Pollock’s departure, as the handy Nicky Boje joined Kallis in punishing the bad balls and keeping the score ticking over. Hoggard removed Boje for 15 as Paul Collingwood tumbled forward at point to take a good, low catch (243 for 8).Yet if England thought they could finish it off quickly they were wrong and, in fact, worse was to come as South Africa piled up 89 for the last two wickets. Ntini’s intent immediately showed as he launched a towering six off Hoggard to get off the mark, before Kallis added another off Andrew Flintoff for good measure. Ntini’s typical tailender’s swish was then matched by Dale Steyn who swung the bat with abandon.At the start of the day, Graeme Smith said he would be happy with an advantage of 200 runs. This looked nothing more than a fanciful late addition to his Christmas list, after his team were wobbling on 90 for 5 as England’s bowlers worked tirelessly and Kallis stayed in his shell, albeit defiantly.

South Africa had started the day on 70 for 3, but after a loosener which Kallis drove through mid-on for three, Flintoff struck. Martin van Jaarsveld, whose footwork is not one of his strengths, was caught leaden footed and his half-hearted defensive jab crashed into his middle stump via an inside edge (80 for 4). England had the breakthrough – but it was hardly deserved after some loose bowling early on.Hashim Amla made just 1 amid a painful battering in his baptism into Test cricket when he received a brute from Harmison which he failed to evade and a gloved edge arced to Geraint Jones (90 for 5). AB de Villiers (14) smacked two delightful fours and, for the first time, South Africa were taking the attack to England. But he came unstuck when Jones surprised him with bounce and extra pace and a checked pull looped gently to Graham Thorpe at midwicket.But in came Pollock to join Kallis as Smith’s lower order rallied, duly delivering just seven short of his desired 200-run lead. England made a decent fist of chipping away at their reply before the close, as Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss steered them to 30 without loss. And another chink of light for England’s batsmen: the pitch could get flatter. But they now really have their work cut out to overcome this total and get back in the game.

ScorecardSreekumar Nair’s stroke-filled 132 helped Kerala out of a difficult situation and gave them control of the game against Jammu & Kashmir at Palakkad. At the day’s end, J&K were 23 for 1, still 296 behind Kerala’s 319. Nair came in when the score was 20 for 2, and proceeded to play largely a lone hand as batsmen came and went frequently. At one point Kerala were 142 for 7, but Suresh Kumar assisted Nair with a quick 52. They added 101, then Nair and Sony Cheruvathur put on 62 for the ninth wicket. Nair faced 200 balls for his 132 and hit 22 fours, while Abid Nabi was the most succesful bowler for J&K, taking 4 for 83 off 18.1 overs.
ScorecardManinder Bisla turned the heat on Jharkhand with 135 at Jamshedpur. But the bowlers did well to dismiss the others for low scores, and limit Himachal Pradesh to 275. Sumit Panda ended with 4 for 55, and caught Bisla off his own bowling. Bisla struck 13 fours and two sixes, and scored his runs off only 160 balls. He made 99 more than the next-highest scorer, Ashok Thakur, who remained unbeaten on 36. Jharkhand finished the day at 4 for no loss.
ScorecardThe action at Agartala bordered on inaction. Goa played out 89.4 overs to reach 192 for 4, with neither the batsmen nor Tripura’s bowlers able to make much headway. However, Shami Asnodkar remained unbeaten on 87, off 251 balls, and the effort took him over six hours. The most successful bowler for Tripura was Sujit Roy, who ended with 3 for 51.
ScorecardRajasthan recovered from a poor start to reach a respectable total by the close at Udaipur. Their total of 269 for 8 was built on efforts by Gagan Khoda, Nikhil Doru and Naresh Gehlot. Khoda faced 214 balls for his 74, while Doru and Gehlot both made 47. Having got through the middle order, Haryana came up against more resistance in the form of Rohit Jhalani at No. 8, who remained unbeaten on 30.
ScorecardFazil Mohammad rocked Vidarbha early in the day at New Delhi to have them reeling at 12 for 2, but Services could not press on from there. When play ended, after only 40.1 overs, Vidarbha had recovered to 85 for 3, chiefly due to a 64-run stand between Pravin Londase (41) and Alind Naidu (29 not out).

ScorecardStuart Williams put Leeward Islands in a reasonably healthy position at the end of the first day of their match against Guyana. Williams had his work cut out for him after Leeward Islands were reduced to 67 for 4, but found an able and willing partner in Wilden Cornwall. The two added 127 runs for the fifth wicket. While Cornwall (72) was dismissed by Mahendra Nagamootoo, Williams ended the day unbeaten on 92, in sight of a century.
ScorecardJamaica struggled to 69 for 3 from 36.4 overs on a wet day at the Beausejour Stadium. Windward Islands struck through Deighton Butler (1 for 20) and Rawl Lewis (2 for 19), the former Test legspinner, and it took the resistance of Tamar Lambert, the Jamaica captain, and Maurice Kepple. Donovan Pagon, who lead the scoring with 23, had been dismissed caught and bowled by Lewis.
ScorecardTrinidad and Tobago gingerly tip-toed to 102 for 3 from 50 overs on a rain-truncated first day of their Carib Beer Cup match against Barbados at Crab Hill, Barbados. After more than three hours were lost due to rain Tishan Maraj, the opener, played a steady hand, making an unbeaten 33. But, his was a lone hand. Daren Ganga, the captain, was dismissed for the next best score, 22. At the end of the day Maraj was still at the crease, with Imran Jan.

After leading East Zone to a resounding win over a Bangladesh Board XI in a Duleep Trophy game, Sourav Ganguly said that India required to stretch themselves to beat Pakistan. Shrugging off Shoaib Akhtar’s absence from the Pakistan squad, he acknowledged that there were other players who could prove difficult for India.”[The] Pakistan team is a good side and India will have to do very well on the field to win the upcoming series against them,” Press Trust of India reported Ganguly as saying. He said that despite Shoaib’s withdrawal, Pakistan had “a lot of good players on their side and is still a strong side. India will have to do hard work.”The first-innings century stood him in good stead, said Ganguly, for he spent time at the crease, which was important after a lengthy period away from cricket. “It is very important for me to play in…domestic cricket after a long gap. I played for almost five-six hours and that’s good enough for me to prepare before the forthcoming series against Pakistan. International cricketers hardly get a chance to play in…domestic cricket and I utilised this before leading the side against Pakistan.”

The New Zealand selectors have called up Tama Canning, the Auckland allrounder, to replace Nathan Astle for the final one-dayer against Australia in Napier on Saturday.Astle damaged the AC joint in his right shoulder while fielding today and though he stood an outside chance of playing the game at Napier the selectors thought it best to rest him and have him fully fit for the first Test, starting at Christchurch on March 10.New Zealand are likely to use Craig Cumming as the replacement for Astle at the top of the order while Canning will bat in the middle order and chip in with his lively medium pace.New Zealand squad for fifth ODI
1 Stephen Fleming (capt), 2 Craig Cumming, 3 Hamish Marshall, 4 Craig McMillan, 5 Chris Cairns, 6 Tama Canning, 7 Brendon McCullum, 8 Lance Hamilton, 9 Jeff Wilson, 10 Daniel Vettori, 11 Kyle Mills, 12 James Marshall

Lancashire have said a final decision on whether they will relocate to East Manchester will be made by the end of the summer. The idea was first suggested towards the end of 2003, but the timing of a final announcement has been constantly put back by feasibility studies and negations with Trafford Council.Jim Cumbes, the chief executive, said: “I can’t see it dragging on much longer. We will definitely have made a decision by mid or late summer.” After the initial excitement created by the idea, the chances of the move going ahead have rapidly diminished. It would have seen Lancashire join Manchester City at the Sportcity complex, used for the Commonwealth Games.The current location of the club, just half a mile away from Manchester United, has its advantages. The Metrolink tram stops just outside the ground, and the association with a famous football club has boosted the club’s finances, especially during the winter months, with hospitality and the Old Trafford Lodge being particularly successful.Recent work at Old Trafford has also suggested that the prospect of a move is disappearing. Another stand as been demolished, temporary seating will take the capacity to 22,000 for the Ashes Test, and the likely decision will be to plough more money into the current ground.

West Indies 292 for 7 (Lara 176, Nel 3-54) v South Africa
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Brian Lara produced his second masterclass in as many matches, but not even his glorious 176 was enough to secure the upper hand for West Indies, as South Africa started and finished the opening day of the third Test in Barbados with a string of new-ball breakthroughs. By the close, West Indies had been whittled down to their tail, as Courtney Browne and Daren Powell attempted to extend the innings towards a par total of 350.It may have been advantage South Africa, but the day belonged to Lara, and how many times in West Indies’ recent history has that been the case? From the start of the day until five overs before the close, his performance first equalled and then surpassed that 196 at Trinidad, as South Africa’s seamers were halted in their tracks and made to marvel at the range and audacity of his strokeplay.Lara’s epic began amid a familiar clatter of top-order wickets – for 13 for 2 at Port-of-Spain, read 12 for 3 here, as Andre Nel and Makhaya Ntini tore great chunks out of the West Indian batting. After seven overs, Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul were already engaged in a familiar salvage operation, and by lunch, they had restored some order to the innings, batting within themselves – especially in Lara’s case – to add a vital unbeaten 48 for the fourth wicket. It was an attritional recovery in a mini-session that was notable only for Bridgetown’s first-ever (male) streaker. After lunch, however, the story began to change.A spanking drive off Jacques Kallis carried Lara to his half-century from 77 balls, and when he followed up next ball with a masterful cut-drive that bisected the field on the cover boundary, it was clear that he had another major statement of intent in mind. Chanderpaul was his usual sedate self, but when he reached his own fifty from 123 balls, Lara took it upon himself to celebrate on his partner’s behalf, as Nicky Boje was launched out of the ground for the sweetest of straight-driven sixes.Boje had claimed Lara’s scalp in the second innings at Trinidad, but this time Lara used his feet to perfection, regularly thumping him down the ground – into, round and over the various fielders who were scattered to the edge of the pitch. So long as he had partners, the sky seemed to be the limit of Lara’s ambitions, but unfortunately, West Indies are only ever one wicket away from a crisis.

Sure enough, on 53, Chanderpaul cut at a ball from Monde Zondeki that was too close to his body and skimmed a catch to Mark Boucher behind the stumps, and Ryan Hinds’s edgy innings ended soon afterwards when he flinched outside off for Boucher to claim another victim. Lara, who had gone to tea on 87, was understandably becalmed through the nineties, and on 99 was copped a painful blow on the shoulder as Kallis bent his back and extracted some sharp lift. But undeterred, Lara nudged one off his hips, to jog through for a single and post a magnificent 28th Test hundred. By the end of the day, 16 of these had been extended past 150.But, by the end of the day, he was also gone, and in an instant, all of his magnificent work seemed to have been undone. The new ball was once again the key for South Africa, although it didn’t appear that way at first, as Lara greeted Nel’s first delivery with a searing calypso wallop that scorched through the covers to bring up his next milestone. In his next over, Nel was pulled with disdain in front of square and Lara seemed a dead-cert for 200 by the close, when he got a little too complacent and inside-edged onto his stumps.At 286 for 6, the day was looking like a near-replica of the opening day in Trinidad, but whereas the sides could not be split on that occasion, this time the upper hand belonged very firmly to South Africa. That was confirmed two runs later, when Dwayne Bravo’s defiant innings came to an end – deprived of Lara’s blazing strokeplay, he fished at a wide one from Zondeki, and was gone for 26 from 95 painstaking balls. And when Browne was forced to run down the middle of the wicket to intercept Ntini’s shy at the stumps, it was clear that West Indies were on the run, Lara’s extravaganza notwithstanding.How they were outGayle c Boucher b Nel 0 (2 for 1)
Beaten by an outswinger that nicked the outside edge on its way to the wicketkeeperWavell Hinds c Smith b Ntini 10 (12 for 2)
Trying to cut a moving deliverySarwan c Prince b Nel 10 (12 for 3)
Driving uppishly to the coversChanderpaul c Boucher b Zondeki 53 (150 for 4)
Top-edged while attempting to cut a wide oneRyan Hinds c Boucher b Kallis 10 (171 for 5)
Edged to the wicketkeeper while going for a rash driveLara b Nel 176 (286 for 6)
Bowled off the inside edgeBravo c Smith b Zondeki 26 (288 for 7)
Fished at a wide one