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Tim Boon, the Leicestershire coach, admits his club are facing a battle to retain their gifted young bowler, Stuart Broad.Broad, 21 – who was widely expected to make his Test debut yesterday against India, before being overlooked for Chris Tremlett – is one of England’s brightest fast-bowling prospects. And in this modern era of lucrative player moves, Boon is acutely aware that other counties could lure him with a sizeable pay packet.”This is the right place for him and I’d be disappointed if he goes for money,” Boon said. “We have put a support structure in place here which means he has everything he needs to achieve his goals.”I have also told him that the money will come to him, so I will be disappointed if he leaves for that particular reason. We were well aware that we would be facing this battle to keep Stuart because he is one of the most gifted prospects in the game but I remain hopeful that he will stay with us.”Broad was due to turn out for Leicestershire today but, like many sides, they fall victim to the rain as their match against Middlesex washed out at Grace Road without a ball being bowled.

A tournament billed as a clash between three of the teams most likely towrest Australia’s crown at next year’s World Cup will now in all probability giveway to a bilateral one-day series between Sri Lanka and India. This follows a bombblast in Colombo on Monday afternoon which prompted the South African team toreassess their presence on the island.Unless the ICC threatens them withpunitive measures, the South Africans – already rattled after an explosionkilled three on the final day of their Test series – will head home on theadvice of their consulate and the security firm in charge of theirsecurity. The players are united in their desire to curtail the tour, andGerald Majola, the chief executive of the United Cricket Board of SouthAfrica, is sympathetic to their stance.The explosion, triggered by a Claymore mine, took place in front of the popular Liberty Plaza shopping mall, killing seven and injuring 17. Four of the dead were army personnel providing an escort to, Bashir Wali Mohamand, the Pakistani High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, who escaped unhurt. According to the Sri Lankan government, the target was the Pakistani High Commissioner as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was disturbed about the close cooperation existing between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in defence matters.Sri Lankan cricket officials and security experts said as much in ameeting with both the Indian and South African team managements, assuringthem that the blast was a one-off. They insisted that security for bothteams would be further beefed up. But with the blast taking place lessthan 2km from the Cinnamon Grand hotel where South Africa are staying, andjust over 3km from the Taj Samudra which houses the Indians, there weremore than a few worried players by mid-afternoon.Torrential rain throughout Sunday night and much of Monday morning hadalready dampened any hopes of the tournament starting on time, and MickeyArthur, South Africa’s coach, said after the meeting with Sri Lankanofficials that his team continued to be jittery.”We are pretty worried,”he said. “They tried to explain how a cricket event or the teams wereleast likely to be targetted. But this was quite close to home. It’s fairto say that if we hadn’t been playing today, a lot of our boys might havebeen over at Liberty Plaza.”With India having cleared a massive contingent for the South Asian Games,which starts here on Friday – the football team is already in town,staying at the same hotel as the South African cricketers – the stancefrom New Delhi was quite different. Having spoken to BCCI officials backhome, Rajan Nair, India’s media manager, announced that a further meetingwas planned for Tuesday morning, and that the Indian team was protected bythree layers of security at their hotel.When asked if the prospect of ablast en route to the ground – Liberty Plaza is on the way to the SSC,where India were scheduled to practise on Monday afternoon – worriedthe players, he said: “Sri Lankan security officials are responsible forsafety when we are travelling, and they have assured us that nothinguntoward will happen.”Though Sri Lanka Cricket officials quickly came out and said that thetournament was unaffected, with Sri Lanka and South Africa expected togive it another go on Tuesday, the feeling of unease in the South Africancamp was palpable. Players hung around the lobby, waiting for news andasking their friends in the media for updates. By late afternoon, itbecame known that the team were keen to leave, and that officials backhome in South Africa were weighing up the ramifications of a pullout.Gordon Templeton, the team’s media manager, told Cricinfo: “Our cricketboard is in consulation with the consulate here and also our securityfirm. They will come to a decision based on that.” Asked whether thatmeant not waiting for the meeting announced on the morrow, he said: “Thedecision will be taken by the board, and it may happen before that.”Several of the South African players voiced their fears privately. Onetold this correspondent: “Before we came here, we were assured that theproblems were all up north. But this is the second bomb in a week, andwe’ve also read of numerous assassinations.” His views were echoed byArthur, who said: “The situation seems to be getting worse too, if youwatch the news and read the papers. We saw today that a truck full ofexplosives had been stopped just outside of Colombo.”The Indians, though, sang from an altogether different hymn sheet,perhaps acutely aware of the fact that they will be hosting the ChampionsTrophy in October, less than three months after the serial blasts onMumbai’s suburban railway network.Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, saidthat it was the host nation that had to take a decision, while Lalit Modi,the vice-president of the board, told Cricinfo: “What South Africa decideis their business. Let us not speculate. Let us wait for the facts andthen decide. The series is on and we haven’t heard anything to thecontrary.”By nightfall, the South Africans were more or less ready to pack theirbags. An ICC spanner in the works was unlikely, given that neitherAustralia nor West Indies was punished for boycotting matches in SriLanka during the 1996 World Cup. With such a precedent to fall back on,it was a near-certainty that the triangular would become a South Asianface-off, inclement weather and terror attacks permitting.

Ireland 172 and 196 (Joyce 61) beat Scotland 234 for 9 dec and 131 (McCoubrey 4-17) by three runs
Scorecard

Scotland’s hopes of successfully defending their Intercontinental Cup title disappeared as they slid to a three-run defeat by Ireland at Aberdeen. The result, which will give Ireland satisfaction after their loss in last month’s ICC Trophy final, means that they are left needing a draw from their match Holland at Stormont later this month to progress to the semi-finals.Scotland’s bowlers had given them a chance of victory by bowling Ireland out for 196, leaving a modest target of 135 in 39 overs. But some poor batting, one or two dubious umpiring decisions, and a devastating four-wicket opening spell from Adrian McCoubrey which reduced Scotland to 34 for 4 proved too much to overcome.The home side were further hampered when Craig Wright was found to have suffered a broken finger, which will rule him out of Thursday’s match against Australia. Coming in at No. 9 with the score on 78 for 7, he hammered a brave 31, including two huge 6s on the trot, to take Scotland to the brink of victory only for Dewald Nel to be run out off the next delivery.Ireland resumed on 46 for 2, but for a second time their batsmen could not master the bowling, with only Dom Joyce (61) and Andre Botha (46) showing any real definace. Gregor Maiden (3 for 24), Ryan Watson (3 for 64) and Johan Nel (3 for 30) shared the spoils.”It was lots of wee things throughout the three days that did for us, not the final chase,” said Andy Moles, Scotland’s coach. “We let Ireland’s lower order get far too many runs on the first day, then we didn’t get enough ourselves in reply. And, crucially, after Craig Wright broke his finger, he didn’t bowl much. I am certain his absence from the attack cost us wickets at important times.”

The Greeks would sympathise. There has been something Athenian about the doubts and delays that have dogged England’s preparation for the ICC Champions Trophy, which gets underway at Edgbaston and The Oval on Friday. While the Zimbabwe crisis was raging, there was a genuine threat that the tournament would be whisked away to India, and as for the venues – neither The Oval, which is midway through its long-overdue facelift, nor the Rose Bowl, with its recently laid pitches, looked as if they could possibly be ready for such a high-profile event.Factor in all those other peripheral matters, such as the wisdom of staging such a jamboree so late in the English season, sluggish ticket sales, and the blink-and-you-miss-it format, which seemed tailormade for another embarrassingly early exit for the hosts, and there were all the makings of cricket’s dampest squib since … well, the opening ceremony of the 1999 World Cup at a rainy Lord’s.But then again, it is not every day that you get all the world’s top players (give or take a Tendulkar or Muralitharan) gathered together in one place, and it is not every day that English cricket finds itself on a roll of quite such staggering proportions. So far, touch wood, even the weather looks as if it might play along. Far from being a tournament too many, the coming fortnight has all the makings of a celebration of cricket – and, assuming they don’t fall at the first hurdle, a celebration of England’s remarkable season as well.That factor could be the clincher. With apologies to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, it is not being unduly one-eyed to suggest that the tournament’s best hope of capturing the public’s imagination is for England to progress beyond the group stage – for the first time in the competition’s history. The whole show will be done and dusted in 15 manic days, which is a far cry from the bloated, seven-week slog everyone endured at the last World Cup. The longer the host nation is involved, the better.Given the disparity between the competing teams, the four groups of three could hardly be better balanced. There is little prospect of an upset from any of the four underdogs (and in the case of USA v Australia, those of a weak constitution ought to look away now). In fact, the only side that might conceivably fancy their chances are Bangladesh, the best of the rest, who have been drawn alongside those two faltering powers, South Africa and West Indies.The tasty ties, however, are Australia v New Zealand in Pool A, and India v Pakistan in Pool C. Quite apart from the local rivalries involved, each throws up the prospect of a clear challenge to the established pecking order. Australia, as they showed against Pakistan at Lord’s on Saturday, retain an uncanny ability to wriggle out of any tight corner, but both they and India have shown signs of vulnerability in their recent performances.As for India, their victory over a Flintoff-free England in the last match of the NatWest Challenge was hailed in some quarters as the turning of a corner. That might be over-egging the game’s significance slightly – the mere fact that England selected Anthony McGrath as Flintoff’s stand-in was ample proof that England have, to borrow Brian Lara’s phrase, no Plan B, not when it comes to their one-day side, anyway. It is time for Duncan Fletcher to cross his fingers and pray that his first XI can come through four more matches unscathed.There is, of course, one potential match-up lurking around the corner that could conceivably shunt even Wayne Rooney and Graeme Souness off the back pages of the British tabloids for a day or two. If England can see off a Murali-less Sri Lanka at the Rose Bowl, and Australia send everything pear-shaped for the Kiwis at The Oval, then the big two will square up at Edgbaston on September 21. It will give England a chance to lay the ghost of that two-wicket defeat at last year’s World Cup, not to mention a marker or two for next summer’s Ashes.It’s not all going to be fun and frolics, however. The ICC has seen to that with their absurdly draconian stance on spectators’ picnics (never mind British Rail suffering from the wrong sort of snow; to be apprehended for the wrong sort of cheesy nibbles really takes the, er, biscuit). And all the while, the climate threatens to jeopardise the entertainment. Never mind the threat of rain, the real fear is that too many matches will be decided by the toss of a coin, as fielding sides take the chance to exploit the moist conditions that will prevail early in the morning.But all such doubts remain, at this stage, mere speculation. A global audience of millions will be tuning in over the next fortnight; there is prizemoney of US$1.15million at stake, and new stump-microphone technology has been introduced to aid the umpires in adjudicating on caught-behind decisions. All of this and more goes to show how high-profile this tournament is intended to be. It’s time to put the cynicism to one side, and let the games begin.Andrew Miller is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo.

England’s easy win at Riverside has presented the selectors with an unfamiliar problem. Although the one-day merry-go-round means that the squad for the first Test against South Africa does not have to be considered for another month, the success of Richard Johnson, James Anderson and Steve Harmison leaves a fast-bowling conundrum. How to accommodate three more experienced faces – Andrew Caddick, Darren Gough and Matthew Hoggard – who are likely to be back from injury come mid July.The situation is not unwelcome – England’s quick-bowling selections in recent years have tended to become something of a last man standing affair come the end of the summer – and Duncan Fletcher, England’s coach, admitted that it is something that has been at the forefront of his thoughts. The solution might be squad rotation.”We could have a difficult selection problem when the other bowlers are back,” Fletcher said. “When they return we will have some problems but we want to build on the pool of players we have, especially in the bowling department. It is important we have some players sitting in the wings who have some experience.”There’s a good chance of rotating the bowlers,” he continued. “Somewhere along the line, these young guys are going to have to have a rest.”We will have to sit down and look at the situation and decide how important the win is. The one-day series will show us whether we are ahead of the pack, but it is going to be very, very difficult to get this balance right. I’d rather have someone playing too little cricket than the other way around. If he’s undercooked, then we can take him forward; if he’s overcooked, it’s gone, finished, too late.”Fletcher also warned not to expect too much from Anderson, a bowler who twelve months ago was still playing club cricket. “I think it’s going to be a big ask for Anderson to bowl through all these Tests and one-dayers,” Fletcher explained. “There’s a lot of travelling as well. He seems fine now but you don’t want to shut the stable door and find that the horse has already bolted.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Wednesday said it would like the NewZealand Cricket (NZC) to confirm inside 10 days if they were ready tocome for an shortened tour.A spokesman of the PCB clarified that it was not a deadline but only atime frame which could allow the host board to finalize thearrangements.”NZC is requested to monitor and review the situation quickly to helpput the tour back on track. Naturally, the abbreviated tour has toconclude before Oct 25 as Pakistan is committed to play in Sharjah onOct 27,” the spokesman said.The tri-nation series in Sharjah begins Oct 27 with Zimbabwe and SriLanka as the other participating nations. The Black Caps are scheduledto arrive in Australia on Nov 1 where the first Test begins Nov 8.Although the spokesman refused to reveal details of the abbreviatedtour, insiders said if conditions remained normal and NZC decided tosend its team, a two-Test and three-match one-day series would beplayed.”The Peshawar Test and Rawalpindi three-dayer will be scrapped whileFaisalabad Test will be shifted to Lahore. In the revamped schedule,there will be 16 playing days (including a threedayer). This impliesthat the tour can be completed in three weeks if the rest days areadded,” the sources said.In practical purposes, the tour can still conclude on Oct 24 even ifit begins Oct 1. This means New Zealand have more than two weeks toassess the situation arising from Tuesday’s tragic events inWashington and New York.According to the International Cricket Council (ICC) ruling, a two-Test series will be eligible for distribution of points for the WorldTest Championship. Similarly, the one-dayers are equally important asthe rankings of the 2003 World Cup will be based on team’s worldstandings in the matches played till Oct 1.”It is the first day of the crisis following New Zealand’s temporarilypostponement of the tour. We will certainly consider various optionsthat will be available,” the spokesman said.Continuing with the training camp or releasing the players to appearin domestic first-class competition starting Sept 21 or requesting theAsian Cricket Council (ACC) to wrap up the Test championship beforePakistan proceeds to the desert city are the options underconsideration.”NZC chief executive was reassured that the situation in Pakistan withrespect to security and playing the game are safe,” PCB director BrigMunawar Rana said in a statement.The statement added: “The PCB regrets the situation which is wellbeyond its own control and held out an assurance to all the organizersof the series that their interests are as safe as can be reasonablyexpected.”Rana, when contacted by Dawn in Lahore, said he has informed theInternational Cricket Council (ICC) that there were no securityconcerns in Pakistan. The executive board of the ICC is scheduled tomeet at Lahore between Oct 14 and 19 which will be followed up by atwo-day ACC meeting on Oct 20 and 21.”I called Mal Speed today and confirmed him that next month’s meetingwas on as far as Pakistan was concerned,” he said.Ironically, Pakistan had volunteered to host the meeting after SriLanka had refused to host in the backdrop of security concerns. Itwould be interesting to see if NZC chief executive and former Testpacer Martin Snedden attends the summit.It is for the second time in 11 years that an international team hasbeen forced to cancel or postpone its tour to Pakistan because ofsecurity fears. In 1990-91, England A returned without playing a matchwhen Gulf War broke. In 1984-85, India returned mid-way on tour whenprime minister Indra Gandhi was assassinated.

So often the most polarising cricketer in Sri Lanka, this time Lasith Malinga was himself split on the value of his contribution to the T20 series. On one hand, he appeared almost distraught at the decline of his bowling. He not only suggested again that he lost Sri Lanka the match, but also conceded his career may end if he doesn’t improve soon.On the other hand, Malinga responded tersely to criticism of his influence over team selection. Six cricketers with two T20 caps or fewer played in the Sri Lanka team on Saturday, and Malinga believed he had done Sri Lankan cricket a service by showcasing them at the top level.”The people who watched the match would have been able to see how talented the new players are and how useful they can be,” Malinga said. “Personally, I’m disappointed about my own form, but I happily take criticism as captain. I believe that even if I was criticised by one or two people, I was personally able to unearth two or three future national players. That’s what a captain should do.”Malinga was Sri Lanka’s most expensive bowler for the second T20 running, and his figures of 1 for 40 from four overs played a role in the loss. Malinga’s international form has been indifferent since the middle of 2014, when a long-term ankle injury began to deteriorate further. He had surgery in September and was in recovery for 18 weeks before the World Cup.”I played for a year and a half before the World Cup with an injury,” Malinga said. “I was using injections then. After that I had surgery. I didn’t have time to recover – the World Cup started. I went there and I wasn’t able to get my rhythm back. I’m playing cricket continuously and I think I might have a chance to get back into rhythm. If not, I expect better bowlers than me will develop in Sri Lanka. I came to the national team to fill someone else’s shoes. I think a good player will come and be suitable to take my place, in time.”Malinga led Sri Lanka to the 2014 World T20 victory in Bangladesh and was reappointed T20 captain by the new selection committee this year. However, there have been reservations about his leadership, particularly about his man-management ability. These concerns have been inflamed by his recent dip in form.”I don’t think I should step down as captain,” Malinga said. “What I hope is that I can work on my fitness. The selectors have the opportunity to give the captaincy to someone else. Whether I’m captain or not, I think I’ll have a chance to get back into form. If not, a better captain and a better bowler will replace me, and take Sri Lanka’s cricket forward.”Questions have also been raised about the omission of Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal, which Malinga is said to have influenced. Malinga, however, said he had done right by Sri Lanka, given the limited number of T20 internationals scheduled before next year’s World T20.”In past World Cups, I’ve heard and seen people say, ‘We should have brought that player’, or, ‘This other cricketer would have been better in these conditions.'” Malinga said. “But whether I’m the captain or someone else is, I thought that I would save the captain that fate. I wanted to choose a young group of players early and present them. There’s no need to guess at how good the players are.”Though Sri Lanka’s senior players have been underwhelming throughout the Pakistan tour, which the hosts have finished without a trophy, Malinga believed results would begin to improve soon.”I don’t think Sri Lankan cricket will stagnate for long,” he said. “The new players we’ve introduced are already showing they are suitable for international cricket, and showing they have ability. Chamara Kapugedera, Milinda Siriwardana, Dhananjaya de Silva have all done that. They’ve all shown they have a long cricket journey.”When seniors retire, it’s not the runs and the wickets we miss. The knowledge and their ability to manipulate matches – a skill they’ve gained over 14 or 15 years – is what is missed. It takes a while to build up that kind of knowledge. But in terms of producing good cricketers, I don’t think Sri Lanka will have much trouble.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

They may have been scraping the bottom of the points table, but the Bangalore Royal Challengers and Deccan Chargers dished out one of the best games of the IPL. In a relatively low-scoring match in which the bowlers from both teams had plenty of say, Bangalore squeezed out a dramatic three-run win – their second of the tournament and the first at home – to move to sixth in the points table.The match ebbed and flowed throughout, both teams had opportunities to take control, and both frittered it away. Deccan, requiring 157 for victory, had the run-chase well in control when the classy Rohit Sharma and VVS Laxman were involved in a 96-run stand. With 20 deliveries to go, Deccan needed 30 to win with two well-set batsmen at the crease, and seven others to follow. From there, it all went pear-shaped for them.Rohit had played another sublime innings, showcasing his outstanding talent in bringing up his third half-century of the IPL, but when Jacques Kallis pitched one up, Rohit – who had carved a four and a six earlier in the over – could only loft it to long-on. Shahid Afridi’s entry should have been good news for Deccan; instead, he made just 1 before Dale Seyn pulled off a superb diving catch at long-on.Then came two lbw decisions which further queered the pitch: Laxman, who had motored to a 44-ball 52, was given out to a Praveen Kumar delivery which pitched outside leg, and when Scott Styris was given out in similar fashion to Zaheer Khan in the next over, it seemed Bangalore had sealed the win.Going into the final over, Deccan needed 20 with Anil Kumble to bowl – it seemed a lost cause, till Sanjay Bangar struck two magnificent sixes off the third and fourth deliveries, reducing the equation to a nail-biting six off two. Kumble, though, held firm, conceding two singles off the last two balls, and a tense Dravid finally allowed his emotions to show through, high-fiving his team-mates. As he said later: “We got out of jail today.”When Rohit and Laxman were at the crease, though, it seemed Bangalore were doomed to another home defeat. After being pegged back by superb opening spells from Steyn, Zaheer and Praveen, during the course of which Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs – their two biggest batting stars – succumbed, Rohit and Laxman got the run-chase back on track. Rohit’s innings was another masterclass, as he showed the composure and shot-selection of a veteran. He started off with a glorious six over wide long-on off Kumble, and then exhibited power and touch in equal measure, bludgeoning straight hits and also moving away and caressing Kallis just wide off the wicketkeeper.Laxman showed just how much he has developed as a Twenty20 batsman, adding the leg-side hoick to more conventional strokes. The 12th over saw Laxman at his sublime best, as he drove Kumble past extra-cover, used his feet and lofted on the off side, and flicked past midwicket for three fours.

Bangalore’s total ultimately turned out to be just enough, but at the halfway stage it seemed they had frittered away another game, as their attempt to solve the riddle of Twenty20 batting came unstuck again. They seemed on course for much more after ten over, when they were cruising at 80 for 1, but then fell away quite predictably in the second half as the Deccan bowlers struck back with regular wickets, in the process exposing – yet again – Bangalore’s lack of firepower.Till the halfway stage, the picture was an encouraging one as Jaffer and Kohli laid a perfect platform. As usual they lost their first wicket early, as Bharat Chipli inside-edged onto his stumps to ensure that six opening stands have fetched them a grand total of 74 runs. But then came the best passage of batting for Bangalore, as Kohli, promoted to No. 3, justified that move, adding 72 for the second wicket with Jaffer in nine overs.On an abrasive pitch where the ball tended to stop, neither batsman completely dominated the bowling, but yet they got their runs at a fair clip. In between a few mistimed shots, Jaffer executed some crisp drives, and was prepared to innovate as well, moving across his stumps to Sanjay Bangar and Afridi to clip them to the fine-leg boundary. Kohli was more forceful in his shot-making, getting two sixes, carving Bangar over midwicket and then striking Ojha cleanly over his head. Those moments had the crowd on their feet, but in between the Deccan bowlers – especially the slower ones – bowled enough dots to ensure that Bangalore never ran away with the momentum.The launching pad was ready, but the take-off went completely awry. After racing to 44, Jaffer top-edged a slog-sweep off the impressive Pragyan Ojha, who foxed Kallis in his next over. Kohli perished soon after, and when Misbah was at the receiving end of a poor lbw decision – the ball from Afridi was drifting down leg – Bangalore had lost three for nine and had wasted all the good work done earlier. Dravid’s two sixes in the last over from the No. 6 position helped lift the total beyond 150, and in the end, those hits proved decisive.

Former test batsman Mohammad Ilyas has been banned from the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore after allegedly threatening the national selectors according to Shafqat Nagmi, the PCB’s chief executive.The incident occurred following the selection of the squad for a one-day series against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi, Nagmi said, adding: “The ban can be lifted if Illyas approaches us and apologises for the incident.”Another unnamed PCB official told Reuters that Ilyas had threatened to “start a war” with the selectors after the omission from the squad Imran Farhat, his son-in-law. Farhat was also fined and reprimanded in April by the board for approaching the selectors and demanding an explanation for being left out of the squad.”I was upset over the way they selected the team for Abu Dhabi and I vented my anger,” Ilyas told Reuters. “But I have never harmed anyone in my life.”

The ICC delegation of Percy Sonn, the president, and Malcolm Speed, the chief executive, told journalists in Harare that they will hand-over their findings to the ICC board which will announce a resolution on Zimbabwe’s future in the near future. Speed and Sonn have been in Zimbabwe since last Thursday.`We have had some good meetings,” Sonn told local journalists. “We will now go to our board to make appropriate recommendation.”Although ZC board chairman Peter Chingoka outlined areas discussed by his interim committee with the ICC delegation – such as “governance and handover to new dispensation” – both Sonn and Speed declined to give full detail of their meeting with the other stakeholders. Speed only said the issues were in “the public domain” over the last 12 months.”It’s apparent Zimbabwe is going through a difficult time,” Speed explained. “We spent four hours with the stakeholders on Sunday afternoon. We went over the history of the last 12 months. I have to say that we now have a better understanding of some issues which we were not aware of, and I think they also now have a better understanding of our position regarding the issues, and ICC policies.”Speed, Sonn and Chingoka stressed that Zimbabwe will get more four-day games to prepare the team for Test resumption at the appropriate time. “We encourage that Zimbabwe play more multi-day games,” Sonn said. “There is a need to play more longer version games. Whatever support the ICC shall give it shall give.” Chingoka said the matches will be “over and above” the ICC Future Tours Programme.Chingoka also dropped a hint that Zimbabwe may not resume Test commitments as scheduled next year, revealing that there was “confidential discussion of Test resumption” with ICC.Speed also answered questions on the draft ZC constitution, and although admitting that they had “limited time in revising the draft constitution”, was largely dismissive of the issue. Critics have claimed that it is little more than a mandate for the existing board to carry on without any accountability.”We have seen the draft, and yes, the minister has the power to elect seven board members,” he said. “It’s not abnormal in cricket culture for government to have influence over cricket administration. We do not prescribe to our members how they should be governed. Each member has a different structure and different culture.”We have been consistent with our policy. There are similar arrangements with our other members. In Pakistan the president appoints board members. There is infact a one-man board there. In Sri Lanka the government also appoints board members.”Chingoka was asked about the decision to sack Terry Duffin as Zimbabwe’s captain, and he explained that it had been decided to appoint on a series-by-series basis. “It’s a young side and we do not want to overburden an individual. We are trying to create balance,” he explained. “For now we have appointed Prosper and he will remain captain unless there are reasons to do otherwise. The process is not rigid. Duffin remains in the picture, and as you know, he is more adept to the longer version.”