Andrew Hall will appeal against the ECB’s decision to decline his registration for the 2008 season. The board refused to use its discretion to allow him to turn out for Northamptonshire as he had played for South Africa A in August.Andrew Fitch-Holland, who represents Hall, told Cricinfo that the appeal would be lodged after the weekend. The hearing, which will be in front of a three-man panel, has to take place within 28 days, during which time Hall will not be allowed to play.A lawyer representing the ICL, Jeremy Roberts, told the BBC that the players whose registrations had been declined would appeal to the ECB, and if their appeals were unsuccessful then court action was inevitable.Fitch-Holland added that the ECB had been unable to give any clarification whether the same issues of registration would again arise in 2009 with players who turned out for the ICL after the end of the current season.

	Rahul Dravid: “We still have six matches to go and will bounce back with a good performance.” © Getty Images

A day after Bangalore Royal Challengers owner Vijay Mallya indicated he was unhappy with the team composition, he has justified the sacking of chief executive Charu Sharma and demanded better results. Bangalore are at the bottom of the table after losing six of their eight games so far.”When I questioned the team’s performance, poor practice facilities and the lack of infrastructure were given as reasons,” Mallya told NDTV. “It was also said that there was no bonding in the team. I said to myself, things can’t continue like this. So I brought in Brijesh [Patel] and who better than him to provide better practice facilities at the home base in Bangalore?”He also said he had other players in mind but backed the judgement of Sharma and the captain Rahul Dravid.”In fact in the second auction, when Dravid was absent, I wanted my set of players but Charu was very tentative and I was held back. It was I who brought in Misbah-ul-Haq.”People have to understand IPL has a corporate side to it. It is not all cricket in the traditional sense. I just want to tell Rahul Dravid to do the best he can with this team and produce results. Dravid doesn’t enjoy being at the bottom of the league and neither do I.”Sharma, sacked last week, responded to the criticism by distancing himself from the selection of the team. He also said the captain and coach should be given more time to prove themselves. “When there are experienced players like Rahul Dravid and Test captain Anil Kumble around, how do you expect me to play a role in the team selection?” he told the news channel CNN-IBN.”The very purpose for stating earlier that ‘through these strange and difficult times all I wish to do is maintain a dignified silence’ – is because that’s exactly what I intend to do,” Sharma said in a statement. “Let us not forget that the team is still out there – on the road – doing its best, trying to improve match after match.”On the eve of the match against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali, Dravid was asked how it felt to be termed a ‘Test team’. “We have not played good cricket, so such comments will come. It is disappointing for the team, for all who are part of it including the franchisee,” Dravid said. “But we still have six matches to go and will bounce back with a good performance.”On being asked whether the right players had been chosen at the auction, he said, “There were lot of variables at the auction. The players we picked are all quality players, it’s only that their performances have dipped. The big names are not doing well. We have not got the combination right. All this as magnified after we did not start well and lost some close matches.”

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

	Adam Gilchrist smashed the fastest century of the tournament (file photo) © Getty Images

Adam Gilchrist ignited the DY Patil Stadium with the fastest century of the tournament as the Deccan Chargers raced to their first win. The battle between the two bottom-ranked teams was a no-contest once Gilchrist teed off, and Deccan charged to an emphatic ten-wicket victory in the first major game at the stadium.Andrew Symonds had got a century off 47 deliveries the previous game but Gilchrist needed only 42 as he decimated the weak Mumbai Indians’ attack on a small ground. The intent was aggressive right from the word go, and Gilchrist made use of short deliveries in the first over from Ashish Nehra, dispatching one over square leg and the other through cover point.Pulls and cuts were played with ease as Mumbai’s quicker bowlers erred in their length, and after six fours, Gilchrist hit his first six, lofting Sanath Jayasuriya over deep midwicket. Siddharth Chitnis, the off-break bowler making his Twenty20 debut, was spared by going only for 12 in the last Powerplay over, but Shaun Pollock, leading Mumbai in Harbhajan Singh’s absence, was taken apart once the field restrictions were off.Gilchrist savagely pulled Pollock over the deep backward square-leg boundary for consecutive sixes, the first bringing up his first Twenty20 fifty. The shot that followed pierced the off-side boundary, and Gilchrist then nonchalantly moved across the stumps to launch one over long leg, making it 23 for the over.Abhishek Nayar’s arrival was greeted with three sixes, the third over midwicket brought up the hundred, and more astonishing was the fact that he had reached the mark as early as on the stroke of the tenth over. From then on, victory was just a formality, and Deccan reached their target with 48 balls to spare, both indication of the fury that had been unleashed. At the other end, VVS Laxman scored just 37 in a stand of 155, easily the highest of the tournament. Mumbai might have been at the receiving end, but the home crowd too cheered what had been an enthralling innings. Ninety-six of Gilchrist’s 109 came through boundaries, making it a busy day for the Deccan cheerleaders, who were sporting a new outfit.A new home ground and a new captain surely didn’t bring about a turn of fortunes for Mumbai, and Deccan justified Laxman’s decision to field first by restricting them to 154. Laxman’s captaincy had come under the hammer after three consecutive losses, but on Sunday he was right on the ball. He was quick to shuffle around his bowlers, who to their credit, backed up their captain’s decision with some good bowling.It was only the string of 30s from the middle order that helped Mumbai reach 154. Pollock made a run-a-ball 31 to revive the innings, but it was the quickfire 34s from Nayar and Dwayne Bravo that ensured the Mumbai bowlers had a decent total to defend.Jayasuriya and Luke Ronchi had failed to make an impression in earlier games, and they were kept quiet once again, despite the short boundaries, by RP Singh and Nuwan Zoysa. Ronchi hit three fours, but fell attempting to slash a wide delivery angled across from RP, edging straight to Laxman at slip.Sanjay Bangar was brought on in the fourth over, perhaps to help Zoysa change ends, and Ajinkya Rahane, another Twenty20 debutant, pulled straight into the hands of Pragyan Ojha at deep square leg. The next move from Laxman though was a masterstroke. Shahid Afridi was brought on in the final over of the Powerplay, and he had Robin Uthappa caught behind. At the end of six overs, Mumbai were tottering at 27 for 3.Jayasuriya had made only 4 off his first ten deliveries, and one pitched short from Zoysa fetched him his first boundary, which came off his 14th. But, once again Afridi did the damage, Jayasuriya got a top edge as he tried to power a googly through the leg side. The onus was then on Pollock to hold the innings together, but he too couldn’t stay till the end.Nayar smashed three sixes in his 19-ball innings, as 45 runs came in the overs 14 to 16. But he top-edged to Gilchrist while trying to hook Zoysa. Bravo too managed to find the gaps, and was out for 34 off the last ball of the innings as Mumbai finished on 154. However, with the form Gilchrist was in, even 254 would have been tough to defend for Mumbai, who now have four losses after four games, and sorely need Sachin Tendulkar to return.

ScorecardFile photo – Dinda struck four times in two overs to amplify Bengal’s advantage•PTI

Bengal took big strides towards securing their berth in the knockouts as Ashok Dinda struck four times in two overs after Bengal whipped up a total of 444.Dinda had Pallav Kumar Das caught behind off his first ball before having the other opener – Rahul Hazarika – lbw for 1. He followed it with another double-wicket maiden to dash Assam’s hopes of a fightback.Earlier, Shreevats Goswami and Pankaj Shaw built on the platform laid by Sayan Mondal and Sudip Chatterjee. While Goswami went on to strike his maiden first-class century in his 28th match, Shaw was pinned lbw for 99 by left-arm spinner Syed Mohammad. Aamir Gani’s 43-ball 33 pushed the total further before Manoj Tiwary declared the innings at 444 for 6 in 158 overs.
ScorecardResuming on an overnight 284 for 6, Vidarbha surged to 504 thanks to centuries from Ravi Jangid and Aditya Sarwate. The pair added 212 runs for the seventh wicket before Jangid was run out for 110 by Jayant Yadav. Sarwate stayed unbeaten on 103 as S Badrinath called the batsmen in at 504 for 7 in 155 overs. Haryana then began steadily, openers Nitin Saini and Chaitanya Bishnoi taking their side to 53 by stumps on the second day.
ScorecardWickets continued to tumble in Jaipur as Rajasthan were set a target of 230. Basant Mohanty and Alok Chandra Sahoo, who began by routing Rajasthan for 51, reduced the hosts to 7 for 2 in the fourth innings. However, Puneet Yadav launched a counterattack, making 56 out of Rajasthan’s 78.Mohanty and Alok carried on from where they had left off on the opening day as Rajasthan managed only 23 runs to their overnight score before they were rolled over in 27.2 overs. The innings contained four ducks and only three double-digit scores.Pankaj Singh and Aniket Choudhary then took over, sharing eight wickets between them to shoot Odisha out for 129. Ranjit Singh and Alok offered a semblance of resistance with 30s but a first-innings lead of 100 meant that Odisha were ahead on another 16-wicket day.
ScorecardKarnataka, who ended the first day in Pune at 50 for 1, collapsed to 180, right-arm pacer Anupam Sanklecha doing the bulk of the damage with figures of 4 for 58. He was backed up by Nikit Dhumal and Shrikant Mundhe who shared six wickets between them.Mayank Agarwal was the first to go on the second day when he was undone by Sanklecha. Robin Uthappa and Karun Nair both had starts but failed to build on it. Shreyas Gopal then managed 21 but Maharashtra took a first innings lead of 32.Karnataka, however, hit back through Vinay Kumar and S Aravind to reduce Maharashtra to 39 for 4 in 17.5 overs. Just as Karnataka looked to make further inroads, Rahul Tripathi and Kedar Jhadav steadied the innings with an unbroken 31-run partnership.

Australia captain Steven Smith and India offspinner R Ashwin have finished 2015 as the ICC’s top-ranked Test batsman and bowler respectively. Ashwin finished as the No. 1 ranked Test allrounder as well, for the second time in three years.While Smith leapfrogged Kane Williamson, Joe Root and AB de Villiers to the top, Ashwin achieved the No. 1 rank by unseating Dale Steyn, who could only bowl 3.5 overs in the second innings of the Durban Test against England.Smith was ranked No. 4 at the start of Australia’s Boxing Day Test against West Indies but surged to the top following unbeaten scores of 134 and 70. No one had more Test runs than him this year – 1474 from 24 innings at an average of 73.70 with six centuries and five fifties. He was also named the ICC’s Cricketer of the Year and Test Cricketer of the Year last week. Smith is the third Australian batsman in the last decade – after Ricky Ponting (2005, 2006) and Michael Clarke (2012) – to finish as the top-ranked batsman at the end of the year.Ashwin finished 2015 as top-wicket taker with 62 scalps in nine matches. He started the year ranked 15 but rich hauls on India’s tour to Sri Lanka (21 wickets in three matches) and in the home series against South Africa lifted him to the No. 1 spot. Of his 62 wickets, 31 came in the four-match Test series against South Africa, where his performance ensured India swept the series 3-0.Ashwin, who became the first Indian bowler since Bishan Singh Bedi in 1973 to finish the year at the top-ranked position, also chipped in with the bat, scoring 248 runs in 14 innings, with half-centuries against Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa.”Replicating what Mr Bedi did is something I am very proud of,” Ashwin said in an ICC release. “The former India captain was a master at his craft and I am very humbled to follow in his footsteps.”I would like to thank my Test captain Virat Kohli, who has been a big influence, and, of course, the team management, my team-mates and the BCCI for their continued support.”Among other batsmen, Adam Voges (11), Usman Khawaja (39) and Dean Elgar (28) finished the year at career-best rankings following centuries in the two Boxing Day Tests in Melbourne and Durban.Stuart Broad ended the year as the second leading wicket-taker – 56 scalps in 14 Tests – and sits at No. 3 in the bowlers’ rankings. Nathan Lyon, who won the Man-of-the-Match award for his seven-wicket haul against West Indies in Melbourne finished at a career-best rank of 14, while Moeen Ali, Man of the Match against South Africa, finished the year ranked 23.

MS Dhoni, India’s limited-overs captain, has welcomed the return of batsmen who can also contribute with the ball although it may, as a tangential consequence, delay Ajinkya Rahane’s comeback into the team after a hand injury.On a pitch that slowed down, India looked in control for the first time on the tour, and it possibly came down to the fact that Dhoni had many bowling options up his sleeve. Besides the frontline bowlers, he tried debutant Hardik Pandya for three overs and Yuvraj Singh for one and even had the option of Suresh Raina had the need arose.Rahane is a specialist batsman who does not bowl. When asked how difficult it would be for him to fit into the team combination, Dhoni said: “We will wait and watch once he gets fit. That will only increase the problem, but it is a good problem to have. Allrounders are important. If Hardik doesn’t bowl me four overs in every game; even if he gives two overs or three overs, I can still use others.”What I don’t want is top five or top six batters, including the keeper, where you don’t have a bowling option. If somebody goes for runs, you don’t really know what to do. In this format, you will have bowlers going for runs. At that time, you want your part-time allrounders to come in and give you that one over because that one over can help.”We will wait and watch how it goes. I think it’s important to have players like Yuvraj Singh who can bowl and bat, Suresh Raina, who can bowl and bat. Because if you have too many one-dimensional players in your top order it becomes really difficult when someone has a bad day.”One of the “part-time allrounders” Dhoni is now looking at is Pandya, and his stronger suit – batting, primarly his ability to hit big from the get go – hasn’t been seen in international cricket yet. He was on a hat-trick at one time, but it wasn’t really the kind of debut that will end India’s search for a seaming allrounder. Pandya bowled five wides in his first over, and his first wicket came off a delivery that would have been another wide had Chris Lynn not driven him straight to extra cover.”When it comes to international cricket it is all about handling the pressure,” Dhoni said. “Once you are given the ball, there is some pressure on you because it’s your first game and you don’t know what kind of bounce is there or what kind of pace is there. There would be some kind of pressure. After the first over I knew the second over would be better. I was happy with the second and third over. Still he [Pandya] will have to be more consistent with line and length. That will give me a lot of confidence to consistently play him as the third seamer when the need arises.”The two big factors to India’s win, though, were two of the most consistent performers on the tour: Virat Kohli with the bat and Ravindra Jadeja with the ball. Kohli’s almost risk-free innings of 90 off 55 gave India a target they could defend, and on a pitch that slowed down Jadeja gave Dhoni four overs for 21 runs and two wickets, including that of Steve Smith.”In Adelaide, they are making a stand [named after] him,” Dhoni joked referring to Kohli’s red-hot form at this venue. “By the time he ends his career, quite a few Australian grounds will have his stand. Yes, he is batting really well. The important thing is when he is taking the risk of playing the big shot, he calculates it well. It is easy to play the big shot, everybody can play it, but it is how you calculate, and according to your strength take the risk. Then there is more chance of being successful.”Also he is somebody who looks to score in front of the wicket. Of course, he is a good cutter and puller too but he looks to hit in front of the wicket. That gives you more chances of being successful. He is somebody who reads the game well. Right from the start whenever we have an interaction he is always looking to improve as a cricketer. If you have that kind of curiosity it helps you become a better cricketer. It is good when youngsters grab their chance, I think Virat did really well when he got a chance to bat up the order. It makes the work easy for everyone.”Jadeja has the same calming influence to his captain. “Whenever there is a bit of help he is somebody who bowls generally,” Dhoni said. “You know his spectrum of performance is generally narrow. The difference between his good and bad performance is little, which makes it slightly easy for us and gives us that stability.”

Mohammad Abbas, the Pakistan Test seamer, has agreed to join Derbyshire as one of their overseas players, signing a two-year contract that covers the 2026 and 2027 seasons.Abbas has built an impressive record in red-ball county cricket with Leicestershire, Hampshire and Nottinghamshire, whom he helped to the Championship title last summer. He will be reunited at Derbyshire with Mickey Arthur, the man who gave him his Test debut with Pakistan and who will hope the arrival of Abbas can help to spark a promotion push next year.”This is a statement signing for us, we’ve beaten a number of Division One counties to sign one of the finest red-ball bowlers around and we’re absolutely delighted to have Mohammad on board for 2026 and 2027,” Arthur said.Related

• Mohammad Abbas swaps Hampshire for Nottinghamshire on six-match deal

• Abbas turns screw on former team-mates with debut Notts five-for

• Mohammad Abbas, the county legend underappreciated by Pakistan

“He’s an exceptional bowler, he bowls maidens, builds pressure and his wickets come at a really impressive average. However, it’s not just his ability which will be huge for us, his experience is going to be massive for our young players to learn from.”Abbas, whose most-recent Test appearance came in January, has taken 291 wickets in the County Championship at 19.89 since first joining Leicestershire for the 2018 season.Abbas said: “It’s exciting for me to join Derbyshire and work with Mickey Arthur again, he’s a fantastic coach and hearing his plans for Derbyshire, we share the same ambitions for the club: to be in Division One.””The team only just missed out on promotion in 2025, so I’m hoping I can come in and perform to win a few more games and give our supporters a trophy to celebrate.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
5:09

Both teams need to learn to assess conditions better

In his first three overs, bowled at the start of the match, R Ashwin bowled India to their first bilateral T20I series win at home. India bowled Sri Lanka out for their lowest total, 82, to retain their No. 1 ranking, which was on the line in the series decider. Ashwin’s 4 for 8 was the best figures for an Indian in T20Is, beating his own 4 for 11.Ashwin’s immediate impact was crucial because the pitch turned square, and India might have unwittingly given Sri Lanka the second use of such a track. You couldn’t have faulted MS Dhoni, though: the pitch looked white, had zero moisture, and no big cracks. Given the dew expected later in the day, it seemed a prudent decision to ask Sri Lanka to bat because the pitch didn’t look like it would help spin anyway.Just like in Pune where India were left thinking they would have been in the game had they scored 130 or so as opposed to the 101 all out, Sri Lanka could have given India a fight with a half-decent total because the ball turned square even for Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina. Ashwin left them in no position to get a fighting total, though.Ashwin, given the new ball, was happy to give it a rip and some flight, mixing in the seam-up delivery that swings away from the right-hand batsmen. Sri Lanka, though, came out with a plan to try to hit Ashwin out of the attack. Tillakaratne Dilshan faced the second ball of the match, got a single, and immediately signaled to his partner, Niroshan Dickwella that the ball was turning already. It didn’t have any impact on Dickwella, who left his crease early and walked past an offbreak that Ashwin bowled deliberately short.In the same over, Dilshan was done in by a sharp offbreak from round the wicket, turning enough to beat the inside edge and hit his pad inside the line, but not turning too much to be given out lbw. If Dickwella played a headless shot, Dilshan’s was purely a bowler’s wicket: beaten on the forward defensive by the dip and the turn. Captain Dinesh Chandimal looked to counterattack, hit two fours off Ashish Nehra, but skied Ashwin in his second over. In his third over, Ashwin enjoyed some luck as debutant Asela Gunaratne was given out caught at leg slip off his pad. Ashwin had now reduced Sri Lanka to 20 for 4 in the fifth over. In a format not as versatile as the traditional ones, the damage had already been done.The problem with the rest of Sri Lanka innings was twofold: the ball was turning, and the batsmen kept trying the big hits as opposed to looking for a partnership. This was quite similar to what happened with India even as the ball seamed in Pune. Milinda Siriwardana faced only two balls even though he spent three overs in the middle. The first one he pulled Jasprit Bumrah for four, but when he tried the pull second ball he chose a Nehra delivery that was not short enough and also skidded through to bowl him.Only a high full toss from Yuvraj that went for six, and the free hit that was given repeat treatment by Dasun Shanaka gave Sri Lanka’s innings some momentum. Ashwin came awfully close to registering the first international five-for for India, but Jadeja and Raina kept the pressure up and the wickets kept falling. Jadeja’s brilliance showed in the field too, with a delicate back-hand flick to run Seekkuge Prasanna out and catch Thisara Perera in the deep.Under hardly any pressure, India walked away to their target with 37 balls remaining even though the turning pitch made stroke-play difficult. Shikhar Dhawan again displayed his improved leg-side play in his run-a-ball 46 whereas question marks over Ajinkya Rahane’s hitting ability on slower surfaces remained as he mis-hit a few attempted big hits in his unbeaten 22 off 24.

Internazionale defender Maicon has ruled out joining Manchester City after declaring his intention to move to Real Madrid.

The 28-year-old full-back is keen to follow former Inter coach Jose Mourinho to Spain despite interest in the £20million-rated Brazilian from the big-spending Premier League club.

Mourinho has been confirmed as the new coach of Madrid this week after leaving Inter following their Champions League final success over Bayern Munich.

Maicon is rumoured to be one of the players on his summer wish-list and the Brazil international has now admitted that a move to Madrid would be an appealing prospect.

"What I want is to play for Madrid and it would be an honour for me to be there because I have said it would be a great opportunity in my career," he told AS.

"With Manchester City I have nothing, I can assure that. I will make it very clear to prevent misunderstandings: I want to play for Madrid, I do not want to go to Manchester City.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

"Moreover, I repeat that I have nothing with the English club."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Arsenal could be looking for a new midfielder this summer with Barcelona desperately wanting to sign Cesc Fabregas. Just who Arsenal will look to fill the Spaniard’s shoes is a mystery and one rumour doing the rounds is Fiorentina and Italy midfielder Riccardo Montolivo, but is he really good enough to step up to the plate?

Montolivo has started the last two games for Italy in South Africa, in place of the injured Andrea Pirlo. However whilst he has shown flashes of brilliance on the whole he has been quite disappointing as Italy have lacked a spark which Pirlo usually provides. Indeed the 25-year-old midfielder is of a similar mould to Pirlo and therefore not a like-for-like replacement for Cesc. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for the Gunners, but due to his style he would probably need a defensive midfielder alongside him to clean up his mistakes. Gennaro Gattuso has done that for Pirlo at AC Milan and Daniele De Rossi currently assists Montolivo in Italy’s engine room.

The playmaker was named as captain of Fiorentina this year and he showed great maturity in leading his club when given the responsibility, however despite his best efforts he could stop the Viola from finishing a disappointing 11th place in Serie A. His form was clearly good enough to get into the Italy squad where there was a lot of competition for places, his technical ability and superb passing skills were seen as vital to the squad by manager Marcello Lippi. However he does possess weaknesses to his game and is over reliant on his midfield partner to cover for him. Defensively his tackling ability isn’t great either which is one of the reasons why he needs someone else there. He has also been known to bottle a challenge or two.

In truth compared to Fabregas, whilst Montolivo is a good player he is miles away from being a successor to him because he just isn’t in the same class. Fabregas is a complete midfielder and could pretty do anything required of him; Montolivo is not able to do that. His passing whilst it is good isn’t at the same level as the Spaniard’s.

There is something missing from his game that is the difference between a good player and a world beater and Montolivo won’t ever develop that. By all means he could be a good signing for Arsenal but he won’t fill the void of Fabregas by any stretch.

Arsene Wenger would be beater off investing his money elsewhere on a player who is more of an all-rounder rather than splash out on somebody who excels at a few things but is lacking in other areas. Fabregas will be very difficult to replace at Arsenal but not impossible, however Riccardo Montolivo is definitely not the answer.

Follow me on Twitter

Get the latest Arsenal news on Twitter

**

Click image below to see a gallery of the German babes at the World Cup:

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.