Bangladesh offers amnesty to 'rebel' cricketers

Bangladesh has offered amnesty to 14 cricketers who played in the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), asking them to scrap contracts by June 15 to have their bans withdrawn, an official said Saturday.

Bangladesh Cricket Board spokesman Jalal Yunus told AFP that the cricketers who joined the Twenty20 cricket meet have to sever their links and then apply for readmission into domestic and national cricket.

"We have taken a very soft approach. They have to scrap their deals with the ICC (International Cricket Council)-disapproved ICL by June 15 and then apply to us. We'll then allow them to play domestic matches," he said.

"If they prove their worth in the domestic leagues, we will consider them for the national cricket team from January 1 next year. We have reopened the door and now it's their choice whether they want to play for Bangladesh again."

The 14 players including former Bangladesh captain Habibur Bashar were given a 10-year ban last September for joining the unauthorised ICL, bankrolled by India's top media group Zee Telefilms.

All 14 featured in the ICL's Dhaka Warriors team in the last season. The team includes 11 current or former internationals.

Media reports said the players had signed up for 200,000 dollars each for a three-year period but the ICL declined to reveal the financial details.

Several players have in recent weeks told local media that they would like to play for the national team again and sought blanket amnesty from the cricket board.

Bashar said the amnesty offer opened a window for the rebel players.

"It's a positive move. We can now see some lights at the end of the tunnel. We have some time to think," he told AFP.

The umpire referral system will be up for review in the ICC Cricket Committee's annual meeting at...

The umpire referral system will be up for review in the ICC Cricket Committee's annual meeting at Lord's on Monday and Tuesday which among others, will also discuss the feasibility of day/night Test cricket and ways to improve over-rates.

The meeting, to be chaired for the first time by ex-West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, who replaced former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar, will also consider whether there should be a maximum weight of bats at international level and the effect of double-sided bats and switch-hits on the game.

According to an ICC statement, the members will also brainstorm ideas to ensure one-dayers remains relevant and popular in a cricketing landscape that now features three formats of the game.

The Committee meeting will be attended by ICC General Manager (Cricket) David Richardson, former Australia captain Mark Taylor and former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop, ICC Elite Panel Umpire Simon Taufel, chief ICC match referee Ranjan Madugalle, Kenya captain Steve Tikolo, South Africa coach Mickey Arthur and FICA CEO Tim May.

Recommendations of the Committee will be sent for approval to the Chief Executives Committee and the ICC Board which will meet at Lord's during ICC's annual conference from June 22 to 26.

The umpires' decision review was trialled in four Test series over the past nine months -- Sri Lanka vs India (August 2008), New Zealand vs West Indies (December 2008), West Indies vs England (February/March 2009) and South Africa vs Australia (February/March 2009). The Committee will consider whether it is appropriate to proceed with further use of the system, and if so, how and when that should take place, considering its undue negative influence on the pace of the game, effect on the players and on the authority of on-field umpires, practicality of the appeal by the players.

It will also mull on whether limits on the weight and depths of bats should be introduced specifically for international cricket. It will also consider any issues raised by the introduction of the double-sided bat and the switch-hit.

In the light of Twenty20 cricket's impact in the game, the committee will discuss whether there is a need to recommend any revisions to the One-Day International format.

The reason for review of ODI format is the desire to ensure that it continues to retain its relevance and popularity in a cricketing landscape in which there are now three versions of the game - Tests, ODIs and T20Is - at international level, the ICC statement said.

Punjab win a cliff-hanger

Mahela Jayawardene's innings ensured that his captain Yuvraj Singh had another victory.

Brett Lee and Andrew Symonds both made succesful returns to the tournament, but only one of them was destined to end up on the winning side today. And with a performance that put Punjab right back in the reckoning for a semi-final berth, the triumphant returning Australian for the day was Brett Lee.

Yuvraj Singh won the toss and chose to bowl, perhaps influenced by the fact that his side had chased so spiritedly against Chennai, and that their bowling was stronger this time around. Although they lost Gilchrist in the 5th over, Hyderabad got off to a decent start, reaching 50 in 5.5 overs. However the advent of spin in the sixth over, slowed things down and Hyderabad lost two more wickets. The match was keenly balanced at the strategy break with Hyderabad at 72 for 3. Punjab wrested the advantage in the next few overs, picking up another wicket and stemming the flow or runs, and at the end of the 15th over Hyderabad were 100 for 4, looking at possibly 150 if they had some good overs, but more likely 140 considering the way they had scored till then. However, nobody had reckoned with Andrew Symonds, who simply exploded to snatch visions of a low total away from Punjab. Symonds who was on 17 off 17 balls then, ended up at 60 not out from 36 balls, and took Hyderabad to a more than satisfactory 168 for 5 at the end of their 20 overs. Giving him good support was Venugopal Rao who scored a valuable 32 off 25 balls, and was involved in 95 run partnership with Symonds that came off just 9.2 overs. Lee had returned figures of 4-024-1, and had been by far the most dangerous and penetrative bowler for Punjab.

Punjab got off to a frenetic start to their innings, with Sunny Sohal throwing his bat around, but the advent of Rohit Sharma and his golden arm slowed things down for them. Punjab were 40 for 0 after 4 overs, when Sharma came on and got both openeres - Sohal and Katich - in his first over. That put the brakes on Punjab's free scoring. Yuvraj and Sangakkara strung together a partnership. In the process they gave Symonds a taste of his own medicine, smashing him for 20 runs off his first over. The partnership was broken by young Shoaib Ahmed in the 10th over when Sangakkara was bowled trying to be too clever, ending up playing the ball so finely that it clipped his stumps. Disaster struck for Punjab when 2 balls later Yuvraj skied a shot and the ball settled nicely in Gilchrist's safe gloves, and Punjab headed into the break at 86 for 4.

Pragyan Ojha who had recovered from the injury that kept him out of the previous game, was back this time and he bowled a controlled 4 over spell in which he gave just 24 runs, but Punjab took runs off the other bowlers to remain in the hunt. Mahela Jayawardene played a gem of an innings 43 from 28 balls, to take Punjab to the doorstep of victory, but pulled his hamstring going for a tight second run and got run out. With Brett Lee and Piyush Chawla at the crease, Punjab needed 19 off the final 2 overs, when Brett Lee changed the equation with a fiercely struck six flat over the head of long-off. With 8 needed off the final over, RP Singh mis-directed a bouncer off the first ball, that Chawla helped to the fine-leg boundary and Punjab breathed a sigh of relief, eventually winning by 3 wickets in 19.5 overs.

Turning Point of the Match: The six that Brett Lee hit off the fourth ball of the 18th over. That changed the equation for Punjab from 16 off 9 balls to 10 off 8, and swung an oscillating match decisively Punjab's way.

Man of the Match: Mahela Jayawardene for his super-cool innings under pressure. With him being the last recognized specialist batsman left, he guided the chase in a calmly professional manner and would have probably been there at the end if it hadn't been for the pulled hamstring.

Soundbytes:

"We've got Wilkin Mota in for....[long pause]...Karan Goel!" - In tune with Karan Goel's largely forgettable performances so far (bar one match), his captain Yuvraj forgot his name at the toss.

"We just had to keep our cool and Brett batted really well at the end to take us to victory" - Mahela Jayawardene is as understated and elegant in his speech as he is in his batting.