England will attempt to put behind them the shock of losing the Test against India when they begin the one-day series in Scarborough on Thursday, on a day which marks the start of the road to the 2017 Women’s World Cup with the beginning of the Women’s Championship.The Championship, the first structured bilateral tournament in the women’s game, will have officially started a few hours earlier in Brisbane with Australia facing Pakistan. The other four teams involved are South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies.The introduction of the league comes at a time when the major challenge within the women’s game is to provide a sustainable volume of cricket and also ensure that a damaging divide does not start to emerge along funding lines.England and Australia are significantly ahead of the other nations in terms of financial investment and, although India’s victory at Wormsley showed that does not automatically transfer into on-field results, the women’s game needs to look after those countries where money is more of a challenge.One option put on the table in recent months was the Women’s International Cricket League (WICL), a privately funded and run T20 event proposed to be held in Singapore. The ECB and Cricket Australia, however, quickly doused talk of any private enterprise being allowed to take hold.”From an ICC perspective I suppose the real priority has been getting to the Women’s Championship positioned and rolling that out the best we can,” Clare Connor, the ECB head of women’s cricket, said. “Bilateral cricket has to be our priority and to give it context and meaning ahead of the next World Cup. Once we see that bed in and run smoothly, I’m sure there will be scope to look at a global T20 competition.”I think what will happen is that in the next 12-24 months, England, Australia and India will somehow discuss a way forward to make something like that happen. It would be good to have a tournament like that which could inject more money into the game and bolster the profile in a different way.”The Championship sees each team play each other in one home or away series that will include three ODIs counting towards the Championship over a two-and-a-half year period. As such, each side is guaranteed at least 21 ODIs over the tournament period.At the conclusion of the seven rounds, the top four sides will gain automatic qualification for the 2017 Women’s World Cup in England, while the bottom four sides will get a final chance of qualification through the Qualifier event.

Benoni’s Willowmoore Park’s status as an international venue could be under the microscope after a domestic one-day cup match between Titans and Knights was abandoned because of a dangerous pitch. This is the second time in five years a fixture has been called off at the venue, meaning CSA’s board can recommend that the ground not be included in the roster of international matches in the season that follows.According to CSA’s administrative conditions clause 5.3, if a playing surface is deemed unsuitable for play, “CSA would have a range of options available to deal with its findings on the pitch in question, including the deduction of points from the home team, the imposition of a fine not exceeding R150,000 or both. A further option available is a recommendation to the Board that the ground in question be excluded from the next season’s roster of International and/or Test matches.”Titans, who use Willowmoore Park as one of their two home grounds, have already been punished with points for the game awarded to Knights. Play was stopped after 19 overs with Titans on 45 for 3. At that stage, the umpires had already seen at least four incidents of inconsistent bounce and, in consultation with the match referee and captains, opted not to continue with the game.”The new balls were jumping up and rearing quite badly and then it just got worse. By the 13th over, it was really bad,” Barry Lambson, the match referee, told ESPNcricinfo.Lambson went on to describe how medium-pacer Malusi Siboto hit both Henry Davids and Heino Kuhn on the arm before the first drinks break. “The umpires consulted but we carried on,” Lambson said.”After drinks, Theunis de Bruyn got a ball at about ankle height and then the next ball just took off. The same thing happened to Dean Elgar – one kept low and then the next one he had to swerve out of the way. The umpires consulted again and we decided it was too dangerous to continue. Someone could have been badly injured and we didn’t want to wait for that. Bowlers who are not that quick where getting it to rear up. Imagine what Marchant de Lange could have done later.”Lambson has compiled a report which will be submitted to CSA – the board will decide on further action.Under consideration will be that the groundsman informed the officials that he prepared the pitch in the “normal way”, according to Lambson, and that little more than a fortnight ago Willowmoore Park hosted a fist-class match on what Lambson described as a “great wicket”.However, the venue has been problematic in the past too. In 2009, a four-day match was called off after seven overs because of unsuitable pitch. On that occasion, it was found that the surface had been overwatered and the bowlers were creating dents in the pitch. The points for the match were shared, which Titans coach Rob Walter would have preferred to see happen this time as well.”If we’re affected from a points point of view, that would be unfair. We just rocked up to play a game of cricket,” he told journalists in Benoni. “The four-day wicket was great, and a few days later this happens.”While Willowmoore Park is not a regular host of international matches, with its last men’s ODI played in March last year, it a common venue for practice matches for touring teams. Last year, unseasonably high rainfall meant it could not stage India’s practice match.It is not due to host any international games this summer but is scheduled for a significant number of domestic cricket games and one fixture involving an international side, which organisers will want to ensure it is properly prepared for. The ground will see two domestic twenty-over matches staged on November 21 and 26, the warm-up match between a South African Invitation XI and the touring West Indians in December, two domestic four-day games next January and March, and another one-day cup match on February 1.

Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor earmarked his seamers to lead the team’s challenge in the Khulna Test, citing their ability to reverse the ball

Devashish Fuloria in Khulna02-Nov-2014The trio of Zimbabwe seamers had been productive in Dhaka, compensating for the lack of experience in the spin department. Tinashe Panyangara, Elton Chigumbura and Tendai Chatara handled 65% of the bowling load and picked up 12 off the 14 wickets to fall to the bowlers. That’s 85% of the total output.So it was no wonder that Brendan Taylor again earmarked the seamers to lead the team’s challenge despite the Khulna pitch not promising the bounce of Dhaka. On a drier surface, Taylor said his seamers would still be in play with their ability to reverse swing the ball.”Yes, they do (have the skill to reverse the ball). It’s an abrasive surface and the ball will get scuffed up,” Taylor said. “They have done it in Test matches at home where the pitches have been less rough. I have no doubt they can do it here. I don’t think there is going to be that kind of bounce, but I think our bowlers have the skill and control to contain and take wickets.”Zimbabwe’s spinners had appeared toothless in Dhaka on a pitch in which the opposition spinners had run through the batting. Tafadzwa Kamungozi and Natsai M’Shangwe neither showed control nor displayed ability to turn the ball, but asked if the two bowlers were dicey starters in Khulna, Taylor said it was a big topic of discussion, though a decision had not been made.”We have got reserves in our spin department but we have yet to sit down with the coach and the convenor of selectors to make a decision on that,” Taylor said. “It has been a big topic of discussion and we are going to do it this evening, and see how we can fine tune our spin department.”We are not as blessed as Bangladesh in our spin department. We proved to be a good unit in Dhaka with our seam bowlers. Yes we are aware the pitch is going to be different but we have got what we’ve got and we’ve got to make use of it.If Taylor was discounting on his team’s capability in the spin department, it would mean extra pressure on the other two areas – seam-bowling and batting. And there appears to be a serious handicap in one of them – their ability to handle spin, which would leave the side heavily dependent on their seamers to strike.”Our seam bowlers are good enough to adapt,” Taylor said. “I feel they are good enough to strike with the new ball, I feel they are good enough to reverse the ball. That’s a danger to any batsman when the ball is reversing and hopefully we can do that.”The memory of losing seven wickets to spin in a session on the third morning would still be fresh for Zimbabwe. More than the collapse, it was the manner of it which would have created a few doubts. It’s not their batsmen are novices against the turning ball – most of them have played cricket in this part of the world – but in the third Test, they were ruthlessly exposed. If repeated, it’s a mistake that will lose Zimbabwe the series but Taylor said his batsmen were determined to prove otherwise.”We have worked really hard,” he said. “We have done some specific spin drills to counter their spinners. But in saying that, they are going to turn up and make it very difficult for us. They play extremely well at home. But we have played a number of times. We were very sloppy in Dhaka in losing our wickets, so our batters are pretty determined right now. We would like to prove to everybody that we are good players of spin.”A look back at the last Test played on this ground would allay some fears. Both Bangladesh and West Indies’ batsmen had feasted on flat batting conditions. The pitch holds a similar promise but can Zimbabwe’s batsmen rise to support their seamers?

MatériaMais Notícias

A Vila Belmiro terá dois novos telões ainda em 2019. Fruto do contrato renovado da Brahma com o Santos, a novidade já está em produção e tem previsão de ser entregue em novembro.

Os telões ficarão localizados nas extremidades do estádio, sendo um em substituição ao atual, localizado na arquibancada da Rua Tiradentes, e o outro no espaço correspondente à arquibancada da Rua José de Alencar, ou seja, atrás de cada gol.

As dimensões dos dois novos telões da Vila Belmiro correspondem a 11,52 metros de largura por 6,72 metros de altura. A resolução dos telões será de 10.000 dot pixel/m², dez vezes maior do que o telão atual, que é de 1.024 dot pixel/m².

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Além da resolução, a qualidade da imagem será reforçada por um brilho de 9.000 nits. As dimensões dos novos telões também serão muito superiores quando comparadas ao atual, que possui 8,0m x 6,15m, com área de 49,2 m².

– Temos com a Brahma uma relação de patrocínio que vai além da exposição de marca, são parceiros do programa Sócio Rei com sua plataforma de descontos e trabalham de uma maneira estruturada na melhoria das condições físicas do Santos FC. Neste ciclo de investimentos optamos por uma demanda antiga de nossa torcida: novos telões em nossa Meca, a Vila Belmiro. Temos certeza de que esse será um marco importante para o Clube. Que tenhamos em breve muitos placares positivos e conquistas registradas nestes novos equipamentos – afirmou o presidente José Carlos Peres.

تجاهل جناح الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي ليفربول، لويس دياز، زميله الهداف، محمد صلاح، ضمن لاعبي فريق أحلامه من الريدز.

ويلعب دياز مع ليفربول منذ يناير 2022، لكنه أثبت جدارته مع المدرب يورجن كلوب وأصبح لاعبًا أساسيًا مع الفريق الإنجليزي خاصة بعد رحيل، ساديو ماني.

ولكن لم يختار الكولومبي ضمن فريقه محمد صلاح رغم تألقه على مدار آخر 6 سنوات بقميص ليفربول وتسجيله العديد من الأهداف وصناعة بعضها الآخر.

اقرأ أيضًا.. جماهير ليفربول تعلق على استبدال محمد صلاح أمام سانت جيلواز: نحتاجه أمام برايتون

وظهر لويس دياز عبر قناة “JD Football” على منصة “TikTok”، واختار: “أليسون، فيرجيل فان دايك، ستيفن جيرارد، شيردان شاكيري وكيني دالجليش”.

ولعب دياز مع ليفربول منذ وصوله من بورتو 56 مباراة، سجل خلالها 14 هدفًا وصنع 9 أهداف أخرى في جميع البطولات المحلية والأوروبية.

الجدير بالذكر أن صفقة دياز كانت قد كلفت ليفربول قبل عامين تقريبًا 47 مليون يورو لتدعيم مركز الجناح الأيسر.

Graeme Swann has insisted there was no bullying culture within the England dressing room as claimed by Kevin Pietersen

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2014

Graeme Swann has insisted there was no bullying culture within the England dressing room, as claimed by Kevin Pietersen in his autobiography, saying that the emotion shown on the field was because the players were involved in “international sport, not the Under-11s”.In his column for the , Swann said he never shouted at one of his own team-mates over a dropped catch. He acknowledged there was some truth to Pietersen’s claims that Jonathan Trott had reacted angrily during a match in Bangladesh on the 2010 tour although said Pietersen had “misinterpreted” the incident.Swann had already called Pietersen’s book a “work of fiction” and the various claims “codswallop” and did not hold back in further criticism.”There was absolutely no bullying. Sure, bowlers shout at fielders if they are out of position or not concentrating,” he said. “A bowler or wicketkeeper delivers a bit of a kick up the backside – just like a goalkeeper shouts at his centre-half. This is international sport, not the Under-11s.”If Kevin or other players can’t take a bollocking for being unprofessional, for being out of position or seemingly not trying, they are in the wrong business.”However, another version of events over how errors in the field were treated came from Ajmal Shahzad, the Nottinghamshire seamer, who played for England in 2010 and 2011 and recalled feeling under pressure to apologise for errors.”There were times when I misfielded balls, in the World Cup I dived over a ball [and] there were some senior players you just didn’t want to look at,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “You knew they were disappointed and [thought it was] a bit of a disgrace … what you’d done was really bad.”If you did something wrong it wasn’t looked kindly upon. It did feel quite bad. I remember misfielding [in Bangladesh] and didn’t want to look up because you knew you were going to get these hard looks, stern looks – and it did feel a little uncomfortable.”Time to move on – Giles

The former England coach Ashley Giles has said “everyone has to move on” amid the fallout from Kevin Pietersen’s autobiography.

Giles was close with Pietersen as a player – he gets a brief mention in the book when Pietersen writes about England’s buddy system in 2004: “My buddy was Ashley Giles. Again, still a mate.”

After the Ashes whitewash, with rumours swirling about Pietersen’s future, Giles called Pietersen a “million pound asset” although he would never have the chance to work alongside him again as coach.

“I played in the dressing room with Kev and got on very well with him, but similarly with those other guys as well,” Giles said in his first press conference as Lancashire’s new head coach. “I coached them, and I never had any major issues with any of them.

“He’d still consider himself a multi-million pound asset, I’m sure. He’s that sort of player, he’s the big show if you like. Things have unfolded, and he’s not going to play for England, by the looks of it, again. I’m sure it’s disappointing for him, and everyone has to move on.”

About the Trott incident in Bangladesh, Swann said it stemmed from a field placement and that Trott had misunderstood a signal from Matt Prior over whether he was able to dive for a ball. “So Trotty started screaming from the boundary, ‘F*** off, f*** off.’ There’s a bit of truth in the story Kevin tells but, really, he has misinterpreted it,” Swann said.Shahzad, meanwhile, added that there was often only one route to dealing with mistakes, and encouragement when things went wrong was in short supply. “There weren’t many times when someone would come up to you and say ‘don’t worry about it – that’s sport, you have ups and downs’. It was a tough environment.”Swann was also strong in condemning Pietersen’s comments about Prior, who came in for a sustained campaign in the book over his perceived role in causing dressing-room splits.”Matt is the most passionate bloke about protecting the team environment. He was the voice of the dressing room … Now Kevin has written a whole chapter assassinating him, even having a pop at him for taking his bike to New Zealand. Kevin’s attack on Matt is, dare I say it, a bit like bullying.”One of the more cryptic responses to the claims in Pietersen’s book has come from Chris Tremlett, who was part of the successful 2010-11 Ashes tour as well as the more recent whitewash. “Glad @KP24 has finally been able to give his side of the story. People can now make an informed opinion of what went on in the dressing room,” he posted on Twitter.

BCCI’s sidelined president N Srinivasan told the Supreme Court on Monday that all allegations against him with reference to his “conflict of interest” in the IPL corruption case were unfounded and false

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2014BCCI’s sidelined president N Srinivasan told the Supreme Court on Monday that all allegations against him with reference to his “conflict of interest” in the IPL corruption case were unfounded and false. His counsel, Kapil Sibal, told the two-member bench of Justice TS Thakur and Justice FM Kalifullah that Srinivasan had acted “with speed” against his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan after allegations of illegal betting and had stepped aside from the affairs of the BCCI during the investigations into the corruption scandal.Once the litigant, Cricket Association of Bihar, made their final arguments, Srinivasan’s defence of his actions covered several aspects. These included the purchase of an IPL team, acting against Gurunath during IPL 2013, distancing himself from the BCCI probe as well as not being responsible for the composition of the BCCI’s own two-man probe committee.Sibal said that allegations against Srinivasan, concerning a cover-up of the investigation, were “false” as Srinivasan had acted with speed, lodging a complaint against both Gurunath and Raj Kundra when allegations of betting were made against them.The name of Arun Jaitley, a BCCI vice president and currently Union cabinet minister was taken several times by Sibal to emphasise that the BCCI had set up a commission to look into the corruption case in May 2013 on Jaitley’s recommendation. When Jaitley’s name was taken a third time, Justice Thakur asked Sibal, “Why are you taking his name?” and enquired whether Jaitley was being “represented” in the case in any manner as his name had not been mentioned in the entire set of Mudgal Commission report documents handed over to the court in February and November 2014. Thakur said it was “not permitted” that the name of “one individual is being dropped.”When Sibal argued that the conflict of interest issue had not been part of the terms of reference of the Mudgal committee investigation, Justice Thakur responded by saying: “Either there is a conflict of interest or there is no conflict of interest. There is no third truth.” He said the conflict of interest was, “the core issue” and Srinivasan’s counsel Sibal had to, “show” the court that there was “no conflict of interest from the facts before the Mudgal report.”Sibal told the court that there were, “several people” who held positions in the BCCI and were also involved with the IPL. He said there were “364 names” and cited those of Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Lalchand Rajput, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Sourav Ganguly, Brijesh Patel, Anil Kumble as well as Vijay Mallya who were part of the IPL in the last seven years. “The IPL may not even take place if the rule is to be interpreted in this manner,” Sibal said.The rule being referred to was rule 6.2.4 which that prohibits officials of the BCCI from having any direct or interest commercial interest in the events conducted by the Board, with the exception of the IPL and the Champions League T20. Sibal said the rule applied to, “administrator, official player or umpire.”With Sibal stressing that Srinivasan had kept away from the internal developments pertaining to Gurunath and the IPL case, Justice Kalifullah raised questions about the incomplete paper work made available to the court regarding the formation of the BCCI’s own probe panel set up in May last year. There were no dates mentioned on the documents made available to the court about the formation of the BCCI probe panel. Justice Kalifullah asked the counsel to inform the court about the time taken to form the BCCI’s disciplinary probe panel and the time taken by the panel to arrive at their final conclusions.On May 31, 2013, three days after the BCCI revealed its probe commission, one of the members, Sanjay Jagdale, resigned from his post as BCCI secretary and stated he had specifically asked to be kept away from the committee. On June 2, it was discovered that two members of the eight-man IPL governing council were unaware of when and how the BCCI’s inquiry commission was set up. Two other members of the council said their consent had been taken over the phone even though no meeting had been convened over the same. In July 2013, the board’s two-member panel found “no evidence of any wrongdoing” against Raj Kundra and India Cements.Sibal argued that Srinivasan’s purchase of Chennai Super Kings came about after former IPL chairman Lalit Modi asked him to do so because there were not enough buyers lined up for the city-based franchises. Srinivasan had, therefore, Sibal said, turned to the-then BCCI president Sharad Pawar. Sibal argued that Pawar had “cleared the legalities” for Srinivasan and informed him that as India Cements was a private company, Srinivasan could make a bid for a team.The Supreme Court has asked the BCCI to submit financial details with regards to the functioning of the IPL, the auction, ticket sales, broadcasting rights and purchase of players.When asked whether the IPL case had affected the image of Indian cricket, Srinivasan, who was speaking at an ICC event in Chennai, said: “I don’t agree that Indian cricket is taking a hit, I am not able to share your sentiments on that.”The next two hearings will be held on December 8 and 9, when Sibal is expected to conclude his arguments.

ScorecardFile photo – Callum Ferguson led South Australia’s reply with an unbeaten 100•Getty Images

A sporting declaration by South Australia’s captain Johan Botha against Queensland has opened up the possibility of an outright result on the final day of the Sheffield Shield match at Adelaide Oval.The Redbacks were cruising at 4 for 368 when Botha called in Callum Ferguson on an even 100, leaving the Bulls with time to set a fourth-innings chase for their hosts.Ferguson enjoyed fruitful stands with Tom Cooper and Travis Head before reaching three figures, while the off spinner Jason Floros was Queensland’s only wicket-taker.First innings hat-trick taker Chadd Sayers grabbed another two early wickets when the Bulls batted again, but Joe Burns and Peter Forrest settled the innings down and will be chasing quick runs when play resumes on day four.

MatériaMais Notícias

A derrota para o Corinthians, pelo Campeonato Brasileiro, no último sábado, não abalou a confiança do elenco do Botafogo de brigar na parte de cima da tabela da competição. É o que garante o zagueiro Gabriel, que falou em coletiva antes do treino no Nilton Santos, nesta terça-feira. O jogador negou que o elenco esteja desmotivado ou em crise e deixou claro que o objetivo do clube é a classificação para a Libertadores.

– A gente está fazendo um bom campeonato, temos potencial para ficar mais acima na tabela. Podemos evoluir ainda mais. Ficamos na expectativa de continuar progredindo para entrar na zona da Libertadores. O Brasileiro tem o nível muito alto. Você ganha, perde ou empata. Perder para o Corinthians fora não nos em deixa crise. É um tropeço, mas não devemos nos sentir menosprezados ou muito para baixo. O Corinthians tem grande equipe e grande treinador. Fomos para vencer, mas infelizmente não aconteceu – disse.

Emprestado pelo Atlético-MG na transação que envolveu a ida de Igor Rabello para o Galo, no início da temporada, Gabriel ganhou a vaga de titular e a confiança do treinador Eduardo Barroca. O jogador de 24 anos elogiou o trabalho do técnico e mostrou confiança em um bom resultado diante da Chapecoense, na próxima segunda-feira, pela 16ª rodada do Brasileirão.

– O Botafogo está no caminho certo pelo trabalho e a convicção do que o Barroca tem proposto nos proporcionado. O time que mantém a posse, joga com coragem para sair jogando e buscar o gol. Temos que criar mais, isso é mais nítido. O trabalho tem sido muito bem feito. Temos plena convicção de que será um jogo muito difícil. A Chapecoense está em um momento muito difícil, mas vem de vitória importante no clássico com o Avaí. Eles vêm motivados, e o Botafogo também.

Diferenças superadas

O zagueiro também foi questionado sobre o ambiente no vestiário alvinegro, em razão do desentendimento entre Cícero e Gilson durante a partida na Arena Corinthians. Os dois trocaram ofensas antes de uma cobrança de escanteio do clube paulista. Gabriel, no entanto, disse que a situação já foi conversada e superada internamente e que não há rachas no elenco.

– Coisa praticamente natural do jogo, não é fora do comum. Durante o jogo, você quer ganhar o jogo e cobra o companheiro. Às vezes quer a posse de bola. Durante o jogo, na adrenalina, não dá para pedir por favor ao companheiro. Às vezes fala num tom mais alterado. Já foi tudo resolvido, e o clima aqui dentro é muito bom. Nada fora do comum – finalizou.

O Botafogo recebe a Chape, na próxima segunda-feira, às 20h, no Nilton Santos. A partida vale pela 16ª rodada do Brasileirão. O Alvinegro é nono colocado no torneio, com 22 pontos, enquanto o clube catarinense ocupa a 17ª colocação, com 13.

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Former BCCI president Shashank Manohar has blamed his successor N Srinivasan for “tarnishing” the image of the board

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Nov-2014

Former BCCI president Shashank Manohar has blamed his successor N Srinivasan for “tarnishing” the image of the board, in the wake of the Supreme Court of India revealing that he is one of the persons mentioned in the Mudgal committee’s final report on the IPL 2013 spot-fixing case. In a bluntly worded statement, Manohar said the BCCI could neither afford, nor had the authority, to further postpone its AGM from November 20 – that, he said, would only “destroy” the image of both the board and the game.”Once the date of the AGM was fixed by the Working Committee, the same could not and cannot be altered by any Office Bearer of the Board as they do not have authority to do so,” Manohar said in his statement.According to Manohar the BCCI constitution dictates that the AGM cannot be held beyond September 30. However it was decided to postpone it to November 20 at the working committee meeting on October 26, which Srinivasan, despite being asked by the Supreme Court earlier this year to step aside as the board’s president, attended.”Even under the Board Constitution, though it is mandatory to hold the AGM on or before 30th September, the Working Committee meeting which was attended by Mr Srinivasan fixed the date of the AGM as 20th of November, probably hoping that the names of Mr N Srinivasan and Meiyappan would be cleared,” Manohar said. “However it appears that during today’s hearing, as soon as the names of Srinivasan and Meiyappan were disclosed, the Counsel for the Board made a request for the postponement of the AGM and elections scheduled to be held on 20th November.”It emerged that the BCCI’s top brass, including Srinivasan, was involved in a teleconference soon after Friday’s court hearing, where it was revealed that Srinivasan as well as IPL COO Sundar Raman, Chennai Super Kings official and Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra were named by the court in connection with the Mudgal report.BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel declined to comment, saying he would not speak till he had “read the court order”.It is not yet entirely clear whether the BCCI has decided to only postpone the elections which are part of the AGM, or the AGM as a whole. The AGM usually lists several matters, including confirmation of minutes of the previous general meetings, adoption of the secretary’s review report, adoption of treasurer’s report and the audited accounts, adoption of the annual budget, appointment of auditors, election of working committee, standing committees and other sub-committees, consideration of reports and recommendations of various committees, and appointing India’s representative to the ICC, apart from the election of office-bearers and vice-presidents.It is understood that, according to the rulebook, the agenda for the AGM has already been circulated 21 days in advance among member associations. But the members were uncertain about what the board’s top-level management’s future course of action would be.Calling Srinivasan a “back-seat driver”, Manohar said the current BCCI regime was “flouting” the board’s rules. He provided the example the BCCI breaking away from the long-held practices of allotting international matches to venues on a rotational basis.”It is thus evident that the instructions given to the Board Counsel are only with an intent to suit Mr Srinivasan as that would ensure that he still remains a back seat driver,” Manohar said. “The moot question that needs to be answered is – who gave the Board Counsel instructions to plead for postponement of the AGM.”Manohar also asked if the investigations into the IPL corruption case were to carry on for an extended period, would it be feasible for the BCCI continue to be run by the same administration. “The second question that comes to mind is – if the investigation/hearing pulls on for several years then will the Board keep functioning under the same set up?”Manohar urged the BCCI member associations to take a stance. “The image of the Board is tarnished by the actions and the attitude of Mr Srinivasan. The gentlemen’s game, as the game of cricket has long been known, and the reputation of the Board is at its lowest due to the egoistic and autocratic behaviour of one individual. The Board and the game of Cricket is bigger than any individual and it is the responsibility and duty of every individual connected with the game to preserve the dignity and integrity of the Game and the Board, and through this press note, I appeal to all members of the Board to rise to the occasion and prevent the Board and the Game from being further destroyed.”