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The stage is set for another battle between the Senate’s Standing Committee on Sports and the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) top brass today with the focus of Senators shifting towards the board’s finances.The meeting that was requisitioned by the committee in a bid to probe the PCB’s bank accounts will be held this morning with Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, and Shafqat Naghmi, the chief operating officer, appearing before the Senators.While the PCB officials say they will be attending the meeting well-prepared, the Senate committee, according to one of its members, enjoys no such luxury. Some of the Senators are in fact fuming over the board’s lethargy over the matter and say that they are yet to receive the PCB’s accounts details.”We were expecting to receive the accounts details of the PCB at least four to five days before the meeting but are yet to get hold of any such document,” Senator Enver Baig told on Wednesday.The Senate committee has sought the PCB’s account details from 2004 onwards. The PCB bosses will chiefly be grilled by Senator Haroon Akhtar, who is regarded as a financial expert. A member of the opposition PML (Q) party, Haroon is a brother of the former commerce minister Humayun Akhtar.A top PCB official told this paper that the Senators will be provided with comprehensive details of the board’s bank balance.”We have nothing to hide,” said Naghmi. “The board’s finances are in good shape and will be presented before the Senate committee tomorrow.”Naghmi said the PCB devised its treasury policy for the first time in May 2007 following an approval of the ad-hoc committee which has been now been disbanded. “All our bank deals are governed by that policy,” he said.Giving details, Naghmi said the policy makes it clear that the PCB can only deal with banks that are given A or A+ status by the relevant authorities. “And it was also decided that the board will not keep more than 15% of its funds in one bank, which is why our accounts are spread over several banks.”The PCB has been criticised for putting its funds in several second-tier banks like Soneri Bank, MyBank, Bank of Khyber, NIB, Atlas and Habib Metropolitan Bank.Naghmi painted a rosy picture of the PCB funds saying that they are growing in a healthy manner. “In 2004, the average return on the board’s investments was 5% but currently it is 9%,” he said.However, it remains to be seen whether Naghmi and Ashraf will be able to convince the Senate committee that the billions of rupees in what is the most cash-rich sports body in the country are in safe hands.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJonathan Carter and Ryan Hinds stitched together their second successive match-winning partnership to help Barbados book their place in the semi-finals with a 54-run win against Grenada in Coolidge. The pair added 105 for the third wicket to take Barbados to 152 before the spinners sent Grenada crashing to 98.Barbados lost their openers early after being put into bat and the decision to promote Hinds to No. 3 and Carter to No. 4, after their previous match against Dominica, worked as the pair batted sensibly to lead the recovery. Carter was the more aggressive of the two, hitting four fours and four sixes in his knock, including one over midwicket off Rawl Lewis to bring up the fifty partnership. He was eventually dismissed for 61, caught at long-on off Ronald Ettienne. Hinds stood firm till the end with an unbeaten 45 off 48 balls and watched as Alcino Holder added some late fireworks with a 10-ball 22 to take the score past 150.Barbados’ left-arm spinning pair of Derrick Bishop and Sulieman Benn then inflicted a top-order wobble, reducing Grenada to 27 for 5, a position from which they never recovered. Benn finished with economical figures of 2 for 4 from four overs while Bishop finished with 3 for 19. The highest stand was 29 for the eighth wicket between Camilus Alexander and Dennis George but it wasn’t enough as Grenada failed to keep pace with the asking rate.Speaking after the match, Lewis, the Grenada captain, said: “We made too many mistakes in the field. They probably made about 30 or 35 runs too much, but saying that I think 150 was good. “We needed a good start and we did not get that, the wickets just kept falling, thus making it hard for you to play your normal game.”

There is not much Brett Lee has failed to achieve this summer. He was a key man in Australia’s record-equalling 16 consecutive Test wins, was Player of the Series against both India and Sri Lanka, and collected his first Allan Border Medal. But to really cap off his outstanding season, Lee is desperate to deliver the Pura Cup to New South Wales.The Blues have won the title twice during Lee’s career but because of his higher commitments this is the first opportunity he has had to take part in a decider. Lee recalls watching his brother Shane play in domestic finals and he said beating Victoria in the match that starts on Saturday at the SCG would be extra special.”I’ve played in one-day internationals and in Tests around the world,” Lee told the . “But to get the chance to play in a Pura Cup final, and the chance to play for the team where it all started, I can’t wait.”The Vics are a team you love to hate. They’re a good bunch of guys, but you hate losing to them. They’ve been in good form and I’m looking forward to the final. They’re a strong side.”Lee is the spearhead in a Test-quality New South Wales pace attack that also features Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken, while the spin option is provided by Stuart MacGill. Despite expectations the SCG pitch will offer plenty of turn, MacGill played down talk that the final would be a bowl-off between him and Victoria’s Bryce McGain ahead of the Test tour of the West Indies in May.”If Bryce is the right man for the job, he’ll be picked for Australia,” MacGill said. “If I’m the right man, I’ll be going. The current selectors are very matter-of-fact and if they see a role for me or Bryce or Dan Cullen, then they’ll choose me, Bryce or Dan.”

Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Bangladesh Under-19 captain who led the team to a third-place finish, wants to improve his overall skills before he vies for a place in the senior team. Miraz, scored 242 runs in six innings and also picked up 12 wickets at 17.66 to earn the Man of the Tournament award.”I just ended my career at the Under-19 level and like every other cricketer, I also dream to play at the highest level for my country,” Miraz said. “But this requires perseverance and hard work, and I want to develop myself as a better cricketer in the time I will get to transform myself.”It is a big achievement for me to win the player-of-the-tournament award; not just for me, but for the whole team and the nation too. Sixteen teams participated in the event and our team came third and among them I got the award. This is actually massive.”Miraz said that the Bangladesh team could have played the final but for an inspired West Indies side who beat them in the semi-final in Mirpur. Now he wants to move forward quickly and could possibly play for South Zone in the Bangladesh Cricket League first-class tournament.”We had a great unit too and deserved to win the trophy,” he said. “But a few mistakes cost us the [semi-final] match. We respected the West Indies but we had the confidence in us. We just couldn’t translate it into action.”I think there were expectations on me because I played well. I will need to hold on to the belief that I can carry myself forward. I am not satisfied with these achievements only. I want to go up the ladder and give some moments of happiness to my nation.”

Foot in mouth:
The decision after winning the toss on a flat pitch during a Twenty20 match should be a no-brainer: bat first and put the opposition under pressure during the chase. Even a cheerleader said she would bat first when Robin Jackman asked her the question moments before the toss. However, Harbhajan Singh decided to field, his rationale being that his team preferred to chase given that they fell narrowly short of the target against the Chennai Super Kings. As it turned out, the Mumbai Indians were restricted to 116 for 9 in 20 overs, the 66-run margin being the second largest of the tournament in terms of runs.Smack, smack:
Watching the Kings XI Punjab opener Karan Goel and Kumar Sangakkara batting together presented a sharp contrast: Sangakkara was reeling powerful drives off his bat while Goel struggled to find his timing. He even got hit flush on the helmet by a shirt ball from Dwayne Bravo that was far too quick for him and discovered that he had a bleeding lip. When he was ready to bat again, Bravo ran in and dished out another bouncer but this time Goel was ready. He used the width outside off stump to get under the ball and upper cut it high and far over the third-man boundary, drawing applause from Sangakkara at the other end.Pure intensity:
Time was running out for Brett Lee to make a lasting impact in this season’s IPL for he, along with the other Australians in the Test squad, will head home soon for a training camp ahead of their tour of West Indies. His first delivery to Sanath Jayasuriya – a searing yorker at close to 150 kmh – signaled the start of something special. Sure enough, he exhibited sublime reflexes when he slid low to his left to take a sharp caught and bowled catch off Jayasuriya and then showed off his fitness by swooping on the ball, and diving during the release to hit the stumps direct to run out Luke Ronchi at the striker’s end.Chawla turns the corner:
The first two matches in the IPL were a torrid examination for Piyush Chawla. He went for 19 off one over against Chennai Super Kings and 27 off two overs against Rajasthan Royals. He came on to bowl against Mumbai Indians when Bravo and Robin Uthappa were in the middle of a brisk partnership. He immediately caused problems, mixing up googlies with orthodox legbreaks and also varied his pace. The pressure built up to a crescendo when he bowled three consecutive dot balls to Bravo in the ninth over. With the required run-rate escalating, Bravo tried a rash hoick across the line to the fourth ball and lost middle stump. Chawla finished with fantastic figures of 2 for 16 off four overs.

The Pakistan senate committee on sports has decided the process for Shoaib Akhtar’s appeal regarding his five-year ban should continue and that the appellate tribunal should be allowed to take its decision independently. The three-man tribunal, headed by retired High Court judge Aftab Farrukh and including former Test player Haseeb Ahsan and former federal minister Saleem Taseer, is scheduled to hold its first meeting on the appeal on April 17.Enver Ali Beg, a senate committee member, criticised the board for imposing the ban and called for a revamp of the cricket administration that handed down the punishment.”We have analysed the charges on Shoaib and [are] criticising the PCB,” said Beg after the committee meeting today. “[It] was not as big a crime that he was banned for five years.”The committee called up officials of the PCB and Shoaib and the meeting lasted for three hours and we feel that some people have settled their scores by banning Shoaib.”Shoaib said he hoped the appellate tribunal would do justice to his appeal and that Senate committee would take up the matter in his support.On April 1 the board banned Shoaib from playing cricket, for and in Pakistan, for violating the players’ code of conduct. Shoaib filed an appeal against the ban and lashed out at the PCB saying he was being “victimised”.On one news channel he alleged that the ban was punishment in return for refusing to give the PCB chairman, Nasim Ashraf, a share of his salary from the Indian Premier League. This claim prompted Ashraf to issue a legal notice seeking damages worth US$1.6 million for defamation. Shoaib also said he had been approached by individuals to underperform during the team’s tour to India and South Africa, offers which he refused.

Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has been named Newcomer of the Year at the 10th annual SA Sports Awards in Bloemfontein on Sunday.Rabada holds the record for the best figures on debut – 6 for 16 against Bangladesh, including a hat-trick – and is widely believed as the next big thing in South African cricket. He has played all forms of the game and has been particularly impressive with his ability to bowl quick, full and accurate. Dale Steyn has said the 20-year old Rabada had more talent at that age than he did, and now CSA chairman Haroon Lorgat has chimed in with: “Kagiso Rabada is a standout talent and destined for greatness.”The nominees for the SA Sports Awards had been chosen subject to a time frame from September 1 2014 to September 30 2015 and included AB de Villiers for the SA Sports Star of the Year award. Medium-pacer Shabnim Ismail was in the running for the corresponding award in the women’s category as well. All of which were a sign that South African cricket was in good hands, according to Lorgat.”The success of our programmes is also reflected in the fact that we had several other finalist nominees including our World No. 1 Proteas Test team, the world’s best batsman, AB de Villiers, for the SA Sports Star of the Year, Shabnim Ismail in the SA Women’s Sports Star of the Year award, and Geoffrey Toyana as SA Coach of the Year.”While Kagiso deservedly won his award the other nominees make us equally proud and deserve our congratulations for being recognised among the best in their respective categories.”Former first-class cricketer Rushdie Magiet, who played 37 matches in a decade-long career, was one of four recipients of the inaugural Steve Tshwete Lifetime Achiever award. Magiet, 72, represented Western Province from 1971-72 to 1980-81 and took 109 wickets at an average of 13.63 and an economy of 1.83.”I know Rushdi Magiet personally and he has indeed given a lifetime of service not only to cricket but also to social responsibility,” Lorgat said. “We are delighted that he has received this well merited award.”