No violation in Madhavan's appointment: BCCI

The Board of Control for Cricket in India informed the Hyderebad City civil court on Friday that there was absolutely no violation of law or regulation in the appointment of former CBI official Madhavan as inquiry officer into the match-fixing allegations against former captain Mohammad Azharuddin.

"Madhavan was not chosen because of his alleged hostile attitude against Azharuddin or for any extraneous reasons," BCCI counsel informed second additional chief judge, hearing the suit filed by Azharuddin, challenging the life ban imposed on him by the BCCI.

"Madhavan is a competent person having sufficient knowledge to deal with the complicated issue concerning match-fixing and hence Madhavan's appointment cannot be questioned at this juncture," he said.

The counsel claimed that Azharuddin had chosen to make allegations against Madhavan only to wriggle himself out of the match-fixing controversy.

Except making allegations against Madhavan, Azharuddin had failed to pinpoint the fundamental flaw in the report submitted by Madhavan.

Dalmiya raps national selectors for lack of coordination

BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya on Friday pulled up the national selectors for lack of coordination on the issue of appointing Hemang Badani as the captain of the Indian 'A' side for one-day games during the ongoing England trip.

Referring to the recent controversy which followed India 'A' coach Sandeep Patil's sudden announcement that Shiv Sundar Das, orginally appointed captain for the entire trip, would not lead the side in one-dayers, Dalmiya said, "The selectors should have had better coordination."

The Orissa Cricket Association strongly reacted to Patil's announcement, with its secretary Asirbad Behera shooting off a letter to Dalmiya seeking an inquiry into the matter.

National selector from East zone, Pranab Roy, had also said that he was kept completely in the dark about Badani's appointment as skipper for the one-day games.

Badani was chosen vice-captain for the entire tour in the selection committee meeting at Kolkata on May 24.

Dalmiya, who spoke to selection committee chairman Brijesh Patel on the issue, defended the dual captaincy decision, but said the matter could have been handled in a better way.

"It was a sensible decision. I see nothing wrong in it. But the matter could have been handled in a better way," he said.

Dalmiya said the tour being a marathon one, Das was bound to be rested in some matches to give a chance to others to prove their credentials.

"Normally, in one-dayers we play those most suited to that type of the game. The same holds true for longer versions. As this tour is a mixed one, we will rest those more suited to the longer version during one-dayers and vice versa," he said.

Dalmiya said the selectors thought that without appointing somebody as captain randomly during Das's lay-off periods, they should name Badani as alternative skipper.

"Moreover, considering Badani's proficiency in limited over games, it was thought fit to make him skipper for one-dayers," Dalmiya added.

Bangladesh bowl out Queensland Academy for 201

A Bangladeshi attack defied doomsayers by bowling out a Queensland Academy of Sport side for 201 on the first day of their cricket tour match at Allan Border Field at Brisbane on Friday.

The academy batted first and Bangladeshi fast-medium pacer Tapash Baisya took the first three wickets in an impressive opening spell to have the invitational side at 10 for three.

It was only a hard-hitting 92 from all-rounder Lee Carseldine, who clubbed 15 fours and a six off 115 balls, and James Hopes, who stroked 53, that prevented a total collapse.

The Bangladeshis were 86 for three off 29 overs at the end of the day with 18-year-old Mohammad Ashraful 33 not out and Al Sahariar not out on four.

Bangladesh, who have lost 18 of 19 matches since becoming a Test playing nation in 2000, have been criticised for not being up to standard but they showed today they could mix it up with some of Queensland's most promising cricketers.

Their best was 20-year-old Baisya who took 3-33 in a display of tight control while captain Khaled Mahmud took 2-34.

Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore said: "It was a good team effort. We're playing against some reasonable players -- three Sheffield Shield players and a couple of fringe players.

"So it was encouraging ... but tomorrow's another day so we'll have to knuckle down."

ICC appreciates our stand on Denness issue: Dalmiya

The Board of Control for Cricket in India said it had agreed to forget the Mike Denness issue on humanitarian grounds and received appreciation from the ICC for its 'gracious action'.

BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya told newspersons at Kolkata that the decision was taken following a request from new ICC president Ehsan Mani that the matter be best forgotten since Denness has had a heart surgery.

"We were told that Denness wouldn't be able to withstand hearings due to ill-health. How could we have reacted differently to such a request?" Dalmiya said.

"The ICC has, in a write-up, appreciated our 'gracious action,'" Dalmiya said.

Match-referee Denness had brought world cricket on the verge of a split two years ago by holding Sachin Tendulkar guilty of ball-tampering and punishing five other Indian cricketers, including captain Sourav Ganguly, for excessive appealing during India's tour of South Africa in 2001.

The worst affected was Virender Sehwag, who was given a one-Test suspension and had to miss out on the first Test of the home series against England later that year.

Furious with the harsh punishments -- especially since excessive appealing by South African cricketers during the same series was not taken note of -- the Indian Board had demanded that Denness be removed as match-referee and the decisions overturned.

The resultant furore had threatened to split world cricket on racial lines with nearly all the national boards aligning with one side or the other.