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 the former England coach and Zimbabwe captain, has been appointed India's coach, ending weeks of speculation over who would succeed Gary Kirsten. The BCCI announced the decision to give Fletcher a two-year contract after a Working Committee meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday. Eric Simons' tenure as the team's bowling coach was also extended. Fletcher, though, is unlikely to join India for the tour of the West Indies in June. "The contract with Fletcher is for two years," N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, said. "He may not join the team in the West Indies as he has some prior commitments. "After a lot of thought and consultation, the BCCI president and BCCI secretary placed Fletcher's name before the Working Committee, which the Committee ratified," Rajiv Shukla, the BCCI vice-president, said, adding that the terms and conditions of Fletcher's appointment would be the same as that of Kirsten's. It has been reliably learnt that Kirsten playe

the former India batsman, has been arrested in Delhi on Tuesday night in connection with a 2003 human-trafficking case. The case, registered at the Indira Gandhi International Airport police station, alleged that Martin had taken a youth to the UK on the pretext of playing cricket there in exchange for money. The issue came to notice, according to a  PTI report , when one Nimesh Kumar was found travelling with a fake passport. He subsequently disclosed that his trip had been arranged with the help of Martin and an associate for a sum of Rs 7 lakh. "Martin formed a bogus team - 'Ajwa Sports Club' - and identified himself as a playing member," RA Sanjeev, the Deputy Commissioner of Police at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, was quoted as saying by  PTI . According to the report, Martin was repeatedly asked to assist the investigation but refused to do so. The Supreme Court, last week, rejected an anticipatory bail plea filed by Martin and asked him to surrender

West Indies Under-19s took Australia Under-19s last six wickets in their second innings for 41 runs and managed to win the three-day game in Dubai by four wickets. At 187 for 4, Australia looked like they had done enough to earn a draw, but seamer Derone Davis and spinner Kavem Hodge rant through the middle order and tail to set up a 153-run chase. Kraigg Brathwaite and Akeem Saunders took West Indies to 105 for 1, and though five quick wickets fell after that, their side got home. Legspinner Ashton Agar, who didn't bowl in the first innings, caused the flutter in the chase, and finished with 4 for 59. Before Australia's late collapse half-centuries from Nick Stevens and Cameron Bancroft had taken them to a seemingly safe position. The win means West Indies have emerged victors in both the fifty-over match series, which they won 2-1, and the one-off Youth Test.

Karl Brown continued his liking for the Sussex attack by top scoring with 88 as Lancashire took control on the first day of the County Championship encounter at Hove. Lancashire won their meeting at Liverpool earlier this month by an innings and today moved into a decent position to continue their unbeaten start to the season as Brown, who made his maiden Championship century in that game, helped his side reached 322 for 6 at stumps. It was a tough day for the Sussex bowlers on a sluggish pitch until Rana Naved-ul-Hasan took two wickets in four balls in the penultimate over. A short boundary on the pavilion side gave the hosts little room for error and, although Monty Panesar again bowled accurately, the seam attack often lacked consistency and also gifted Lancashire 36 runs through 18 no balls - including three in successive deliveries from Naved-ul-Hasan. Openers Paul Horton and Stephen Moore justified skipper Glen Chapple's decision to bat first by posting a stand of 129 in 36.

After a while, you start to wonder if Nottinghamshire go out of their way to make life difficult for themselves, as if they need a particular kind of challenge to make winning cricket matches worthwhile. Close examination of the facts would probably prove it was not the case but by the end of last year's title-winning campaign it felt like they had pulled themselves out of a hole time and again and wound up champions despite themselves. This year they have carried on in similar vein, beating Hampshire first up after a wobbly batting performance rescued by Samit Patel's hundred and improbably overcoming Yorkshire last week from a first-innings deficit of 193. After the first day here, there is every reason to suspect that Worcestershire will not offer them an easy ride. So far, certainly, there has been more credit due to the relegation favourites than the defending champions, who chose this occasion to squander chances in the field. They gave their opponents the benefit of fou

Half-centuries from Chris Taylor and Hamish Marshall helped Gloucestershire to edge towards a competitive 292 for 9 at the end of day one of their County Championship Division Two clash against Kent at Canterbury. Workers employed on the St Lawrence redevelopment project were content to get on with their chores throughout a turgid opening session that saw Gloucestershire post 94 runs without alarm after electing to take first use of a docile pitch. Kent gave a Championship debut to 18-year-old left-arm pace bowler Adam Ball, but the home attack barely beat the bat during the opening two hours as openers Ian Cockbain and Marshall set out to lay solid foundations. Ball, who played in last season's Under-19 World Cup for England, was eventually introduced as third change and sparked the first appeal of the game after 85 minutes with one that nipped back to brush Marshall's back pad, though the ball was going over the stumps. The cloud cover dissipated during the interval and in w

James Harris emerged as Glamorgan's star on the opening day of their County Championship match against Essex at Chelmsford. First the 20-year-old put together a well-constructed 53 in the lower order to usher the visitors to a respectable 282 total after they had been put in to bat. Then Harris shone with the ball as he claimed the prized wicket of Alastair Cook, the England opener falling lbw for 5 as Essex closed on 13 for 1 in reply. Harris' performance was a boost for the Welsh county although they were no doubt disappointed to not post a bigger total given the fact several of their batsmen failed to make substantial scores when looking well set. Although William Bragg made 55, three of his colleagues were dismissed in the 30s, making Harris' late rally all the more vital. Glamorgan's hopes of making a good start to their innings were dented by David Masters, who removed openers Gareth Rees and Alviro Petersen during his first five overs. Rees (8) fell lbw while Pe

Warwickshire made a fine start to their County Championship clash with Durham, only for the hosts to hit back with three late wickets at the Riverside. Each one went to Durham's promising paceman Ruel Brathwaite, following up his five-wicket haul against Sussex on Saturday, to leave the visitors on 345 for 7 at the close. Warwickshire skipper Jim Troughton capitalised on winning the toss by making a disciplined 76, allowing first William Porterfield then Rikki Clarke to dominate. Both pulled Graham Onions for two sixes, although the second of Porterfield's resulted from a top edge over the wicketkeeper. Onions bowled only three overs with the second new ball before Brathwaite came on and took 3 for 11 in four overs. Porterfield was dropped on 1 and went on make 87, while Clarke departed for 49, made off 52 balls, when he pushed forward and edged Brathwaite to first slip. Echoes of Tim Ambrose's struggles last season followed as he waved a crooked bat at the next ball, well

Tom Maynard , the Surrey batsman, was given the silent treatment on his return  to Cardiff  last week but responded with an emotional maiden first-class hundred against his former team-mates at Glamorgan. The home side were told not to say a word when Maynard came to the crease even though the situation was perfectly set up for some 'chat' from the close fielders, but eventually the Glamorgan players couldn't resist having a chirp as he finished with 123 in Surrey's huge 575 for 7 declared. "They said they were told not to speak to me," Maynard told ESPNcricinfo's Switch Hit podcast. "There was a bit of silence for a while but once I got going there were a couple of guys who chirped in with some friendly banter, but nothing malicious. They were just trying to coax me into playing one of my erratic shots." Maynard quit Glamorgan during the acrimonious winter which saw his father, Matthew, resign in protest at how the club was being run after Alvi

The Royal Challengers Bangalore lower order scraped 22 runs from 15 deliveries to steer their side past Delhi Daredevils' 160 - a target that had looked small when Virat Kohli was at the crease, and stiff after his dismissal. But Daniel Vettori and J Syed Mohammad found the boundaries when they were needed, and got Bangalore home with three deliveries to spare. It had looked like a cakewalk when Kohli was finding the boundaries at will in a breezy half-century that stunned Delhi. But David Warner provided the inspiration Delhi needed with a direct hit from the deep that ran out AB de Villiers. After Morne Morkel bowled Kohli two deliveries later, 65 needed from 66 deliveries quickly became 44 required from 30, and the Feroz Shah Kotla crowd started buzzing with the hope of a home victory. But Syed flicked and steered Umesh Yadav for successive boundaries to bring the equation down to 12 required off two overs, and Bangalore didn't allow Delhi back again. The way Kohli had begu

In a shortened match  at the P Sara Oval  in Colombo,  Pakistan women  made heavy weather of a modest chase and won by two wickets off the last ball against  Sri Lanka women . The game was reduced to 27 overs a side, and Pakistan's bowlers had Sri Lanka all out in 24.2 overs, for 68. The wickets were shared around, with Qanita Jalil finishing with figures of 5-1-7-2. There were only two double-figure scores in Sri Lanka's innings. Pakistan then lost wickets consistently in their chase, but Marina Iqbal took them home with her 13 not out. The other match of the Quadrangular Series on Tuesday, was also shortened, and Ireland women won by one run against Netherlands women  at the Colts Cricket Club Ground  in Colombo. Ireland got to 113 in their 28 overs, with extras the highest contributor with 27. Offspinner Esther de Lange took 3 for 16. Netherlands' chase seemed to be on course at 72 for 4 after some decent contributions from the top order. But wickets fell in a heap at t

James Anderson  is willing to fight for his England one-day place after being dropped during the World Cup campaign. He was left out of the crunch final group game against West Indies and quarter-final against Sri Lanka after a forgettable tournament where he conceded more than six runs per over. His only telling contribution was an incisive display of reverse swing against South Africa as England clung on for a six-run victory, but either side of that he was treated harshly including at the hands of Netherlands and Ireland. It was far removed from his heroics during the Ashes where he led the attack in world-class fashion by taking 24 wickets at 26.04 "I couldn't argue when I was left out. I hadn't done anything to keep my place, I wasn't bowling well," Anderson told the  Manchester Evening News . "I found it tough and in a competition like the World Cup if you are not on top of your game you get found out, and I got punished. "My body just wasn't w

the Sri Lanka fast bowler, has said that he was not looked after by his country's board after his career-threatening knee injury and it was the IPL that helped him get his career back on track. Malinga, who  announced his retirement  from Test cricket last week, injured his knee in early 2008, and didn't play for Sri Lanka again till August 2009. He played a few List A games in Sri Lanka in early 2009, but it was his performance in the 2009 IPL, during which he took 18 wickets for Mumbai Indians, that brought him back into the limelight. "Because of the IPL I got a chance to come back to the national team," he said at a media conference in Colombo. "After the injury nobody looked after me and I was not offered a contract. The 2008 interim committee did not care for my well-being. But thanks to the IPL I didn't lose anything but I improved my cricket a lot. I'm saddened the way I was treated but not disappointed." Malinga had announced his Test retir