IBLOG SPACE

The impasse in West Indies cricket continued with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) claiming that Chris Gayle has been "antagonistic and unrepentant" in the negotiations aimed at resolving their dispute, but kept the offer of a meeting open to reach a compromise. The board was reacting to a long and emotional public statement from Gayle, who said had all attempts at reconciliation from the WICB were a "sham and a mockery". "The WICB reiterates its stated position, that there is a history of difficulty in communicating with and relating to Mr Gayle and wishes to bring this matter to a resolution; but from his latest statement and his expressed views in the meetings with the WICB it would appear as though he is of the unshakeable view that he has conducted himself impeccably," the board stated in a release. "The WICB insists that his conduct cannot simply be swept under the carpet as is the apparent desire of Mr Gayle." The board said that Gayl

India needed three West Indian wickets in about 11 overs when bad light forced the Barbados Test to be abandoned. The loss of Darren Bravo and Darren Sammy in quick succession, gave India the advantage at that late stage, but they couldn't press on because of the conditions. MS Dhoni has said that he would have loved to have had those extra overs, but his team weren't too disappointed that they couldn't force a result. "We are not disappointed, because it [the draw] happened due to things that are beyond our control, like rain and bad light," he said. "We wanted to bowl around 80 overs, but unfortunately we were not able to do so. But we tried our best, so there's no reason to be frustrated." The game could have meandered towards a dull draw if Dhoni hadn't declared in the morning. He is not known for generous third-innings declarations: his previous declarations have set oppositions targets of 516, 403 and 617. So why did he choose to declare t

Stuart Broad, the England fast bowler, has been fined 50% of his match fee for showing dissent towards an umpire's decision during the second ODI against Sri Lanka after using "unacceptable and offensive" remarks at Billy Bowden. He was found guilty of a Level 2 breach of Article 2.2.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct. Broad admitted to the offence after it had been brought to the match referee Alan Hurst's notice by the on-field umpires, Billy Bowden and Richard Kettleborough. There was no need for a hearing and he was promptly fined. "The charge related to an incident in the final over of the Sri Lanka innings when Broad appealed for an lbw [against Jeevan Mendis], which was turned down. As he left the field he made some unacceptable and offensive remarks to umpire Bowden about that decision," an ICC statement said. "Accepting an umpire's decision is an essential feature of cricket and part of the game's unique spirit," Hurst said. "Stuar

Eoin Morgan says improving England's performances against spin in one-day cricket is key to them finding consistency in the format. England were undone by Sri Lanka's spinners in their 69-run loss at Headingley, with Suraj Randiv and Jeevan Mendis sharing five wickers in 15 overs between them. It was a familiar pattern for England who have been unable to counter slow bowling in ODI cricket for a number of years. Morgan believes playing positive cricket is imperative to them overcoming the problem."Spin seems to tie us down, so that is something we have to improve - recognising we have to make that improvement as a unit rather than one or two guys going hell for leather," he told reporters. "It has always been a problem for England, particularly in major tournaments. "The Indians are masters. They take the positive approach of whacking it out of the ground, between milking it around. We need to have a similar attitude, because we have shown when we have posi

South Africa A beat Zimbabwe XI by one run in a nail-biting match in Harare, to score their first points in the tri-series. Chasing 239, Zimbabwe needed two off the last ball, but came off second as Rusty Theron held his nerve to bowl a wicket-taking dot. Zimbabwe were steered through most of their innings by captain Brendan Taylor, who scored 98. While there were no other half-centuries from the line-up, the next six batsmen got into double figures, making sure Zimbabwe were on course in the chase. They took the third Powerplay in the 43rd over, needing 77 off 48 balls with seven wickets in hand. With a close finish looming, a five-ball 45th over did the hosts no favours. It came down to the last ball, off which Theron had Forster Mutizwa stumped. Choosing to bat, South Africa's innings was similar to that of Zimbabwe's in that it was guided by a patient 98 by the captain-opener, Jacques Rudoplh. Three wickets went down in the first 15 overs at the other end, leaving South Af

England Women's impressive summer continued with a 58-run victory in their second ODI of the Natwest quadrangular series, against New Zealand Women in Derby. It follows the six-wicket win against India on Thursday and their unbeaten success in the Twenty20 tournament that preceded this series. England started the game as favourites and victory was built on Claire Taylor's solid 67, Sarah Taylor's enterprising 41 from 43 balls and a powerful bowling display led by quicks Katherine Brunt and Arran Brindle. New Zealand's pursuit of 238 for victory looked as good as over when they were reduced to 11 for 4, but 40 from Suzie Bates and 59 from Aimee Watkins threatened to give England a scare. In the end the spinners took control and New Zealand were well short. It was a fine showing from England, who were below-par in the field in their opening encounter against India. This time the new-ball pair of Brunt and Brindle had New Zealand under pressure from the outset. It was the

Delhi opener Shikhar Dhawan will lead India in the Emerging Players tournament to be held in Australia from August 1 to 13. Mumbai batsman Ajinkya Rahane, who has an impressive first-class average of 67.72, will be the vice-captain of the 15-member contingent. The squad includes a number of players on the fringes of the India team, who have impressed through the domestic season and in the IPL. Manoj Tiwary, who failed to shine when given an opportunity in the West Indies one-dayers, has been included in the side. Saurabh Tiwary was picked despite a lacklustre IPL. India's campaign at the tournament consists of three-day fixtures against South Africa from August 1, New Zealand from August 6, and Australian Institute of Sports (AIS) from August 11. Ashok Menaria, who led India in the 2010 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand before fruitful Ranji and IPL seasons with Rajasthan, was also picked. S Anirudha, Manish Pandey, and Ambati Rayudu were the other IPL regulars who made the squad.

Though close to 128 overs of play were lost to the elements, Barbados still managed to produce a dramatic draw. On the final day, India made a bold declaration to bring the Test to life, and Darren Bravo sucked the life right out of it with an innings of application and resolve. India set West Indies 281 to get in 83 overs, Ishant Sharma helped them take early wickets, but Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Carlton Baugh thwarted India for 322 deliveries between them. There were two twists in the final session. An ordinary lbw call against Chanderpaul, which was followed by Marlon Samuels' wicket, would surely have sparked controversy had West Indies lost the match. With a maximum of 36 overs remaining, Bravo and Baugh put up further resistance. Baugh attacked too. At one point the target came down to 102 off 19.3 overs, and he kept India honest with the odd blow after that. Rain intervened, India came back with two quick wickets to turn the equation to three wickets required in 10.

Ex-Palm CEO and current webOS lead at HP, Jon Rubinstein, has fired out an internal email of support to theTouchPad and webOS 3.0 teams at the company, urging them to keep faith in the product and platform despite mediocre day-one reviews. In the letter, leaked to PreCentral, Rubinstein cites early reviews of Mac OS X in which critics labeled it “sluggish” and derided its lack of apps, going on to say that “similarities to our situation are obvious.” However, the exec also flags up areas in which commentary has been more kind, such as in recognizing the potential of webOS 3.0. “Our audiences get that webOS has the potential for greatness” he suggests, insisting that “most of the issues they cite are already known to us and will be addressed in short order by over-the-air software and app catalog updates.” Consensus on the TouchPad suggested that the hardware could be sluggish at times and, in comparison to slender slates like the iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, felt oversized and s