Muttiah Muralitharan Throws Brian Lara a Fresh Challenge in Masters Champions League

The world's leading wicket-taker versus the man who has the highest score in an innings in international cricket. The stage is set for the ultimate contest between ball and bat as Muttiah Muralitharan dreams of Brian Lara's wicket once again.

The inaugural edition of the Masters Champions League in January-February will provide the perfect platform for two legends of the game to go head-on once more. Both in their 40s, Murali, who had taken a record 800 Test wickets, has had limited success against Lara, who continues to hold the record for the highest Test score of 400 not out. 

In 20 ODIs, Muralitharan dismissed Lara only once. In eight Tests, the Lankan off-spinner, has got Lara five times at an average of 56.80. 

The MCL, a T20 tournament for retired cricketers, will see an array of legends who will renew their rivalries in UAE from January 28-February 13, 2016. While Muralitharan will lead Gemini Arabians, the Prince of Cricket from Trinidad will captain Leo Lions.

"Brian and Sachin (Tendulkar) were great players. Brian is 45-46 and I am three years younger…may be, I will get over him this time," Muralitharan said in an interview.

The concept of former stars competing against each other is slowly gaining ground. The All-Stars Series, a brain child of Tendulkar and Shane Warne, was quite a success in the United States recently. The MCL is targeting the huge Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan population in the Gulf nations.

Interestingly, Muralitharan's team also has another off-spinning legend, Saqlain Mushtaq from Pakistan. It will be interesting to see who gets Lara's wicket.

Australia show no mercy to wanton West Indies

Towards the end of Australia's latest gargantuan first innings in a summer of batting gluttony, the West Indies opener Rajendra Chandrika was struck a painful blow on the wrist by an Adam Voges stroke. Quickly to his aid was the hosts' team doctor Peter Brukner. Chandrika recovered and later batted; it was the only moment's mercy offered by the Australians to their hapless quarry all day.

More representative was the bowling of Peter Siddle, James Pattinson and Nathan Lyon, all of whom harried their opponents relentlessly and were rewarded with regular victims. Lyon's loop, Pattinson's reverse swing and Siddle's accuracy made for a highly complementary attack, augmented by the stingy Josh Hazlewood.

By the close they had reduced the West Indies to a forlorn 6 for 89 in response to 551, leaving open the possibility of another follow on, another Australian innings victory and another three-day Test match. Even if the shorter turnaround to the New Year's Test in Sydney stops Steven Smith from making such a call, not even the most staunchly patriotic Australian supporter can take too much joy from ritual executions of such lopsided brutality.

A second day gathering of 40,416 was the sort of figure both Cricket Australia and the MCC would have been happy about. Nevertheless it was very apparent how on each day the crowds thinned after tea, as though they could not put themselves through the recurring spectacle of one of cricket's domineers beating up on an opponent in dreadful disrepair. For all the rhetoric of Curtly Ambrose and the good intentions of Jason Holder, there is very little within the power of this touring team to avoid problems that have built up over decades of neglect, infighting and divided loyalties.

The first half of day two had Voges and Smith batting without risk or any apparent danger. Their undefeated stand of 223 followed up the strong work of Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja on Boxing Day, and contributed to the statistical mountain being built by an Australian side growing daily under the leadership of their new captain.

Smith showed evidence that a rest had helped his sore knee in compiling his sixth hundred for 2015, while Voges continued on the merry way he began at Bellerive Oval in the first Test. He has now made 375 runs in the series without being dismissed, while his career average against the West Indies has reached a scarcely credible 542.

Though Smith's century was marked by a subdued celebration, but Voges was far more animated in marking his fourth hundred of a debut Test year in which he has passed 1000 runs in a mere 12 matches. Only Sir Donald Bradman, Neil Harvey and Sid Barnes managed to get there faster.

Together they ensured Australia's bowlers had plenty of runs to defend once again, and after Chandrika and Kraigg Brathwaite resisted briefly they made steady then increasingly swift progress through the thin remnants of what was once a galaxy of Caribbean batting riches.

Brathwaite's hands were too low and firm to prevent a catch squeezed to short leg when Lyon found bounce and spin. Chandrika was too generous in allowing Pattinson's in-ducker to strike him in front without offering a shot and then optimistically reviewing the decision. Marlon Samuels' wretched tour then gained another stanza when he was pinned seemingly in front by Pattinson for a duck and declined to review a ball that EagleEye had passing over the stumps.

Very nearly yorked first ball, Jermain Blackwood played a few smart strokes before he was reprieved when the inevitably grey of television replays meant Burns' apparent clean catch at square leg was overruled by the third umpire Ian Gould. The injustice of that decision was not to linger; Blackwood bunting a return catch to Lyon and Denesh Ramdin flicking a clearer catch to Burns before Siddle snaked a straightening ball around Holder's dead bat to make it six wickets in the final session.

If Voges and Smith did not pile up runs at quite the same rate seen in Hobart, their security at the crease was seemingly unaffected by more patient spells from several West Indian bowlers. Both batsmen gave up edges, Smith an inside edge to fine leg when attempting to force Kemar Roach through the off side, and Voges skewing Carlos Brathwaite past slips 15 minutes before lunch.

The MCG surface was flat and easy paced for batting when Smith and Voges resumed, intent upon stretching the hosts' tally into an intimidating region for the West Indies. There were attractive strokes to be viewed by a crowd that grew steadily, but precious little tension between bat and ball.

A reminder of the vast gap between the teams arrived when Australia knocked off their 1000th run for the series, all at a cost of just seven wickets. The scoreboard flashed a reminder that both sides have still got two DRS referrals in their pockets. It is perhaps the only area in which Australia and the West Indies have ever had parity in the series.

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Uttar Pradesh seal quarterfinal berth; MP stay alive

Uttar Pradesh rounded off their group engagements with a five-wicket win over Goa to assure themselves of a top of the table finish in Group D. Umang Sharma stroked an unbeaten 85 helped UP chase down 219 with five wickets in hand and plenty to spare.

Umang was complemented at the top by Saurabh Dubey (35) and Suresh Raina (29) before Shadab Jakati's three quick wickets threatened to take the game away from them. But Rinku Singh held his composure to make an unbeaten 51 as UP won with 13.3 overs to spare. Reagon Pinto's 66 and Sagun Kamat's 57 were the major talking points for Goa with the bat. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dubey, Piyush Chawla and Raina picked up two wickets each.

Harpreet Singh's third successive fifty helped Madhya Pradesh keep their quarter-final hopes alive as they beat Bengal by five wickets in Rajkot. Harpreet made 71 as MP chased down 263 with 19 balls to spare.

Rajat Patidar, the opener, laid the foundation of the chase with a 78-ball 63, while Anand Singh Bais made an unbeaten run-a-ball 54 to steer them home after the dismissal of Harpreet. That meant Sayan Mondal's 88 that helped Bengal put up a competitive score went in vain. Puneet Datey, Chandrakant Sakhure and Jalaj Saxena picked up two wickets apiece for MP. A second loss in three matches meant Bengal's qualifying route to the quarter-final hinged on plenty of mathematical possibilities should they win their last two matches.

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Hussey leads Thunder to first win over Sixers

Michael Hussey will be a coaching consultant with Australia at the World Twenty20 in India next year, but the first night of the 2015-16 Big Bash League showed that he still has plenty to offer as a T20 batsman as well. Hussey scored an unbeaten 80 from 59 balls to lead Sydney Thunder to their first win over their cross-town rivals Sydney Sixers in the eight meetings between the teams, a convincing 36-run victory at Sydney's Showground Stadium.

Hussey ensured that the Thunder posted a competitive 4 for 158 after he won the toss and chose to bat, and regular wickets throughout the Sixers innings, including three each to Andre Russell and Shane Watson, kept the Thunder on top throughout. The innings petered out and the Sixers were dismissed for 122 in the 50th over, opener Michael Lumb (34) the only batsman who made it past the teens.

In his first match for the Thunder, having played with Melbourne Renegades last summer, Russell was especially key with the ball. He delivered two quick, accurate yorkers that lit up the bails and bowled Brad Haddin and Nic Maddinson to leave the Thunder at 2 for 37, and from there they never really recovered. His economy was also outstanding, his four overs earning him 3 for 13.

Watson also chipped in with 3 for 13 from two overs; having had Jordan Silk caught in the deep he added Sean Abbott, who was caught and bowled, and Trent Lawford, who was bowled. While Russell and Watson picked up three wickets each, Jacques Kallis had also made an important breakthrough by trapping Lumb lbw, although the ball appeared to have pitched outside leg stump.

That ended Lumb's chances of helping the Sixers to victory after he earlier dropped one of the easiest chances imaginable on a cricket field. Watson was on 8 when he chipped a sitter off the bowling of Abbott; Lumb, at mid-off, had only to watch the ball into his hands, but somehow allowed the ball to bounce off his abdomen and could not grasp it. He was lucky the drop cost only eight runs as Watson was bowled by Nathan Lyon for 16.

But there was enough batting in the Thunder line-up to post a strong total. Batting at No.3 and having walked to the crease in the second over, Hussey seemed to set himself the task of batting through the innings, and he did so with class. He lofted Jackson Bird over wide long-off for the first six of the tournament and added three more through his innings.

Twenty runs came off the 17th over of the innings as Hussey and Ben Rohrer (30 off 20) lifted the tempo towards the end. Hussey's efforts proved more than adequate to end a run of seven straight victories for the Sixers over his side and ensured a perfect start for the Thunder, who have yet to finish above the bottom two in any BBL tournament.

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BCCI likely to reveal IPL player salaries

The BCCI's decision to make the 'actual' salaries of retained players in the IPL public - ostensibly as a part of its recent attempts to ensure transparency - has evoked mixed responses from franchises. After the IPL draft held on Tuesday, IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla had said that details of payments made to the players retained will be put up on the BCCI's website. It is learnt that such information is likely to be available at the end of the first trading window on December 31.

If the rule comes into effect, the franchises may have to disclose the actual remuneration paid to the players retained for the first time since the introduction of the retention system in 2010, which allowed teams to sign a certain number of players from their squad ahead of the auction. The earnings of the players on the retention list are not necessarily the same as the fixed price bands they are slotted in. For example, if Royal Challengers Bangalore retain Virat Kohli as their first player, a deduction of Rs 12.5 crore from their auction purse will be made, but they may pay Kohli either the same amount or more or less.

The BCCI, by virtue of being a party in this tripartite agreement, is privy to the payment made, but such numbers are not easily available in the public realm, as opposed to the non-negotiable hammer-price for which a player is picked up in the auctions. Kasi Viswanathan, one of the directors of Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd, the company that owns the suspended franchise, Chennai Super Kings, felt franchises were loath to disclose the actual payments because of the fear of leaking business strategy. "This is a business proposition," he told ESPNcricinfo. "Why would they want to let out trade secrets?"

Viswanathan, however, said the players retained by Super Kings in 2014 - MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo - were compensated in accordance with the prescribed money brackets. Dhoni was paid Rs 12.5 crore, Raina 9.5 crore, Ashwin 7.5 crore, Jadeja 5.5 crore and Bravo Rs 4 crore. Viswanathan also said the subject of revealing such payments had never come for discussion in the past.

Another franchise official felt it would create a wedge between the players, and facilitate an environment conducive for horse-trading. "Why should everyone know what price he has been retained?" he asked. "If other franchises come to know of what a player is being paid, they might try to pick holes in the contract and dissuade the player from signing a contract. You know how these things work.

"It will also create a lot of unpleasantness in the team. Some foreigner maybe as good or better than a retained [Indian] player, but he might be miffed if he doesn't get the same amount or more in the auction." The franchise official contended that Shane Watson wasn't picked up in the draft by either Pune or Rajkot because they knew he was paid a "huge sum" by Rajasthan Royals, and they had to match that

However, two other people involved with IPL teams - one of them a former franchise official - contested this argument and said franchises wouldn't fret over salary disclosures. He also said the figures were anyway made public to a large extent when the balance sheets were submitted.

"The inequalities of salaries exist anyway and are publicly clear to everyone," the former official said. "These are only four or five cases that are coming from retention. Otherwise everyone else's salary is crystal clear to everyone. I see no reason [why franchises would have a problem revealing the figures]. "The franchise is declaring it in the books - the auditors have to see it anyway - so it doesn't really kill them. If it is a publicly listed company they will have to open their books anyway."

The former official said the system of payments wasn't altogether transparent. "It is not transparent to everybody else; at this point it is not. I think the BCCI couldn't really care if you pay more or less [to the player]. As far as the BCCI is concerned it's the purse that matters. "If you are retaining a guy that's when the money is actually written down saying that my cost of retaining for the IPL purse is X but my cost of retention otherwise is Y," he said. There are murmurs of an undisclosed component being paid to players that is kept off the books, but it could not be independently verified.

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Misbah ul Haq, Younis Khan unhappy after left out of PSL icon players list

Pakistan’s batting stalwarts Younis Khan and Misbah-u-Haq are unhappy at being left out of the list of icon players for the impending Pakistan Super League Twenty20 tournament. The iconic players were decided on Wednesday by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and current Test captain Misbah and former Test skipper Younis were both omitted from the list while at same time two foreigners who no longer play for their countries were given icon status. Interestingly, Younis led Pakistan to their only World T20 title in 2009 while Misbah has also captained the national T20 team and both the players are still active in this format.

“They are not happy and indications are that they will convey to the board that if they are not given leadership positions in the PSL franchise teams they might skip it,” one well-informed source told PTI. Younis has already publicly expressed his interest in playing a leading role in the PSL.

“I would like to have a leadership position in the PSL like say being captain or mentor besides being a player,” Younis had told the media in Karachi. The PCB ignored another former national T20 captain Muhammad Hafeez from the list of icon players in the PSL. Nadeem Omar, who has brought the Quetta team, said that each of the five franchises have to take one icon player from the list of Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Shane Watson.

“After taking one icon player each the franchises then can choose players from the platinum, gold, silver and emerging categories,” he said. The source said that Younis and Misbah were said to be upset after they were ignored and the PCB choose to pick Gayle, Watson and Pietersen as icon players.

“Pietersen is someone who has not been given this status in any other cricket league and is someone who has been sidelined by England for more than a year now,” the source said. “On other hand, Watson has retired from Australian team duty in comparison both Younis and Misbah remain active players at the Test level,” he added.

Former Pakistan Test pacer Sikander Bakht has also started a new controversy over the selection of coaches for the PSL when he claimed on a news channel that former Australian Test batsman Dean Jones was suspected of match-fixing.

Sikander said that Jones, who has been appointed head coach of the Islamabad team, was dropped from the Australian team and forced to retire because the Cricket Australia suspected him of being involved in match-fixing.

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Arun Jaitley should be sacked from DDCA: AAP to narendramodi

New Delhi: Delhi’s ruling AAP on Thursday again accused Finance Minister Arun Jaitley of indulging in corruption in Delhi’s cricket body and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack him. “A free and fair probe cannot be done as long as Jaitley remains in the post,” Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh told the media here. “So he should be removed.” Another AAP leader, cabinet minister Kapil Mishra, added: “Does Modiji have the courage to remove Arun Jaitley till he comes out clean? Can he do what Kejriwalji did to his tainted minister?” Arun Jaitley should handle cricket as ‘private duty,’ says Subramanian Swamy

The reference was to the public sacking by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of one of his ministers who he said had sought bribes. The AAP made a similar demand for Jaitley’s ouster at a press conference, saying widespread corruption took place when Jaitley headed the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) for years. “Jaitley is involved in the corruption in DDCA,” AAP leader Kumar Vishwas told the media. Allegations of DDCA irregularities ‘vague and without basis,’ says Arun Jaitley

The AAP’s allegations — an elaboration of what it spoke about a day earlier — came two days after the CBI raided the office of the principal secretary to Kejriwal on charges of corruption. Kejriwal alleged that CBI officials had searched his room too and read the file related to the DDCA whose affairs he had ordered to be probed. The CBI has denied entering Kejriwal’s room. Raghav Chadha, an AAP spokesperson, said Jaitley had been running the DDCA like “an elite club”, appointing his favourites. The AAP leaders levelled a string of charges against Jaitley, who for years was the DDCA chairman. Among these, they said a budget of Rs.24 crore was approved to construct a cricket stadium but Rs.114 crore was spent.

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