Updated at: 1609 PST,  Tuesday, May 17, 2011

LONDON: Former England captain Tony Greig has called for an end to India's "domination" of the International Cricket Council (ICC), saying it was the first thing he'd change if in charge of the governing body."Number one, we have got to try and get the ICC right," Greig told the BBC in an interview."We have a situation at the moment where the ICC is dominated by India."They tell Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and one or two other countries what to do and they always get the vote. "It's very hard, but somehow we have got to change things at that level."South Africa-born Greig added: "We are playing too much cricket. I would be getting all the countries from the world and saying hey listen, what is this nonsense of giving Indian domestic cricket an open window"To give the IPL (Indian Premier League, a domestic Twenty20 competition) an open window, and reduce by two months the time available for cricketers to play around the world, in the current environment is just ridiculous."We have got to look very, very closely and make sure we do not destroy the cornerstone of the game which is Test cricket," said the 64-year-old former all-rounder, who settled in Australia after his playing days were over and has since enjoyed a long career as a television cricket commentator."It is laughable that (Chris) Gayle and (Kieron) Pollard are playing in the IPL when the West Indies are playing Pakistan -- that is just ridiculous."Greig, though, stressed his longstanding affection for Indian cricket, dating back to his time as a player which included leading England to a 3-1 Test series win in India in 1976/77."I took to India and the subcontinent very much...I loved the place," he said while giving an interview to coincide with the publication of a new biography, 'Tony Greig: A Reappraisal of English Cricket's Most Controversial Captain,' by David Tossell."It was the first time I really felt as if we were entertaining people, as the people there loved the game so much -- to go to those stadiums and find them packed full," explained Greig, who made his name in England with south coast county Sussex. "To this day (Kolkata's) Eden Gardens remains one of my top three grounds, just because of the incredible atmosphere.

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Kochi record easy win over Rajasthan

Updated at: 1609 PST,  Tuesday, May 17, 2011

LONDON: Former England captain Tony Greig has called for an end to India's "domination" of the International Cricket Council (ICC), saying it was the first thing he'd change if in charge of the governing body."Number one, we have got to try and get the ICC right," Greig told the BBC in an interview."We have a situation at the moment where the ICC is dominated by India."They tell Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and one or two other countries what to do and they always get the vote. "It's very hard, but somehow we have got to change things at that level."South Africa-born Greig added: "We are playing too much cricket. I would be getting all the countries from the world and saying hey listen, what is this nonsense of giving Indian domestic cricket an open window? "To give the IPL (Indian Premier League, a domestic Twenty20 competition) an open window, and reduce by two months the time available for cricketers to play around the world, in the current environment is just ridiculous."We have got to look very, very closely and make sure we do not destroy the cornerstone of the game which is Test cricket," said the 64-year-old former all-rounder, who settled in Australia after his playing days were over and has since enjoyed a long career as a television cricket commentator."It is laughable that (Chris) Gayle and (Kieron) Pollard are playing in the IPL when the West Indies are playing Pakistan -- that is just ridiculous."Greig, though, stressed his longstanding affection for Indian cricket, dating back to his time as a player which included leading England to a 3-1 Test series win in India in 1976/77."I took to India and the subcontinent very much...I loved the place," he said while giving an interview to coincide with the publication of a new biography, 'Tony Greig: A Reappraisal of English Cricket's Most Controversial Captain,' by David Tossell."It was the first time I really felt as if we were entertaining people, as the people there loved the game so much -- to go to those stadiums and find them packed full," explained Greig, who made his name in England with south coast county Sussex."To this day (Kolkata's) Eden Gardens remains one of my top three grounds, just because of the incredible atmosphere.

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IPL: Valthaty, Chawla shape Punjab victory

Updated at: 2357 PST,  Sunday, May 15, 2011

DHARAMSHALA, India: Paul Valthaty cracked a brisk 62 and Piyush Chawla bagged three wickets to help Kings XI Punjab score a 29-run win over Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League match on Sunday. Opener Valthaty added 102 for the second wicket with Australian Shaun Marsh (46) as Punjab made 170-6 before restricting bottom-placed Delhi to 141-8 to keep alive their hopes of making it to the semi-finals.Leg-spinner Chawla finished with 3-16 off four overs.Marsh's best came in the 13th over when he hammered left-arm spinner Sridharan Sriram for 24 runs off five balls, including three sixes. He also hit five fours in his 28-ball knock.Valthaty, who hit Australian paceman James Hopes for 16 runs in an over, smashed three sixes and six fours in his 50-ball knock.Paceman Irfan Pathan was the most successful bowler with three wickets, including those of Valthaty and Marsh in one over.Delhi failed to capitalise on a 52-run stand for the opening wicket between Australian David Warner (29) and Naman Ojha (28), losing five wickets in the space of 40 runs.Seamer Shalabh Srivastava did the early damage when he dismissed both the openers in successive overs while Chawla got two wickets and seamer Valthaty one to reduce Delhi to 92-5.Bangalore lead the 10-team league table with 17 points, followed by Chennai (16), Mumbai (16), Kolkata (14), Punjab (12), Rajasthan (11), Kochi (10), Pune (eight), Deccan (eight) and Delhi (eight).Brief scores:Kings XI Punjab 170-6 in 20 overs (P. Valthaty 62, S. Marsh 46, D. Karthik 27; Irfan Pathan 3-28, A. Salvi 2-40) beat Delhi Daredevils 141-8 in 20 overs (D. Warner 29, N. Ojha 28; P. Chawla 3-16, S. Srivastava 2-39) by 29 runs.

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Ajmal bowls Pakistan back into contention

PROVIDENCE, Guyana: Saeed Ajmal continued to torment the West Indies as he bowled Pakistan back into the opening Test on Saturday when the hosts were reduced to 96 for seven in their second innings for an overall lead of 162.The off-spinner has collected four for 23 from 14 overs for match figures of nine for 92 to leave the West Indies tottering at the interval on the third day at the Guyana National Stadium, with Shivnarine Chanderpaul not out on 12 and Darren Sammy not out on seven. Ajmal struck with the fifth ball of the day, after West Indies continued from their overnight total of 34 for two.He removed night-watchman Kemar Roach lbw for three, following the West Indies fast bowler's unsuccessful review of New Zealand umpire Tony Hill's decision. It was the 13th lbw decision awarded in the match.Ajmal continued to mesmerise the West Indies batsmen, many of whom have failed to pick his doosra, removing Ramnaresh Sarwan for 11 and Carlton Baugh for seven.Ajmal was unfortunate that he did not count Lendl Simmons among his scalps, when the West Indies opener, on 20, charged down the pitch, and slogged at a flighted delivery.The ball ricocheted from the batsman's front pad, eluded wicketkeeper Mohammad Salman, and raced to the third man boundary for four leg byes. Next over, Wahab Riaz made sure the lost chance was not too costly for Pakistan when Simmons fended a short delivery and was caught at silly mid-off for 21, leaving West Indies 47 for four. With Ajmal tying the batsmen down, and Wahab and Umar Gul bowling steadily from the other end, there were few scoring opportunities for West Indies, but Sarwan eased the tension with a typically smooth cover drive off Wahab for his first boundary.Ajmal, however, remained a constant threat and this brought Sarwan's downfall, caught at forward short leg fending an awkwardly bouncing delivery.Pakistan were gifted another wicket when Brendan Nash was run out for three, looking for a second run, and being sent back by Chanderpaul.Ajmal then struck in the last 15 minutes before the interval when Baugh was caught at mid-wicket, swinging a shortish delivery low to the fielder. Pakistan are seeking their maiden Test series victory in the Caribbean.

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Karthik powers Punjab to 6-wkt win over Kochi

Updated at: 2208 PST,  Saturday, May 14, 2011

INDORE: Dinesh Karthik smashed five sixes in his 33-ball 69 to power Kings XI Punjab to a six-wicket victory over Kochi Tuskers Kerala in an Indian Premier League match on Friday.He put on 111 for the third wicket with Australian Shaun Marsh (42) as Punjab surpassed Kochi's total of 178-7 with seven balls to spare for their fifth win in 11 games of the Twenty20 tournament.Punjab were struggling at 31-2 after paceman Rudra Pratap Singh dismissed skipper Adam Gilchrist (nine) and Paul Valthaty (17), but Karthik and Marsh shattered Kochi's hopes with their big-hitting. Karthik, who reached his half-century with a six over mid-wicket off spinner Ravindra Jadeja, also hit seven fours while Marsh cracked two sixes and five fours in his 30-ball knock.Singh got his third wicket when he removed Karthik, superbly caught by skipper Mahela Jayawardene in the covers, before holding a return catch to dismiss Marsh in the space of three runs.Australian David Hussey (21 not out) finished the match with a straight six off paceman Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.Chennai and Mumbai have already made sure of the semi-finals with 16 points each. They are followed by Bangalore (15), Kolkata (14), Rajasthan (11), Punjab (10), Kochi (10), Pune (eight), Delhi (eight) and Deccan (six).Sri Lankan Jayawardene earlier hit two sixes and eight fours in his 52-ball 76 to help Kochi post a challenging total. He added 93 for the opening wicket with New Zealander Brendon McCullum, who hit a 27-ball 32.Jayawardene, who reached his half-century with a six off leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, was run out in the last over. Owais Shah was the other main scorer with a 12-ball 23. Brief scores:Kochi Tuskers Kerala 178-7 in 20 overs (M. Jayawardene 76, B. McCullum 32, O. Shah 23; B. Sharma 2-32) lost to Kings XI Punjab 181-4 in 18.5 overs (D. Karthik 69, S. Marsh 42, D. Hussey 21 not out; RP Singh 4-25) by six wickets.

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