Woolf report may challenge ICC status quo

Mustafa Kamal's candidature for the ICC vice-presidency is one of the topics that will come up for discussion © Getty Images

The quarterly meeting of the ICC's Executive Board meeting due to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday in Dubai, will consider the nomination of a vice-presidential candidate to succeed the next ICC chief Alan Isaac, and discuss a change in prize money around Test cricket but most importantly, discover whether cricket has actually let a genie out of the bottle.

The centrepiece of the two-day meeting will be the presentation of the final report from the independent governance review of the ICC headed by Lord Woolf, the former chief justice of England and Wales. The report will contain a series of recommendations which will be discussed by the Executive Board before they can be put before the ICC's full house in future meetings. The most contentious of these recommendations is expected to be the inclusion of independent members on the ICC board and its various committees.

The Board will also discuss Pakistan and Bangladesh's nomination of Mustafa Kamal as their candidate to take over as the ICC vice-president from 2012 to 2014. If approved, Kamal's appointment will establish him as the ICC's president-elect to succeed Alan Isaac as the head of the ICC in 2014. Kamal's nomination follows current ICC procedure of a rotational handover of the ICC president-ship from region to region. There have been attempts the recent past to push for a change in the ICC constitution to allow the ICC president-elect appointment to be made through open candidature.

The independent governance review was part of a new strategic plan announced in April 2011 which was set into motion in August 2011. At the time, there was said to be an internal debate within the Board about the benefits of an independent review in itself. It was argued that the presence of the outsiders looking into the functioning of a tight clique of the ICC's Full Members was not necessary.

The Woolf panel is known to have spoken to more than 50 stakeholders around the world and sought the views of many more via written interviews. It presented an interim report at the last ICC Board meeting in October 2011. Until the February Board meeting, when BCCI president N Srinivasan is expected to meet with the members of the review panel, the only lone BCCI official who consented to be interviewed was vice-president Arun Jaitley.

The review panel questioned stakeholders about the governance of the ICC around issues of criteria and categories of its membership, the consideration of an independent committee of members and directors, the distribution of funding between members, and the presidential election process. Any recommended changes in these particular aspects of the ICC's functioning would be a challenge to the status quo. The Board will be aiming to strike a balance between making the report public and resisting recommendations that aim to distribute or dilute the powers now enjoyed by the Full Members.

In its October 2011 meeting, the ICC president Sharad Pawar said the Board, "had agreed to make the report public after it has met with Lord Woolf in February 2012." It is believed that player associations are very keen to see the full report and recommendations. The Woolf review has been the first time the ICC asked for external inspection of its own functioning. What has emerged from the findings of the Woolf report could prove difficult to keep under wraps especially since the recommendations will involve several interest groups amongst the members.

The debate about the presidential appointment could be one of them. The decision to put to vote any proposed amendment of the ICC's constitution around the appointment of its president was deferred at the ICC's annual conference in Hong Kong last June. While Kamal is said to be confident of enough support to see his nomination through, there is a possibility of the constitutional amendment being sought yet again during the Board meeting. England and India are on the same side in this argument and are keen to see the constitution amended in time for their own candidates to make a push for the presidency.

Another independent report up for discussion during the meeting centres around the ticketing issues that arose during the 2011 World Cup. The ICC would also deliberate over a proposal to increase prize money in Test cricket, intended to "promote Test match cricket in the period before the ICC Test Championship event in 2017".

The Board will also study reports about the ICC Global Cricket Academy, the implementation of Anti-Corruption Codes in domestic cricket, the adoption of a Safety and Security Code as well as an annual Ethics report. The ICC Board meeting in Dubai will be attended by the chairman or president of the 10 full members, but three representatives of the Associates, along with the ICC president Sharad Pawar, vice president Isaac and ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat. The ICC's principal advisor IS Bindra has also been invited to attend. 

Andy Flower speaks to reporters a day after England lost the second Test and the series to Pakistan in Abu Dhabi

Time for India to shed denial

India were out-batted, out-bowled, out-fielded and out-captained © Getty Images

Four years ago, during an ugly series between these two teams in this country, Anil Kumble, India's captain, evoked Bill Woodfull circa Bodyline, saying only one of the teams was playing cricket. The same could just as easily be said of this series. In their own cocoon of denial, living in the past, out-batted, out-bowled, out-fielded, out-captained both on and off the field, out-coached, out-jibed by the hosts, India didn't really turn up.

The batsmen kept failing but kept getting picked and kept batting in the same positions on the top of that. The bowlers lacked the control; Ishant Sharma carried his flaws and misfortune, which might or might not be inter-related, despite a strong and specialised coaching staff; the old men without the runs didn't write off the debts they incurred in the field; the openers were found out, but everybody kept talking of a time in the past when they used to win.

They used to win no doubt but never as comprehensively as they have lost over their last two series. It was a team skating on thin ice, albeit skating exceptionally well until earlier this year, but the ice has given away now. The rescue squad is of the view it will prepare better ice at home.

To find out where it all went wrong on this tour it is important to go back to where it all started. Melbourne was the kind of Test India used to win over the last four years or so. They just did. Somehow. They used to have the mental strength. That is the reason the fans began to trust this side. That is the reason why they are angry now. They haven't seen that desperation here.

They can't pinpoint a time when the desperation, the mongrel, left this team. Was it when the seniors passed a certain age - and can cricketers age all of a sudden? Was it when surgeries were postponed so that IPL could be played and Tests missed? Was it when the previous 4-0 whitewash was not even part of the board's recap of the last year at its awards function? Did the World Cup win exhaust them and sate them at the same time? This is all conjecture, and possibly unfair, but the fans are asking themselves these questions.

The good Indian team used to win the big moments - it didn't happen over a long period but it was the same personnel consistently making second-innings comebacks and or chasing high-ish totals in the fourth innings. Not now. Melbourne was a bit like Trent Bridge when they let the batsmen off the hook twice. India's bowling plans were outdated, as if the captain and the coaches hadn't seen Australia play since they last played India. They tried to bounce Ricky Ponting out when clearly he had been falling lbw over the last few months, thus playing him back into form. The good Indian teams' tailenders added runs, here Zaheer Khan refused to stay in front of the stumps. A lot of the blame has to be laid at the door of a team of defensive captain and defensive coach, but the mongrel wasn't there either.

It all can't be put down to the absence of that intangible quality either. The skills were found out. Perhaps it might have to do with age and slowing down of the instinct, but Virender Sehwag against the seaming and bouncing ball wasn't a good sight. Gautam Gambhir spent half the series fighting the poke only for the bouncer at his throat to consume him for the other half.

VVS Laxman remained strangely passive at the crease, and only in Adelaide - a Test he shouldn't have played in the first place - did he move his guard to middle stump to counter the fifth-stump line. Rahul Dravid knew his back foot was not moving across, and he tried his darnedest in the nets to overcome it, but could not manage it. Sachin Tendulkar began the summer gloriously, and still looked the best equipped technically, but that is where it stopped.

	Melbourne was the kind of Test India used to win over the last four years or so. They just did. Somehow. They used to have the mental strength. That is the reason the fans began to trust this side. That is the reason why they are angry now

The question marks against the seniors are valid and well documented, and it is time to drop those who will not be a part of the side at the start of the overseas tours in late 2013. There is no disrespect to their previous contributions in dropping them. However, it is disrespectful to plant stories in the media, as has been happening, to try to put covert pressure so they are forced to retire. Retirement should not even be a question here; that is the players' decision, and it is understandable for players to want to keep playing. What are the selectors and team management doing?

Good Indian teams bounced back from first defeats, now "bouncebackability" is a word used to mock them. With this team you badly hoped, for the sake of a contest, that they didn't lose the first match. In the lead-up to Sydney, no one other than the Indian team spoke of their ability to come back after their first defeat. From the time they were bowled out for 191 on that first day in Sydney, it was clear it would be nothing short of a miracle to avoid a whitewash.

Perth and Adelaide were natural progression. Mentally they were gone. They were in such bad state they couldn't even ignore criticism in the papers: R Ashwin called the media a deterrent and Sehwag asked them to support the side like cheerleaders.

MS Dhoni's captaincy may be open to whatever criticism but his leadership style of letting everyone be so they did their job best had worked until this debacle began. Good leaders, however, change their ways with time. There seems nobody in this team capable of lighting a fire under a few backsides, or of making on-the-spot decisions that match the desperation of the situation.

If Dhoni's erstwhile strength might have become his weakness, we don't even know what Duncan Fletcher's role is, except that no player wants to blame him. He was a control freak when with England, but has no powers here. He loved DRS, but can't say that in his new employment. He is supposed to be good with youngsters, but doesn't seem to be pushing for them here. He used substitutes to rile opposition captains, but is part of a team that calls back technically run-out batsmen. Is he a square peg in a round hole?

It is believed it is good to hit the rock bottom once in a while so that the only way is up. The problem is, the team and the board react in a manner that suggests they don't believe they have reached there yet. They still boast of home wins. They are complaining of grass on pitches that have actually been pretty fair, and ignoring completely that most of their recent wins away from the subcontinent have come in more-than-friendly bowling conditions. Hopefully they don't actually feel that way, and it is just a "brave face", although it isn't very clever.

Hopefully, at the next year's awards function, the BCCI will acknowledge that apart from hosting IPL and Champions League and putting together a side that won home Tests - the last one is no guarantee - India also lost badly in Australia. Accepting flaws is the first step towards correcting them. 

The wake-up call no one wanted - Flower

Andy Flower has urged England to show "courage" in confronting their issues with high-quality spin bowling © AFP

Andy Flower, condemned to his first Test series defeat since he took up the England coaching job on a permanent basis, has described their loss to Pakistan in the UAE as "the wake-up call no one wanted to get."

Flower laid the responsibility for the two heavy defeats in Dubai and Abu Dhabi squarely at the feet of England's batsmen and urged them to "face up to facts" and show "courage" in confronting their issues with high-quality spin bowling.

England's dramatic collapse in the second Test, when they were dismissed for 72 in pursuit of a target of 145, leaves them in danger of conceding their No. 1 Test ranking to South Africa if they do not win the final Test in Dubai. A 2-0 or 3-0 defeat, coupled with a 3-0 win for South Africa in New Zealand in March, would be enough for South Africa to take the top spot.

Their long-standing reputation as strugglers in Asian conditions has also been painfully confirmed. In 19 Tests in India, Pakistan, Sri lanka and now the Gulf since winning in Sri Lanka in 2001, England have lost nine, drawn nine and won one - and a sixth series defeat in seven is now inevitable.

"This is a great challenge for all of us," Flower said. "We've got another Test, a one-day series, a couple of Twenty20 games and then we've also got Test series in Sri Lanka and India before the year is out. So these issues will not disappear and we've got to face them with skill and a bit of courage. We've got to be a lot better than we were yesterday. Each individual will have to work very hard in working out his method of scoring.

"Yesterday was tough watching for anyone who loves England cricket. The guys played some really good cricket to get us into that position to chase a total of 145 to win a Test. It is exactly the sort of position you want to be in. But then we weren't good enough to deal with their spinners; we weren't skilful enough and we didn't deal with the pressure well enough. We have to face up to those facts.

Chasing a target of just 145, England's passive approach - Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook laboured for 15 overs in scoring 21 - allowed Pakistan's spin bowlers to build pressure on the batsmen and rendered them close to strokeless at times.

"They made familiar mistakes," Flower said. "We need our batsmen to learn. We didn't put any pressure on their bowlers in the second innings. We allowed them to bowl and create pressure. The conditions to play against quality spinners were difficult and we weren't good enough. We realise that we haven't been very skilful in dealing with that type of cricket.

As demands sounded for changes in the third Test, with the Essex batsman Ravi Bopara looking certain to be given an opportunity, Flower said that he would not be afraid to drop players if necessary.

"Continuity of selection has been part of our strength but very obviously we have to pick players who are most adept at dealing with these conditions," Flower said. "That is what we tried to do. We have lost the series now and of course we have to go into this third Test and pick what we think is the best XI to try and win the game. If that means making a change here and there, then we won't be afraid to do that."

Flower was keen to credit those England players who had enjoyed a good game and the excellent performance of the Pakistan team.

"Maybe we dropped a couple of catches in that first innings that were quite important, but other than that the bowlers and fielders were outstanding and Monty Panesar was great in his comeback game. Jonathan Trott and Alastair Cook were outstanding in that partnership of 139. Stuart Broad was outstanding; he played an aggressive, courageous knock to give us the lead - that was a match-turning performance from him both with ball and bat.

"It's also right to praise the Pakistan team for what they have done. They beat us fair and square. They have beaten us properly in two matches. They have fought hard and worked hard at their game and in a way I'm very happy for them. It's good for their cricket and it's good for their country."

With all the attention falling on an underperforming batting line-up, England have decided not to send for a replacement for the injured seam bowler, Chris Tremlett. Instead the England management have reasoned that the Lions players in contention will gain more benefit from match practice on their tour of Sri Lanka and that, with the likes of Steven Finn and Graham Onions already with the senior squad, England have most bases covered.

England have delayed the announcement of their squad for the limited-overs section of this tour until the end of the third Test. It remains unclear whether Tim Bresnan, who has returned to bowling in England, will have sufficiently recovered from his elbow surgery to warrant selection. 

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Rehman stuns England to give Pakistan series

Pakistan 257 (Misbah 84, Shafiq 58, Broad 4-47) and 214 (Azhar 68, Shafiq 43, Panesar 6-62) beat England 327 (Cook 94, Broad 58*, Ajmal 4-108) and 72 (Rehman 6-25, Ajmal 3-22) by 72 runs

England capitulated to one of the most unsung spinners in the international game © AFP

England suffered one of their most disastrous batting collapses in Test history as they disintegrated against Pakistan's spinners to lose the second Test in Abu Dhabi and with it the series. Pakistan went 2-0 up with one to play as Abdur Rehman, their left-arm spinner, took most of the plaudits with a Test-best 6 for 25.

England had only lost on four occasions in Test history when presented with a victory target of 145 or fewer, evoking memories of when they were run ragged by Richard Hadlee and made 64 against New Zealand in Wellington.

They did not even get halfway, dismissed for 72 in only 36.1 overs, their lowest total since the debacle against West Indies in Kingston three years ago which became the catalyst for their transformation under the stewardship of the coach, Andy Flower, and captain, Andrew Strauss.

England were never in the hunt at the Sheikh Zayed stadium after Monty Panesar's triumphant return to Test cricket - 6 for 62, the second best figures of his Test career -- left them chasing only 145 for victory. The pitch offered prodigious turn at times but it was England's inability to read the length of Pakistan's spinners that cost them just as dearly.

Rehman fell to his knees and kissed the turf after taking five wickets in a Test innings for the first time. England had come to Dubai fearing Saeed Ajmal's devilish mix of offspinners and doosras and they had fallen instead to one of the most unsung spinners in the international game.

Not that Ajmal could be entirely excluded. He became the quickest Pakistan player to reach 100 Test wickets when Matt Prior became the ninth England batsman to fall, and his serene presence was a counterpoint to the excitability all around him.

For a Pakistan side that was so recently embroiled in controversy after three players were jailed for their part in the spot-fixing scandal, this was a striking restatement of their talent. The captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, has brought stability where too often there has been near anarchy and more and more people will look upon Mohsin Khan's position as interim coach and wonder why the word "interim" still remains.

England's horrors in Asia go on, their status as the No. 1 team in the Test rankings already under threat. Another calamitous top-order collapse saw them lose four wickets for 16 runs in 37 balls as what little confidence they had was shaken by a debilitating stomach bug for Jonathan Trott, the bedrock of their batting, who came in at No. 7.

England, as if shaken by Trott's illness, crawled to 21 in nearly 15 overs before Alastair Cook tried to work Mohammad Hafeez into the legside against the spin and chipped a gentle return catch off a leading edge. It was the least that Pakistan deserved because he should have been out leg before three balls earlier. Only Adnan Akmal, the wicketkeeper, was convinced that it was out and by then his incessant appealing had started to wash over everybody, his team-mates included.

Ian Bell's woes against Ajmal's doosra have wrecked his series. This time he got out to a trick shot, trying to dead bat a doosra but contriving to pop it through his own legs onto the stumps. He left looking to the heavens, an accomplished batsman suddenly Little Boy Lost again.

Aficionados of Kevin Pietersen's supposed fallibility against left-arm spin of any quality will find fresh evidence in the way he played outside Rehman's arm ball. Pietersen's recourse to DRS was overturned, the ball shown to be clipping the top of middle, and he trudged off with the air of a man about to fashion an excuse first and a technique later.

That left Eoin Morgan, reputedly one of England's best players of spin, a reputation that owes everything to adventurous innings in one-day cricket. The pressure of Test cricket demanded a reassessment as he edged onto the back foot as Rehman turned one back slightly and was bowled past a horribly angled blade.

England's plight could have been worse if Strauss had been given out caught off bat and pad at short leg by Azhar Ali off Rehman. Strauss, on 16, was blessed as the umpires turned to the third umpire, Billy Bowden, to check if the ball had carried and Bowden, in a pernickety decision that defied common sense, responded that he could not be certain. It was impossible to see where his doubt had arisen.

But Strauss was unable to organise prolonged resistance. He made 32, more than half England's runs, produced virtually England's only moment of authority when he swept Rehman for four and then fell to the next ball as he was lbw, caught on the back foot. England challenged the decision and lost their second review.

If Trott had produced heroics, the Test would have forever been dubbed Trott's Trots. Perhaps it was just as well he did not. He might have been run out on nought when he angled Rehman to backward point and was late setting off for a run and soon fell to one from Rehman that straightened, another England batsman pinned on the back foot.

Rehman bowled Broad through the gate two balls later to quell thoughts that he might repeat his first-innings adventure and the mopping up of the England tail was a formality.

Panesar had promised so much more. He has watched Graeme Swann's reputation grow apace in his two-and-a-half year absence but England's decision to field both of them for the first time since they faced Australia in Cardiff in the 2009 Ashes series has brought his Test career out of hibernation in style.

He took three wickets on the fourth day as Pakistan, who resumed on 125 for 4, were dismissed 25 minutes into the afternoon session. Asad Shafiq, who had resisted so determinedly alongside Azhar on the previous day, was well caught low at first slip by James Anderson as Panesar found sharp turn. He completed the job after lunch, Ajmal edging another turning ball to slip and Junaid Khan slogging recklessly. Panesar's 6 for 62 was outdone only by his 6 for 37 against New Zealand at Old Trafford three years ago. Azhar fell to the second new ball, failing to withdraw from a lifting delivery from Anderson. His 68 had spanned four-and-a-quarter hours and had served Pakistan proud.

A cool and misty morning in Abu Dhabi was more akin to Manchester in October and, although such climatic conditions are not universally hailed as salubrious, they perked up England's bowlers. But for England's batsmen the demands of Asia were soon all too apparent. 

Australia wrap up 4-0 whitewash

Australia 7 for 604 dec and 5 for 167 dec beat India 272 and 201 (Sehwag 62, Lyon 4-63, Harris 3-41) by 298 runs

Ryan Harris started the day with the wicket of Ishant Sharma © Getty Images

Before the Sydney Test, Glenn McGrath gave his typical prediction that Australia would win the series 4-0. Few people truly expected it to happen. But such has been the gulf between the two sides that four weeks later, Australia wrapped up a whitewash within 59 minutes on the last day at Adelaide Oval, the only Test in the series that India managed to take to a fifth day.

Australia's 298-run victory was finalised when Nathan Lyon found the edge of Umesh Yadav's bat and Brad Haddin gloved the ball cleanly, which led to celebrations from the Australians. Not wild celebrations, though. The restrained type of self-congratulation that follows a long period of work, with the knowledge that even more toil remains ahead.

That the 4-0 series win was not enough to lift Australia out of fourth position on the ICC rankings is an indication of how far the side had fallen, and how much work remains for Michael Clarke and his men. But they are the on the way up. Their next Test tour is to the West Indies in April, and there they can move up the rankings list, closer to their goal of regaining the No.1 spot.

For India, this was the culmination of a miserable year away from home. They remain in third spot on the rankings, but only just. They began the day at 6 for 166, with no hope of chasing the target of 500 or batting all day to play out the draw. The first wicket came when Ishant Sharma edged behind off Ryan Harris for 2, and that was closely followed by Wriddhiman Saha (3) also edging behind off Peter Siddle.

R Ashwin and Zaheer Khan stole a few boundaries but it was only ever a question of which bowlers would get the wickets. Zaheer skied a catch off Ben Hilfenhaus for 15 and the final wicket came when Yadav edged behind with the total on 201. That gave Lyon 4 for 63, an encouraging end to a series in which he was the least effective of Australia's four main bowlers, against batsmen adept at handling spin.

Harris ended up with 3 for 41 but it was appropriate that all four frontline bowlers, including Man of the Match Siddle, picked up at least one wicket. It has been their constant pressure throughout the summer that has kept India's powerful batting line-up in check. Significantly, it was not until the final Test of the series that India found a centurion, and then it was the newest member of the top six, Virat Kohli.

VVS Laxman averaged 19.37 for the series, Virender Sehwag averaged 24.75, Rahul Dravid 24.25, Gautam Gambhir 22.62, MS Dhoni 20.40 and Sachin Tendulkar 35.87. None of them scored as many runs as Kohli, whose 300 came at 37.50, and such results should encourage the selectors to give more opportunities to fresh batsmen.

The Indian bowlers were also below-par. Zaheer finished with 15 wickets at 31.80, a decent result and an indication that he keeps working hard even in trying circumstances, and Yadav showed promise with his 14 wickets at 39.35. But Ishant's five wickets at 90.20, Ashwin's nine victims at 62.77, and the folly of picking Vinay Kumar at the WACA all stood out as disappointments.

Hilfenhaus and Siddle headed the Australian attack throughout the series, and they were wonderful. Clarke and Ricky Ponting were outstanding with the bat. It was a complete display from an Australian unit that heading in the right direction. And a squad that can always look back on this 4-0 result with pride.