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India’s only practice match on this pocket-sized tour of South Africa has been called off on a warm and sunny day. Benoni has received more than 800mm rain over the last three weeks, which resulted in an unusually high water table, adding to the woes of one of the slower draining grounds in South Africa. Although the pitch was ready on the morning of the match, there were a few wet patches on the outfield. The first day’s play was called off early in the morning but, later in the afternoon, the groundstaff indicated it was not possible to get the ground ready for the second day either.Willowmoore Park in Benoni raced against time to get ready for the match, which was moved a day forward to avoid a clash with former president Nelson Mandela’s funeral. However, a storm on the eve of the game put paid to the efforts of the groundsmen, who had erected a tent to prepare the pitch even as it rained.If India were peeved they couldn’t play despite warm sunshine, they didn’t show it. They practised hard with Duncan Fletcher looking over the slips-catching practice before the batsmen moved into the net. Ambati Rayudu and Ravindra Jadeja didn’t bat for long, which could be a sign – albeit it’s early to be looking for them – that India might play Ajinkya Rahane as the specialist batsman at Wanderers where the first Test will begin on the 18th.The Indian team management seemed to be quite understanding of the situation. The last few weeks have brought unexpected rainfall to the Highveld. Short and sharp showers are the usual fare here, but this summer has brought less intense but more persistent rainfall to the region. The fate of the Benoni game was the subject of speculation even when the third ODI was on, but it couldn’t have been easy to move an international team to another small venue given all the security requirements. It is not known if India asked for a change of venue or if CSA offered it.

Martin Snedden, the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) director, has said that the possibility of the ICC handing over power to the Big Three – India, England and Australia – and allowing them to control the game’s finances may not be a bad thing for world cricket.The proposals from the ICC’s Financial & Commercial Affairs “working group position paper” seek, among other things, to scrap the central FTP agreements between the ICC and its members and replace it with bilateral agreements between member nations. It led to concerns that the other Test playing nations, including New Zealand, might not get the share they deserve, at the expense of the Big Three, but Snedden was confident that NZC’s interests will be enhanced if the latest proposals are approved.”Do we [NZC] have power at the ICC table? No, not a hell of a lot. Do we have the ability to influence and persuade? A little bit. The critical thing is to identify the things most important to us. That means ensuring the stability of our playing programme and revenue generation,” Snedden told the .The reason the FTP is to be removed from central ICC control, according to the position paper, is because “the draft FTP, as it stands, contains a large number of unviable tours.” Cricket Australia, the ECB and the BCCI it is stated, are “committing” to enter into FTP agreements from 2015 to 2023.”It’s a fundamental outcome for us to be left with a playing programme which sees us play all the Test-playing countries in a four-year cycle like in the FTP. Ratification of the existing schedule would be an excellent outcome. It’s early stages but we’ve got a good chance of doing that. I need to stress there’s nothing wrong with India, Australia and England working together to produce something for everyone,” Snedden said.”Don’t jump to the conclusion what they’re doing is not good for world cricket. Get this right and the FTP playing programme can be extended to 2023 and we can line it up with ICC events like the World Cup and World T20. That’d be a stable platform to work from.”The BCCI continues to generate the majority of the income for the ICC and though Snedden admitted that it will be more of the same, he said that cricket boards will have to embrace India’s control.”I’ve walked back into a different world from what I left in 2007. When I exited, there was no IPL and the broadcasting rights were headed in India’s direction but that has escalated over six years,” Snedden said.”Whatever the formula reached, India will take a greater slice. I think that’s fair because they create 70-80 per cent of the revenue. That’s not unusual in the world of sporting rights agreements. The Indian market’s escalated out of proportion to everyone else since last time.”We need to remove any doubt over their involvement in 2015-23 tours. If they’re fully committed to the programme, that puts the ICC negotiating team in a strong position to exploit commercial rights.”The proposals will be presented to the ICC Executive Board during its quarterly meeting in Dubai on January 28 and 29.

The turmoil within the top management of the PCB took two new, and yet familiar, twists on Monday with the Patron of the Board, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, dismissing the chairman Zaka Ashraf once again and dissolving the board of governors. Sharif directed a management committee to pick a PCB chairman from among its eight members and it chose Najam Sethi, who acted as interim chairman while Ashraf was suspended.The management committee included Shahriyar Khan (former PCB chairman), Najam Sethi (former interim PCB chairman), Zaheer Abbas (former Pakistan captain), Naveed Akram Cheema (chief secretary, Punjab), Shakeel Sheikh (former member of PCB board of governors), Yousaf Naseem Khokhar (former member of PCB board of governors), Iqbal Qasim (former cricketer), Ijaz Chaudary (IPC secretary). It will meet for the first time on February 11.The mandate given by the prime minister to the committee is to form a new PCB constitution and restore stability to cricket administration in Pakistan. The committee said they will let the decisions made by Ashraf stand only if they are legitimate, and will scrap the ones that are not.

How the Patron dismissed Zaka Ashraf

According to the old constitution, the Patron could only supersede the PCB in case of “grave financial irregularities”. That clause was amended to be less specific and include more general mismanagement.
Paragraph 41 (before amendment): The patron, in the presence of sufficient evidence and being satisfied that grave financial irregularities exists in the Board and that the Board is dysfunctional, may by order in writing reasons, supersede the Board and appoint an interim committee consisting of an administrator and as many members as deemed necessary for carrying out the functions of the Board …
Paragraph 41 (after amendment): “When the patron is of the opinion that the Board is unable to perform its function properly in accordance with this constitution he may; by order in writing, supersede the board and constitute a management committee comprising up to elven members, for performance of the functions of the board; Provided that upon an order of suspension the board of governance shall stand dissolved and chairman shall stand removed.”

Ashraf was critical of the decsion. “The decision clearly shows that there is government interference (in the PCB),” he said. “It’s an undemocratic decision by a democratic government.”It was the second time that Ashraf had been removed as PCB chairman in the last eight months. Ashraf had been suspended in May 2013 by the Islamabad High Court after it ruled he had been elected via a “dubious” and “polluted” process. However, after a complicated legal process, he was reinstated by the same court on January 15 this year.The Ministry of Inter-Provincial Co-ordination (IPC) had challenged the verdict of the Islamabad High Court, which re-instated Ashraf as chairman. The Supreme Court had accepted the petition but had refrained from taking the case ahead, suggesting that the government exercise its authority to initiate changes within the PCB. On January 31, the government withdrew its petition against Ashraf’s return as chairman from the Supreme Court.” … There are serious issues in the management of PCB, repugnant to the aim and object of PCB and that there is an immediate and emergent need to take necessary measures to improve the management of PCB as well as to streamline the game of cricket at all levels in Pakistan,” an IPC ministry statement said. “Now therefore, under the power conferred upon the Patron under para graphs 41 of the PCB constitution as amended, the Prime Minister of Pakistan being Patron PCB has been pleased to constitute the following management committee to performance of the function with immediate effects …”The above committee shall elect one of its member as chairman, who shall be the Chairman PCB. It shall supersede the Board of Governers, including the Chairman PCB, who shall cease to exit/hold office with immediate effect.”In May last year, Ashraf became the first elected PCB chairman for a period of four years under a new constitution. He was then suspended a few weeks later following questions over the legality of his appointment. Under the amended constitution the Patron of the PCB could remove the chairman only on the basis of financial irregularities. The constitution did not allow no-confidence motions to be raised against the PCB chairman.In Ashraf’s case, the problem with election was at two levels. One, it was done secretively and in a hurry, ahead of the country’s general elections in which the party Ashraf derived his power from – the Pakistan People’s Party – was eventually voted out. Two, the composition of the board of governors was questionable, with no representation on it of the entire province of Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous and arguably its most dominant in terms of cricket players.Subsequently, Sethi was appointed as interim chairman in June by the prime minister – the new patron of the board – Nawaz Sharif. However, Sethi was not appointed as per the specifications of the IHC, and so in July the court overturned all the major decisions taken by him and restricted his powers to the overseeing of the day-to-day administration of the board. At that point, the court also ordered fresh elections by October 18.However, with it being evident the elections would not take place by the stipulated deadline, the board’s patron, Sharif, dissolved the PCB’s governing board on October 15 and created an interim management committee (IMC), the members of which unanimously chose Sethi as its head. The PCB had been run by the IMC until the court reinstated Ashraf on January 15.

ScorecardNew Zealand Women’s attack proved too much for West Indies Women once again as the hosts took a 2-0 lead in the five-match Twenty20 series with a 24-run win in Invercargill.Having lost the toss, New Zealand relied on Sophie Devine and Katie Perkins to post a total of 133 for 6 in 20 overs. Devine made 46 off 37 balls, while Perkins contributed 34 off 25. They added 49 runs for the fourth wicket. Shakera Selman took 3 for 23 for West Indies.Only four West Indies batsmen got to double figures in the chase, only two made it past 20, and no one made more than Shermaine Campbelle’s 23. Devine added to her impressive batting performance by taking 2 for 14 in 3.5 overs, while Suzie Bates claimed 3 for 21. West Indies were dismissed for 109 in 19.5 overs.

Kumar Sangakkara has announced he will retire from Twenty20 internationals following the World T20 in Bangladesh. Sangakkara, 36, has played 50 T20Is for Sri Lanka, hitting 1311 runs at an average of 32.77 and a strike rate of 120.”Definitely, without a doubt, this is my last World T20. I won’t be playing any T20 internationals after this,” he told . “It’s sad, but that’s the truth. It’s not the end of my T20 career, though. I would like to play franchise based T20s. Once your World Cup prospects are over, you should give the next crop of players an opportunity. It’s a natural progression.”A patient, accumulative batsman for much of his career, Sangakkara has been a considerably improved limited-overs batsman over the past 18 months. Though a more belligerent outlook has paid most obvious dividends in ODIs, he has also contributed heavily to Sri Lanka’s consistency in T20s.”Improving is the whole purpose of playing. When you reach a goal you lift that goal and try to achieve something new. Whether you are young or older, the motivation has to be there. The day that motivation goes and you are just trying to hold on to your place in the side, that’s the time that you have to decide that the time is right to go. When you play for a team, the main thing is to win. If you can do it there is a huge feeling of satisfaction. Those are the things that really motivate me.”Sangakkara captained his team to the final of the 2009 World Twenty20, and had also been integral to Sri Lanka’s charge to the 2012 final – both of which were lost. Now top-ranked in the shortest format, Sangakkara hoped his team would omit the mistakes that scuppered them in previous tournaments.”We had a fine opportunity in 2009. We won the toss and it was a beautiful wicket to bat on. We were 64 for five and ended up making 138. If we had got to 150, we would have won.”In the 2012 final, we could have restricted the West Indies to 110 or so. But we gave away too many runs towards the end and it was a tough wicket to chase. I don’t think we played to our capabilities. The Pakistan side was a good side against spin, and we played well in the semi-final against them. We knew going into the final that anything over 140 was going to be tough. You may go into a final with an unbeaten record, but unfortunately, you can be beaten and that’s the reality.”Mahela Jayawardene has not announced his retirement, but the World T20 is likely to see the last of him in the format as well. Sangakkara also said he would reevaluate his place in the ODI team after the 2015 World Cup, as long as his form and fitness held out until then.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:51

Cullinan: SA thinktank not doing convincing job

They did it at Lord’s in the opening match of the World T20 five years ago. Then, Netherlands stunned England to announce the Associate threat in the shortest format. They did not look anywhere close to do doing it three days ago, when they were skittled out for the lowest total in T20 internationals, and Sri Lanka highlighted the gulf between cricket’s haves and have-nots in the most brutal way. But Netherlands almost did it again today.Netherlands were on course to cull another giant after they restricted South Africa to under 150 and got the asking rate down to less than five runs an over in the chase, but then imploded at the end. They did almost everything right: they took an early wicket, put the squeeze on South Africa with a selection of slower balls and got their own chase off to a flying start. South Africa had not lost to an Associate in their history and Dale Steyn and Imran Tahir held their nerve to ensure that did not change.The Dutch crumbled from 80 for 1 to 139 all out – losing 9 for 59 – and handed South Africa the two points they needed to stay in contention for the semi-finals. With two defeats, Netherlands only have a slim chance of advancing but are taking their own victories from this tournament. In this match, the biggest one was Ahsan Malik’s performance. The Rotterdam-born seamer recorded the best figures by an Associate bowler against a Full Member – 5 for 19.

Smart Stats

• Ahsan Malik’s career-best 5 for 19 is the first instance of a bowler from an Associate team taking a five wicket-haul against a Test team in T20 internationals. Including Malik’s, there have only been three instances of a bowler from an Associate team taking five-wicket hauls in T20Is.

• Malik’s five-for is only the fourth in World T20s; Umar Gul, Ajantha Mendis and Lasith Malinga are the other bowlers to take five-wicket hauls in the World T20. Click here for a list of bowlers with five-fors in T20Is.

• Imran Tahir’s figures of 4 for 21 are his best in T20 internationals, beating the 3 for 26 he took against Sri Lanka in South Africa’s first game of this tournament. Tahir has taken 15 T20I wickets at 9.40 and has an economy of 5.64 in 2013-14, and is the second-highest T20I wicket-taker this season. Malik leads the list with 18 wickets at 11.05.

• Stephan Myburgh’s 51 was his third T20I fifty and also his third of this World T20. This was only the third fifty-plus score by a batsman from the Associate teams against the top T20I teams. Myburgh has scored 169 runs in this World T20 at an average of 33.80 and a strike rate of 185.71.

• Hashim Amla’s 22-ball 43 is his fastest innings in T20 internationals and the fourth time he has been dismissed in the 40s. Amla is yet to score a fifty in 24 T20Is for South Africa.

Malik did not make the first incision – that honour went to Michael Swart, who had Quinton de Kock caught at square in the first over – but he made a telling one. After Hashim Amla had made a statement to those who questioned his ability to accelerate and took 22 off Swart’s second over, Malik offered him some width and Amla was caught behind. The nick was faint, so much so that Amla, a walker, did not move at first, but it was there and it dented South Africa’s positive start.Amla had almost single-handedly taken South Africa to 43 in the fifth over, a sign that net run-rate was on their minds. Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers were in less of a hurry but were gifted low full-tosses by Logan van Beek and Pieter Seelaar to keep them going. They posted 39 for the third wicket before du Plessis tried to flick Tom Cooper over deep midwicket but found the fielder.That was the first of South Africa’s careless dismissals, which suggested they were taking their opposition too lightly. De Villiers picked out deep cover; Albie Morkel, who was promoted to No.5 to give him more time in the middle gave deep mid-wicket a catch; and JP Duminy was caught down the leg side. Those four batsmen fell in the space of 45 deliveries in which South Africa did not manage a single boundary.Van Beek, Malik, Mudassar Bukhari and Timm van der Gugetn took pace off the ball and the Dutch ground fielding gave South Africa as little as they could. Before South Africa knew it, Dale Steyn was batting and their innings was in danger of not lasting the full 20 overs.David Miller barely had any opportunity to show off his finishing skills and was bowled as he played around a full delivery from Malik. Despite losing seven wickets for 51 South Africa were not bowled out and, according to Tahir, thought their total was enough at the break.They would have revised that opinion by the end of the third over. Stephan Myburgh, from Pretoria, started as he did in the Dutch chase against Ireland, with aggression and intent. South Africa opened with Albie Morkel instead of JP Duminy for the first time in the tournament and Mybugh took a boundary off him. They had the relative rookie Beuran Hendricks on at the other end and Swart helped himself to a four off him too but it was when Lonwabo Tsotsobe was introduced that Netherlands tucked in.Myburgh gorged himself with 18 runs off Tsotsobe’s first, a slap over point, a clip to long leg, a swing over fine-leg and a swat over mid-off to get the Dutch run-rate up to 10 an over after three. Steyn pulled it back but Tsotsobe took more punishment. His second over cost 15 runs.Netherlands almost completed the perfect powerplay until Swart, who had mostly been a spectator, tried to clear mid-off but a diving du Plessis gave Steyn his first wicket of the game. Still, the Dutch were 63 for 1 when the fielding restrictions were lifted and well on target.They were cautious against Tahir at first but took on JP Duminy and it cost Myburgh. After taking 12 runs off the first four balls of Duminy’s first over, no other risks had to be taken against him but Myburgh went down the track and inside-edged onto his stumps.That wicket proved the game-changer and sparked the Dutch collapse. Wesley Barresi was out lbw sweeping Tahir, although replays showed the ball was missing leg-stump, and Peter Borren went the same way. His dismissal was correctly judged.By the time the captain was dismissed, Netherlands were 96 for 4 and still had Tom Cooper in the middle. His brother Ben went attempting to evade a Steyn bouncer but it was when Tom was bowled trying to pull a quicker Tahir delivery that the chase folded. Although the Dutch needed less than a run a ball, their tail was in and the pressure was too much.Pieter Seelaar was caught at long-on in the same over and van Beek run-out. Although Bukhari survived Steyn he gave it away off Tsotsobe and was caught at long -on which left van der Gugten and Malik, nursing a niggle, to score 12 runs off 14 balls.Van der Gugten was dropped off the first of those, by Steyn at midwicket, but the mistake did not cost South Africa. The last pair scored five between them before van der Gugten was caught behind to leave Borren wondering what was worse: to be rolled as they were against Sri Lanka or to have come so close, only to fall so far.

Last July during his first major coaching assignment, Sanjay Bangar, the Kings XI Punjab head coach, and three other experts spent three weeks with 20 talented youngsters at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. It was a camp for those who had impressed in the previous season’s domestic Under-19 competition but were no more eligible to compete at the junior level.Shivam Sharma, the little-known allrounder who made his debut for Kings XI on Friday, was one of them. Shivam had a superb junior record in that season, with a batting average of 82 and bowling average of 20, besides captaining Delhi Under-19.Most of the other players from that camp in Bangalore went on to play in the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy. But thanks to a chaotic selection policy in Delhi cricket, Shivam wasn’t even picked in the Ranji probables or in the Delhi Under-25 side.While Shivam was disheartened due to the lack of recognition, Bangar had marked him as one for the future. As a result, despite Shivam having only played Delhi club cricket all through the previous season, Bangar called him for a Kings XI selection trial in Chandigarh.”That camp has been a turning point in his cricketing journey so far,” Naresh Jain, Shivam ‘s coach, told ESPNcricinfo a day after Shivam marked his IPL debut with the prize scalps of Yuvraj Singh and Albie Morkel. “Having been sidelined from the bigger assignments for no fault of his, Shivam was very disappointed, but the Kings XI selection trials gave him the much-needed confidence that he was as good as anyone else of his age.”Hailing from a lower middle-class family in Delhi, Shivam has been training in the Vidya Jain Cricket Academy in the north-western suburb of Rohini. Jain was coach of Shivam’s school and has been mentoring him since then. Jain stresses that Shivam is “a genuine allrounder”. “You cannot conclude whether he is a better batsman or a bowler. He is special,” Jain said. “He has a great ability to read the game and is a natural leader.”After Shivam was picked up by Kings XI Punjab for his base price of Rs 10 lakh, Jain was constantly reminding his favourite ward to be patient. “Not that he needed to be told but we were just discussing that he needed to wait for the first opportunity to showcase his talent.”When the opportunity came, it was against one of the most destructive batting line-up, the Royal Challengers Bangalore. That too at one of the smallest grounds in India, which is not known to assist spin. But Shivam first foxed Yuvraj with a classical offspinner’s dismissal – forcing a left-hander to edge one that goes away from him straight into slips – and then enticed Morkel into a false stroke to finish with notable figures of 4-0-26-2.”You have seen how clean his action is and how skilful he can be with the ball. I am sure he will show his prowess with the bat in the coming days. Let’s hope he gets an opportunity to show his worth.”

Saeed Ajmal is to ask for an explanation from the ECB after Stuart Broad appeared to question the legality of the bowler’s action.Ajmal, who played a large part in Pakistan’s whitewash Test series victory over England in the UAE at the start of 2012, is currently playing for Worcestershire as an overseas player in the County Championship. He claimed 13 wickets in their recent victory over Essex, including a career-best haul of 7 for 19 in the second innings.That led to Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, posting a still photograph of Ajmal bowling during the game on Twitter with the caption “You are allowed 15 degrees of flex in your delivery swing…. #justsaying.”Broad then replied with the comment “This has to be a fake photo?!” before a further tweet stated: “Bowlers can bowl very differently in a lab while being tested compared to needing wickets in the middle.”Ajmal has concluded that this implied that the action he uses in a match situation is not the same as that used in testing. He has also concluded that the comments insinuate that his action may not be legitimate. He has instructed his agent to talk to the PCB and ECB about the comments and seek an explanation.As a centrally contracted player, Broad is restricted in the comments he can make about fellow players and can be penalised if they are found to be derogatory.It has long been known that Ajmal bowls with a bend in his arm. That is not against the playing regulations for international cricket, though, and after exhaustive tests, the ICC concluded that his arm did not straighten by 15 degrees and therefore declared his action legitimate.As part of the ICC testing procedure, match footage is used alongside videos made “in a lab” and compared to ensure it is identical. Umpires are then able to copy TV footage of bowlers in action and super-impose them on the testing footage to check that a bowlers’ action has not subsequently deteriorated. It is understood by ESPNcricinfo that the umpires involved in the Pakistan-England series in the UAE used this facility to check that Ajmal’s action was the same as when it was tested. They found it to be identical.Umpires in county cricket can report international bowlers to the ECB just as they would domestic bowlers should they have any doubts over their action.The English game has long viewed ‘mystery’ spin with suspicion. While several other nations have embraced the unorthodoxy that has resulted in innovations such as the doosra, the vast majority of English spinners persist with the traditional methods in an environment that has become, with improved bats, more benign pitches and more aggressive batsmen, ever more hostile towards them.The ECB also still utilise a different testing procedure to measure the legality of bowlers’ actions to that used in international cricket. While they deny that their procedure is more stringent, the fact remains that very few unorthodox bowlers have emerged through the English system in recent years.Moeen Ali can bowl the doosra – he has been taught it by Ajmal – but has yet to use it in international cricket. Previous English doosra bowlers either left the game early (Alex Loudon) or were warned against using the delivery (Maurice Holmes) and saw their career come to a premature end.

Australia A fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the Quadrangular A-team one-day series after suffering a side strain in the opening game against India A on Sunday. Hazlewood, who did not play the four-day games against India A earlier, bowled just three overs in Darwin before leaving the field. New South Wales fast bowler Gurinder Sandhu, who is playing the quadrangular series for the National Performance Squad, has been put on standby as a bowling cover.Widely considered one of Australia’s most promising pace prospects, Hazlewood has struggled with injuries and has missed out on chances to play for the national side. In September 2010, months after his ODI debut, Hazlewood was ruled out of the India tour due to a back stress fracture. He was expected to make a Test debut against Sri Lanka in December 2012 but missed the series because of foot soreness and a similar ailment kept him out of Australia A games against England Lions in February last year. Since his first-class debut in 2008, Hazlewood has played only 26 matches, while playing three ODIs and two T20s for Australia.Phillip Hughes will also miss a few games of the quadrangular series due to a death in his family and will join the squad at a later date. Tom Cooper will replace Hughes until his return.

Stay in the crease, the MCC has once again reiterated to the batsmen, and avoid being mankaded. That missive was sent by the MCC’s World Cricket Committee at the conclusion of its two-day meeting at Lord’s when the panel said that it was “unequivocal in its belief” that the existing Law did not need any changes.Mankading has long been a controversial topic and caused a lengthy debate in May when Sri Lanka’s offspinner Sachithra Senanayake ran out Jos Buttler at Edgbaston for backing up too far after being warned initially. England captain Alastair Cook expressed disappointment at Senanayake’s action when he said: “I was pretty disappointed with it to be honest with you. I hope I wouldn’t do it.”The World Cricket Committee, which is headed by former England captain Mike Brearley and includes eminent ex-cricketers in Steve Waugh, Rahul Dravid, Andrew Strauss and Shaun Pollock, said that the Law concerning the running out the non-striker was clear and the dismissal was not against the Spirit of Cricket.”The World Cricket Committee reviewed the Law relating to running out the non-striker, in light of the dismissal of Jos Buttler in May’s ODI series between England and Sri Lanka. It was unequivocal in its belief that the Law, as written, does not require any alteration,” the MCC release said.A lot of the ambiguity stems from the difference between the ICC Playing Conditions and the MCC Laws: while the MCC states the run out attempt must come before the bowler enters his delivery stride, the ICC allow it to come any time before the bowler completes his “delivery swing”.However Strauss, Cook’s predecessor, said it was wrong to put forth the Spirit of Cricket argument. “This is not a Spirit of Cricket issue. This is just law of the game issue,” he told ESPNcricinfo.Asked if the committee was concerned if their advice could be misunderstood by the bowlers at the grassroot and club levels, who could employ deliberate tricks to get mankading, Strauss stressed that Law was completely transparent.”There is a very strong feeling in the committee, and certainly one I share, that the obvious way to counteract any threat of mankading is to keep yourself fin the crease,” Strauss said. “That is part of the Laws of the game. If you are out of the crease when the bowler delivers the ball you are running the risk of getting out. So it is a genuine dismissal.”And it is a very easy thing for the batsman to do: you just watch the bowler bowl and once he has delivered you leave the crease. I don’t think batsmen can justify being out of the crease in that manner and feel that it is unfair that they are run out.At Edgbaston, after Senanayake had run out Buttler, the umpires asked Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lanka captain, if he wanted to uphold the appeal. Mathews confirmed he wanted the appeal to stand and Strauss said it was unnecessary to give prior warning to the batsman.”There is no obligation on the part of a bowler or a captain to give anyone a warning. It is up to a captain to decide whether he wants to uphold the appeal if the bowler does do it. Especially in this day and age of Twenty20 cricket batsmen look to back up as far as they can. This is an opportunity for the fielding side to say don’t do that, stay in your crease and if you stay in your crease everything would be fine.”The committee statement added: “The unanimous view of the committee was that if the non-striker is out of his ground earlier than allowed in either the Laws of Cricket or the International Playing Conditions, then he can have no complaints should he be dismissed in this manner. Furthermore, the committee believes it was not against the Spirit of Cricket to uphold such an appeal, and urges batsmen to ensure they do not try to gain an unfair advantage by moving out of their crease before the appropriate time.”