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Paul Collingwood, the England captain, has been fined 50% of his match fee for England’s slow over-rate in the second ODI against India at Bristol.The rest of the team was also fined 15% of their match fee as England were three overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.Roshan Mahanama, the match referee, imposed the fines once the charge was laid by the two on-field umpires Billy Doctrove and Ian Gould and third umpire Nigel Llong. Since the shortfall was more than two overs, Collingwood was charged with breaching a Level II Code of Conduct.The hearing was attended by Collingwood, England team operations manager Phil Neale, coach Peter Moores and the four umpires on duty for the match.

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Sri Lanka A completed another victory against Zimbabwe Select to end the series 3-0, beating them by 31 runs. The Zimbabweans were strongly placed in the chase of 264, with Vusi Sibanda and Chamu Chibabha taking them to 148 for 2 inside the first 30 overs, but when they both fell with 198 on the board, the rest of the innings fell away as Rangana Herath and Dilruwa Perera swept up.All of the Sri Lankans’ top five made decent starts, with Mahela Udawatte and Perera putting on an opening stand of 74. Once Gary Brent had removed Udawatte for 21, the home side took wickets at steady intervals. It was the first of four wickets for Brent, the most successful bowler, while there were two each for Chibhabha and Elton Chigumbura.Thilina Kandamby led them with 62, and he and Dammika Prasad (28) gave them a late boost with 74 for the seventh wicket to take them to 264, which proved the difference as Sri Lanka A signed off their tour on a high note.

The Punjab Under-14 team scored a overwhelming innings and 224-runvictory over Jammu and Kashmir on the third and final day of theirNorth Zone league match at the Dhruv Pandove Stadium in Patiala onMonday.J&K were shot out for just 43 runs. Punjab’s opening bowlersHardavindar Singh (4 for 15) and Rattan Brichar (4 for 18) ran throughthe J&K lineup. In reply, Punjab declared at 325 for nine. AshishVinayak (62) and Tavish Gupta (45) added 94 runs for the second wicketoff 25.1 overs. Then Ankur Jund (87) forged useful partnerships withthe lower order batsmen to boost the total.In arrears by 282 runs, J&K fared little better the second time aroundand were skittled out for 58. This time Tavesh Gupta was the pick ofthe bowlers, finishing with figures of 5 for 20 in his 7.5 overs. Onlythree batsmen, opener Ian Chauhan (20 not out), Quyam Hassan (14) andKaran Kochhar (12) managed to reach double figures.

What are the yips?
“Getting the yips” is a phrase used to describe a (mostly) mental affliction that prevents sportsmen from performing a repetitive task – such as bowling – in the presence of an audience. Most commonly prevalent among golfers, in cricket the syndrome usually affects bowlers, particularly left-arm spinners.How are the yips different from an attack of nerves, or a choke?
Getting the yips is not, unlike nerves, a passing phenomenon. It is akin to being trapped for long periods in the choking process.What causes it?
There is no one cause, but a change in bowling action to compensate for injury may be a trigger. Also, research has shown that bowlers with the yips may be overusing the analytical left side of their brains.What are the manifestations?
At nets, yippers generally feel everything is fine, only to fall to pieces in a match situation, losing length and line, and often both.Have any well known players been victims?
Fred Swarbrook, the Derbyshire left-arm spinner of the 1970s, was one of the first public cases. Ravi Shastri, Phil Edmonds, and Maninder Singh are among the better known players to have been affected.Is there a cure?
There is no fail-safe cure, but victims have found help in such measures as rubbing a soft pebble kept in the pocket before bowling, and in starting a spell from over the wicket. Research also suggests bowling in the nets against a friendly batsman, then going on to an unfamiliar batsman, then in the middle with nets, then without, and so on, may help.

The Pakistan board is set to send a formal proposal to the South Africa board for a three-Test match series to be played after the Champions Trophy in September, as it continues its push to fill up an empty international calendar. After Australia withdrew from their tour of Pakistan for March-April, the PCB has convinced Bangladesh to play a five-match ODI series and has a host of other commitments in the pipeline, but still a hole remains in their Future Tours Programme (FTP), especially with regards to Test matches.”We have had a verbal communication with them [South Africa] over a possible Test series and their response is encouraging,” Shafqat Naghmi, PCB’s Chief Operating Officer, told The News. The proposed series will be an arrangement outside the FTP.”Our first priority is to host the South Africans for the proposed Test series in October but if because of any reason they cannot visit then we will be willing to send our team to South Africa.”Naghmi said that the PCB scanned the FTP and tour commitments of the top Test-playing nations and found that South Africa were the only leading side that had a window big enough in their FTP to fit in a Test series. According to the FTP South Africa finish a tour of England in September, visit Pakistan for the Champions Trophy in the same month and are scheduled to host Bangladesh in November. South Africa toured Pakistan in October 2007, winning both the Test and ODI series.Australia’s pull out, due to security fears, meant Pakistan were left with only three Tests (against India) in 2008. Australia were scheduled to play three Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 International. The PCB could not persuade India to visit for a one-day series and their plan to host Sri Lanka is likely to be jeopardised by the Indian Premier League.

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Brad Hogg did his Test chances no harm with 4 for 37 to confirm Western Australia’s 47-run win over Victoria after Justin Langer’s century set the Warriors up. The Bushrangers just managed to avoid conceding a bonus point as they struggled to 8 for 222 chasing 270 for victory.Victoria never quite got into top gear in their reply, although the opener Aiden Blizzard’s 44 from 45 balls initially gave them a chance. David Hussey top scored with 54 but by the time he found his rhythm the asking rate was already unrealistically high.Hogg helped restrict the hosts by trapping the out-of-form Brad Hodge lbw for 13 from 27 balls. He then deceived the debutant Aaron Finch, who was stumped off a wrong’un, and in his final over he had Clinton McKay caught in the deep and Hussey lbw to a conventional wrist-spinner.Victoria’s frontline slow bowler, Bryce McGain, also bowled well but he had no luck as Langer and Adam Voges guided Western Australia to 269. Langer’s 105 came from 106 deliveries and he took few risks, only letting loose towards the end.Voges also ticked the score over at nearly a run a ball in compiling his 51, while the Australian stars Adam Gilchrist and Michael Hussey teased the crowd with starts of 22 and 12 respectively. Western Australia are on top of the FR Cup table with three wins from three games and Victoria sit in third place.

Mahela Jayawardene acknowledged Bangladesh’s growing one-day prowess but warned that his team was determined to win the three-match series starting at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo on Friday at any cost.”We always respected Bangladesh whenever we played them in Test or ODIs, especially in ODIs where they can be a handful. They’ve shown that when we played them in Bangladesh. They beat us once,” Jayawardene said.”You can’t take the eye off the ball when you play them. We just have to make sure we play the best cricket possible and be consistent about our all round performance. The main thing is to win the series. It doesn’t matter how you win it,” he said.For this series Sri Lanka has rested Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan who have captured nearly 700 one-day wickets between them. Jayawardene said: “It’s a good opportunity for the others without Vaas and Murali. That’s how we look at it. Both of them have been great campaigners for us. What we try to do is try to manage them and give exposure to the other players.”Their absence is not going to put too much pressure on the rest of the bowlers. The amount of cricket guys like (Farveez) Maharoof, Dilhara (Fernando), Lasith (Malinga) and (Malinga) Bandara have played they know what it is all about. It’s a healthy atmosphere and competition that we’ve got,” Jayawardene said.”In the recent past I haven’t thrown the ball to Murali and Vaas at all because I know that guys like Lasith and Dilhara have picked up wickets whenever I had thrown the ball to them. It’s not a big issue for us.”The return of Sanath Jayasuriya, the most capped one-day cricketer, adds considerable strength to the batting. “Sanath is fresh and wants to play one-day cricket again. He has played well for Lancashire and he had some really good games. He is looking forward to the opportunity,” Jayawardene said.Sri Lanka delayed finalising their eleven because three of the players (Jayasuriya, Jehan Mubarak and Chamara Kapugedera) arrived from England only on Tuesday.Bangladesh, meanwhile, remain wary of playing the World Cup runners up, at home to boot. Shaun Williams, the coach, said: “If we are to beat Sri Lanka we need to play better than we did against them in the Test series.”We have quite a few new players who have come into the one-day team and one of them is Aftab Ahmed who played a fabulous knock to steer us to victory in the practice game on Wednesday,” Williams said.”We are confident of putting up a better performance. To do that our batting must click. I was disappointed with our top order in the practice match with the exception of Tamim Iqbal when we lost half the side for 100. But we showed we had the batting depth and we didn’t panic with Aftab leading the way at six,” he said.Aftab, who hit a run-a-ball 91in Bangladesh’s three-wicket win, will continue to bat at the same position. The second and third ODIs will be played at the R Premadasa Stadium on July 23 and 25.Sri Lanka (from): Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Chamara Silva, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Jehan Mubarak, Farveez Maharoof, Dilhara Fernando, Lasith Malinga, Malinga Bandara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Upul ChandanaBangladesh: Shariar Nafees, Tamim Iqbal, Thushar Imran, Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Shakib al Hassan, Aftab Ahmed, Mushfiqur Rahim, Farhad Reza, Mashrafe Mortaza, Syed Rasel, Abdur Razzak

Michael Clarke will wait for news from the selectors on whether he is elevated to the vice-captaincy following Adam Gilchrist’s retirement. Clarke was Australia’s captain during the Twenty20 international against New Zealand last month, when he expressed his leadership aspirations, but after posting his sixth Test century he said there was only a light-hearted application being made for the position.”One came from Haydos,” Clarke said. “I said to him: ‘Are you retiring as well?’ He said: ‘Not now, I’m a chance of getting a stripe.’ We had a joke about it but other than that it hasn’t been spoken about.”Clarke and Michael Hussey are the main contenders for the spot and the pair was involved in an on-field exercise on the fourth day when Hussey was operating as Ricky Ponting’s runner. Ponting, who scored 140 and combined for a 210-run stand with Clarke, suffered a lower back injury and did not field as India reached 1 for 45 at stumps. However, he is expected to return to guide the team on the final day.The Clarke-Ponting partnership allowed Australia to dream of a lead, which eventually stopped at 37, and they retain hope of repeating the miracle last-day win against England in 2006. Clarke raised a century in that match as well and his hard-working 118 today was a mixture of attacking bursts and considered play.”The easiest time to score was when the ball was new and hard, so it was our intention to come out and be positive with the new ball,” he said. “Once it got softer and started to go reverse – they also bowled a lot of spin – we knew it was going to be hard to bat. With guys on the boundary it was hard to keep the runs flowing.”Australia were eventually dismissed for 563 and their chase for quick wickets would have been more successful if Clarke had held a regulation chance at second slip when Virender Sehwag was two. It was the fifth attempt Clarke has missed in the past three games and Australia’s reshuffled cordon is having trouble matching the success of its predecessors.Despite the lapses Clarke said there was no major problem behind the fumbles. “Over the last 20 Tests Australia hasn’t dropped too many catches so I don’t think you’ll see too much change,” he said. “We train just as hard as we do when we take all our catches and nothing has changed in our preparation. I apologised to Brett Lee, and I certainly didn’t mean to drop it.”

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How they were out

Twenty20 is meant to be a batsman’s game, but try telling that to anyone present at Port Elizabeth as West Indies completed a five-wicket win with 19 balls to spare in a frantic match reduced to 13 overs a side by early rain. South Africa crashed to 22 for 7 after Jerome Taylor took three wickets in his first over but defending a paltry 58 – the lowest total in Twenty20 internationals – Dale Steyn produced another triple-wicket over to make a statement of his own ahead of the Test series.West Indies went hard at the run chase from ball one, literally, as Brenton Parchment walked down the pitch at Shaun Pollock then three balls later launched him out of the ground, half way towards Cape Town. But he slapped the final ball of the first over to cover as Pollock won a mini battle. A few moments of normality followed as West Indies moved to 32 for 1 before Steyn’s intervention.Devon Smith was late to get his bat down, losing his off stump, Runako Morton was bowled off his pads and Marlon Samuels offered Steyn a full view of the timber as he backed away to leg. None of those were anything, though, in comparison to Dwayne Bravo’s first-ball dismissal as he was left with one stump standing following a shattering 90mph yorker from Steyn. For a moment it looked like South Africa might pull off an astonishing turnaround, but Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Denesh Ramdin produced some sensible shot selection although Chanderpaul could have been run out on 4.It is dangerous to read too much into a Twenty20 match – South Africa were without Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla who will all be part of the Test side – but such matches have been known to set the tone early on in a tour. Remember England’s clash against Australia at The Rose Bowl in 2005, when Darren Gough helped reduce Australia to 31 for 7 in a similarly mind-boggling passage of play. No international side enjoys being humiliated in any format, and West Indies should have taken note of the way some of the batsmen played the extra pace. This wasn’t the military medium of the New Zealanders.The conditions were ideal for quick bowling, a heavy atmosphere and a pitch with pace and bounce. South Africa could barely get the ball off the square; their first two came in the eighth over and they didn’t find the boundary inside the first 10 overs.Taylor’s opening over certainly woke anyone up who was still snoozing after the rain. His first delivery beat Morne van Wyk’s loose drive, then he followed up with a rapid yorker which beat JP Duminy for pace. AB de Villiers survived the hat-trick delivery but not much longer, although was slightly unfortunate when the ball went off the inside edge from a defensive push. Taylor had bowled a triple-wicket maiden; a rarity in any cricket let-alone a 13-over match.Three wickets in six balls became four in seven when Daren Powell removed Herschelle Gibbs, but Powell owed everything to a stunning one-handed catch by Chanderpaul at mid-on. And, as if it wasn’t tough enough, South Africa gifted the next wicket through a horrible mix-up which left both Pollock and Gulam Bodi at the same end.Everything West Indies touched turned to success. Bravo’s pick-up-and-throw from the covers – aiming at one-and-a-half stumps – brought the end of Albie Morkel’s brief stay and a notable milestone for South Africa was when Bodi’s innings reached double figures of balls faced. Finally, in the 11th over South Africa cut loose (it’s all relative) as Botha went high over long-on off Darren Sammy, but revenge came Sammy’s way he ended Bodi’s 26-ball resistance – which almost classed as a vigil – off the final ball of the over.Fidel Edwards charged in and made the batsmen hop around, pinning Johan Botha on the grill leaving him needing lengthy treatment on the outfield. Botha recovered to lift his team above fifty with a couple of meaty blows in the final over and, given the chaos surrounding him, his 28 was a Herculean effort. It ended as the highest score on a crazy evening, but West Indies took the honours and can enter the more serious business of the Test series with a timely confidence boost.

The stand-off between the Indian Premier League (IPL) and leading news agencies over contentious accreditation clauses for the Twenty20 tournament starting on April 18 has been termed as a matter of concern by franchises, with some of them planning to discuss the issue with IPL officials if media coverage of the event is affected.”If the issue escalates to a point where media or sections of the media will choose to ignore the IPL, we will have to step in, meet with IPL and seek clarifications. We need to find an amicable solution,” Charu Sharma, the chief executive of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, told Cricinfo.Fraser Castellino, the CEO of Jaipur’s Rajasthan Royals, said they had invested heavily in the venture and would like the entire media on board to ensure that the event “reaches every heart”. J Krishnan, of Hyderabad’s Deccan Chargers, said he was sure the IPL officials would sort out the issue.Sharma is a well-known television professional while the Jaipur franchise is backed by the UK-based Investors in Cricket, a media group with significant interests in television. The Hyderabad franchise is owned by Deccan Chronicle, the newspaper group.The Press Trust of India (PTI), the country’s leading news agency, on Friday joined leading international agencies in calling for modifications in IPL’s coverage norms, failing which they have decided to ignore the event. The News Media Coalition (NMC), the umbrella body that covers global news and photograph agencies Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Getty Images, had earlier expressed deep concerns about IPL’s media norms, including curbs on selling photographs to websites and a press-box bar on websites.The Editors Guild of India has expressed reservations on the IPL’s media clauses and the Indian Newspaper Society (INS), a representative body of newspaper publishers, said it was disappointed about the accreditation terms, even after the IPL revised them following discussions with media representatives on Monday.”As far as we are concerned, this issue involves the IPL’s IPR, and has to be sorted out by the IPL. However, if the situation [on media accreditation] escalates we will have to have a say in the matter and will want to discuss the issue with IPL,” said Sharma. “If push comes to shove, we will want to get involved as a franchise on this matter. Generally, we believe that nobody can go forward on an event of this magnitude without getting the media on board and addressing all their concerns.”Castellino offered help to resolve the issue because the franchises needed “the entire media” on their side. “Definitely, the possibility of the media ignoring the event is not a great development from the franchise point of view. We are concerned and may need to discuss with the IPL if the situation is not resolved,” he said. “We have invested heavily in this venture, and we need the event to touch every heart. For that, we need the entire media on our side. We hope the two parties, like two sensible people, will sit across the table and resolve the issue. We really have no time but we, as a franchise, are willing to step in and help resolve this situation.”Krishnan said Hyderabad will leave the issue to the “capable” IPL officials. “We really don’t want to comment on this matter, except to state that we are sure the IPL will find a solution to this issue.”The inaugural IPL tournament starts in Bangalore with the Royal Challengers, the home team, taking on the Kolkata Knight Riders. A Knight Riders spokesman declined to comment on the issue.