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Chris Dehring, the managing director of the World Cup, said that despite the perceived low turnout the revenue from ticket sales is already double of the total ticket sales worth US$ 10.5 million from the last World Cup in South Africa.”That’s already a creditable showing when you compare South Africa’s size, both in population and economy, with that of the West Indies,” Dehring told the Sunday Observer, a Jamaican newspaper.The average attendance, according to Dehring, of the three Super Eights games – England v Sri Lanka, Bangladesh v South Africa and Australia v England – just before the Ireland-New Zealand match was just under 10,000. “If we continue on this upward trend as expected, our average attendance will be comparable with the previous CWC in South Africa, which had an average attendance of around 10,000 persons per game”.An optimistic Dehring also said that the tournament would rebound from early exit of India and Pakistan. “As certain teams continue to excel we anticipate seeing more nationals from those countries.”Dehring added that 80 to 90 per cent of tickets for the semi-finals had been sold and that in his opinion they hadn’t been bought with particular teams in mind. “You’re always going to have fans who have tickets with the hope of supporting their team, but will always… be anxious to be there and be a part of history,” he said. He also explained that a review of the World Cup could not be carried until the tournament had finished as factors varied in each game.With sponsors putting a number of tickets back into the system, there are now more tickets available to the general public for the first semi-final on April 24 in Jamaica, said Pauline Nelson, the communication manager at the Jamaica Local Organising Committee. Approximately one thousand Category One tickets are available, as are a smaller number of Category Two and Three tickets.

Australia have been confirmed as the top seed for this year’s ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan after the completion of the league matches of the CB Series in Melbourne on Friday. Australia, the current holders of the Champions Trophy, will top the ICC one-day international rankings on the March 12 cut-off date irrespective of how they fare against India in the best-of-three finals over the next week.South Africa, who won the inaugural Champions Trophy in 1998, will be seeded second, followed by New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England and West Indies. The groupings will be announced on March 12.If India manage to seal the CB Series in the first two games, Australia will drop to 127 points but will remain fractionally ahead of South Africa. If they beat India with a match to spare Australia will go to 132 points. India will, in this scenario, remain on 110 points. A 2-1 win for Australia would put them on 130 points while India would return home on 111.Sri Lanka’s consolation 13-run win over the hosts in Melbourne ensured they did not slip in the rankings. A loss would have caused them to stumble to seventh place with England moving up to sixth. The Champions Trophy is scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan in September and October.

Kevin Pietersen has claimed that racial quotas forced him into making the biggest decision of his life, to quit his native South Africa and move to England.In an exclusive extract from his new book Crossing The Boundary, being serialised in the Daily Mail, Pietersen said that he was left out the Natal side in 2000 because of the prevalent quota policy and that led to him making up his mind to seek his career in England.”I was dropped because the quota system was brought into South African cricket to positively discriminate in favour of ‘players of colour’ and to fast-track the racial integration of cricket in the country,” he said. “To me, every single person in this world needs to be treated exactly the same and that should have included me, as a promising 20-year-old cricketer. If you do well you should play on merit. That goes for any person of any colour. It was heartbreaking.”Even though it was very hard for me to take in at the time, it turned out it was the best thing that could have happened.”Not that that seemed to be the case when he was told that he was being left out so that Goolam Bodi could play. “I flew into a rage,” he admitted,” flinging a water bottle across the dressing-room and shouting ‘I’m leaving here’.”Pietersen said that he and his father tried to reason with Phil Russell, Natal’s coach, but got nowhere. And as for Goolam? “I’m not aware he’s made much impact … certainly not with the South Africa team.”Pietersen admitted that he had spoken to Nasser Hussain about the possibility of playing cricket in England when he played against the touring side earlier that season, and that by the time he fell out with Natal there was already considerable interest from several counties in England.Some players advised him to go, but the decision finally came after a meeting with Ali Bacher, at the time the key man in South African cricket. “He was rude to me in that meeting and he was rude to my dad. I had never met the man before. As far as I was concerned the least he could do was be polite.” Bacher failed to offer any encouragement that things would improve. “As soon as we left the meeting my dad said to me: ‘You’re going … the quota system will never finish’.”Pietersen immediately rang Clive Rice, the Nottinghamshire coach, and agreed to join them. He had an English passport which enabled him to do that, although he knew he still faced a delay before he could qualify for England. He also knew that he had played his last game for Natal and that his move had to be for good. “I wouldn’t call it an agonising decision,” he added. “It was well thought out. I’ve always been a confident bloke and I was sure I would be successful.”Pietersen also speculated that had he remained in South Africa he might not even be playing cricket now. “I would have been frozen out of the system … I would have gone out and done something else.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Two contrasting left-handers made their mark on the opening day at Lord’s, as Marcus Trescothick signalled his return to international cricket with a robust century and Alastair Cook eased into his life at No.3 with 89, powering England into a commanding position. A late flurry from Kevin Pietersen signalled the intent to grind Sri Lanka down and the first act of the international summer could not really have gone much better for England.Muttiah Muralitharan, in his first Test at Lord’s, was Sri Lanka’s sole shining light and caused most of the uncertain moments. He was in the action by the 23rd over and Sri Lanka were only making the day competitive when he was twirling away. Until Farveez Maharoof snuck in by removing Cook with the second new ball, to take a marginal amount of gloss off England’s performance, Muralitharan was the only reason for any Sri Lankan smiles.The biggest grin, though, belonged to Trescothick, whose winter problems seemed a world away. Content to leave plenty during the opening overs, he let Andrew Strauss do most of the scoring – in an opening stand of 86. He escaped a plumb lbw appeal against Muralitharan when he had 28, and a couple of edges fell short of slip, but for a returning innings this wasn’t to shabby.Post-lunch the Trescothick that has hammered attacks around the world came more into focus as the tempo increased. He made an emphatic statement by launching Muralitharan into the Grandstand, with a trademark slog-sweep, to reach his fifty and when he shimmied down the track to Tillakaratne Dilshan’s part-time offspin, and deposited him down the ground, the swagger was back.He went to tea on 93 and wasted no time completing his hundred in the evening session, aptly sweeping Muralitharan through the legside. The helmet came off, the arms went aloft and the smile went from ear to ear. England’s balcony – and the whole of Lord’s – stood to applaud the century, which arrived from 171 balls, the 14th of his career and one of the most important. With a far-from-testing bowling attack – Muralitharan the notable exception – there was a monstrous innings on the cards but Trescothick couldn’t march on when he edged to slip.

While Trescothick had been the main feature Cook hung around in the shadows during their stand of 127. When he initially arrived in the middle, he had to work hard for his runs and struggled to pick Muralitharan’s variations. However, he was quick to pick off any loose offerings from the seamers, especially when Vaas drifted onto his pads.An early alarm did come from Muralitharan, but through his fielding rather than bowling. Cook set off for a single to mid-on and almost misjudged Muralitharan’s prowess as a sharp throw hit the stumps, but TV replays showed Cook had just made his ground by a couple of inches. A flashing edge then flew between Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, but he slowly began to settle and the sparkling offside strokeplay that was present during his debut century at Nagpur began to make an appearance. However, with the chance to get his name in lights on the Lord’s honours board at the first time of asking, he had a waft outside the offstump and gave Sri Lanka a late boost.Cook’s lapse came three balls after Maharoof had committed the ultimate sin for a bowler – a wicket off a no-ball, and it was Pietersen who was reprieved when the catch at short cover didn’t count. Maharoof struggled with overstepping all day, sending down 12 in his 18 overs, and eventually one was going hurt. Pietersen had begun circumspectly – Vaas had a close lbw turned down against him on 4 – before unfurling his flamboyant strokeplay against a tiring attack and the reprieve on 52 could be costly. The pace attack is military medium at best and needs to take every opportunity.The basis for the commanding batting display was laid through a controlled opening stand by the reunited Trescothick and Strauss. They had to be watchful during the early overs as Vaas and Maharoof found some swing and it was Strauss who quickly located his rhythm and threaded the ball to the boundary. England appeared to be heading for a perfect first session but Strauss became Muralitharan’s first Test wicket at Lord’s when he pushed a conventional offbreak to Jayawardene at slip – a combination that became the leading fielder/bowler pairing in history.But, in many ways, Muralitharan’s lone performance just highlighted his team’s shortcomings and the pressure that is on his ever-twirling shoulders. With Pietersen having found his range and a powerful middle order around the corner it isn’t going to get any easier for Sri Lanka.

How they were outAndrew Strauss c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 48 (86 for 1)
Marcus Trescothick c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 106 (213 for 2)
Alastair Cook c Sangakkara b Maharoof 89 (312 for 3)

India’s defeat in Durban triggered off the sort of hystericalover-reaction that has become a sad accompaniment to the country’scricket, but Rahul Dravid, who has faced much of the flak – along withGreg Chappell, the pet peeve – was philosophical when asked about theviciousness of some of the criticism. He insisted that his team were doingthe best, and that he couldn’t afford to expend energy thinking of thingsbeyond his control.”My team is not pretty aware of what is happening,” he said. “We’re verymuch focused on our cricket. It’s a country of extreme reactions andextreme emotions. We’re trying to play good cricket. We know we can playbetter and we’re focused on trying to put up a better performance on tour.We’re not aware or worried about what’s happening back home.”We’re always feeling the pressure to win, but that does not change thesituation. We need to win after that loss and we needed to win beforethat. We need to win all the time.”An official of the Indian board had gone on record to say that the playershouldn’t be paid for the Durban match, and the parliament in New Delhihad resonated with voices calling for Chappell’s head on a platter – withor without an apple in his mouth. “Can I be worried about something whichI cannot control?” said Dravid with a shrug, when asked about the flamesbeing fanned back home. “Somebody’s going to make a comment and someone’sgoing to react. We’re all entitled to our opinions, and I’m just asentitled not to react.”He also rubbished suggestions made by an Indian TV channel that he andChappell had a serious altercation prior to the Durban game. “I’m havingto laugh at some of these things,” he said. “There’s absolutely no issuebetween us. It feels funny to even deny such things. Everyone is allowedto say anything they want. You don’t have to prove it [these days].”Asked whether the criticism would act as a spur to his players, Dravidreiterated that it shouldn’t be the case. “I don’t think that should be amotivating factor for anyone,” he said. “It has never been for me. Everytime you walk out to play for India, you should be proud enough to go outthere and compete. You might not always do well and succeed.”There were some similarities to be drawn with 2003, when India followed upa disastrous 2-5 reverse in New Zealand with an embarrassing nine-wicketdefeat against Australia in their first big game of the World Cup. Perhapsstung by the vitriol, the players put together an eight-match winningstreak that only came to an end in the final. “I’d like to think that wefought back because we played good cricket and not because we werecriticised,” said Dravid. “You shouldn’t need anything other than the factthat you’re playing for your country to motivate you. I’m pretty confidentthat my boys have really worked hard, irrespective of the results. They’veshown enthusiasm, energy and a lot of desire to get things better.”

He stressed that no board official had been in touch with him since theDurban loss, and added that criticism was par for the course no matter howaccomplished a player you were. “I’ve withstood a lot of criticism as abatsman,” he said. “I’ve been out of the team for a year. I was goingthrough a period in 2001 and 2002 where I attracted a lot of criticism. SoI’ve had my share. It’s not always been smooth sailing as a player. It’sno different [as captain]. It’s not hard to accept as long as you know youare doing your best and trying to get the best out of your players.”You’re going to make mistakes, and things won’t work out as planned. Youhave to accept that some amount of criticism is justified, and some of itis obviously over the top as well. There’s only so much you can do as aplayer or a captain. You have to take some of the criticism with a pinchof salt.”And with the axe being sharpened for the likes of Suresh Raina, Dravidsaid that it was hard to draw a line when it came to success and failure.”If you fail consistently at this level, then the decision will have to betaken by the selectors,” he said. “Some will be better off going back todomestic cricket.”Some of these guys have been through that. It happens constantly. Youcan’t put a number to it, but there does come a time you have to reassessand look at your game. Probably with the exception of Sachin Tendulkar,everyone in this team has gone back to domestic cricket, and come back abetter cricketer for it. And sometimes, they haven’t come back.”If Andrew Flintoff and friends think that they’re having a hard time of itin Brisbane, they have no idea. Along with English football and SouthAfrican rugby, Indian cricket remains sport’s biggest soap opera, withfickle fans and inflated expectations making for an incendiary cocktailthat even Molotov couldn’t have thought up.

The ECB have announced that Dr Guy Jackson has been appointed as the manager of the ECB Academy at Loughborough. He succeeds Nigel Laughton who has left to take up the post of Operations Director at Bath rugby club after five years at the Academy,Jackson joins the ECB from the post of director of sports development & marketing at Loughborough University, where he has been involved in the development of the campus. He has also worked as the university’s director of cricket, during which time he established the Loughborough UCCE and secured first class status for the university.Jackson will report to, and work closely with the Academy director, Peter Moores in managing facitlies and the various programmes at Loughborough. John Carr, the ECB director of England cricket, said: “We are delighted to have recruited Guy for this important role. He is exceptionally well qualified for the job, having played a major part in the creation of the NCC at Loughborough, having managed the Loughborough [UCCE] programme and the British Universities representative side.”Jackson said: “This is an exciting opportunity and I look forward to working with Peter Moores at the National Cricket Centre. I’m a passionate believer in the Academy system and look forward to the challenge of playing a role in the evolving National Academy programme. I look forward to being part of the team.”

Chittagong Vikings captain Tamim Iqbal said that a missed run-out chance and a dropped catch cost the side dearly in their 33-run loss to Barisal Bulls on Monday.Ziaur Rahman was involved in both incidents, in the 14th and 16th overs of Barisal’s innings. He first bungled a run-out chance against Mahmudullah, who was on 27 at the time; Mahmudullah went on to score 51. Ziaur appeared to have disturbed the stumps just before the throw hit the stumps, but the TV replays were inconclusive in determining if the bowler had broken the bails.

Cooper pleased with Barisal’s team effort

It was expected that much of Barisal Bulls’ strength would come from Chris Gayle, who is scheduled to arrive later this week, but they have won three out of four games without him, which led Kevon Cooper to highlight Barisal’s bench strength.
“We don’t have the big-name players yet but we are still playing good cricket,” Cooper said. “Hopefully when Chris games for the next games, the guys embrace him and we bat better and go on to win this competition.”
Cooper also praised captain Mahmudullah, whose 51 kept Barisal afloat after they lost three early wickets.
“I am around a great bunch of guys. [Mahmudullah] Riyad is a great leader. I played with him in Chittagong a few years ago. He has the dressing-room, the guys respect him.
“His innings was very important for us. Myself and Sami hit a couple of sixes in the end but it was important for him to steady the ship. He is a guy that I look up to in terms of leadership. He bats for the team. He has improved a lot as a player.”

Two overs later, he dropped Seekkuge Prasanna on 22, and parried the ball for six at long-off. Naeem Islam, did a similar thing a few deliveries later, conceding a six over long-on. Chittagong’s overall cricket was also sloppy – Elton Chigumbura bowled a nine-ball over and Kamran Akmal was run-out for a duck after he failed to slide his bat in while attempting a single.”We made a beautiful start, especially in the first six overs but then it was the same old story. We missed a simple run-out of Mahmudullah and Prasanna survived an easy catch. And they took the game away from us in that Elton [Chigumbura] over. But I don’t want to take the credit away from Mahmudullah and Barisal,” Tamim said.Chigumbura had already given away 16 runs in his first over when Tamim recalled him in the 19th over. He gave away 22 runs, which included a four that was hit off a no-ball and was followed by two wides.”We have some plans in the team meeting,” Tamim said. “We knew that [Kevon] Cooper loves to hit over cover and straight. When Elton was bowling, I was trying to tell him to bowl in such a way that he hits towards square-leg or the midwicket area, where he had a better chance to get a wicket or give away singles as it was the larger side of the ground. But, unfortunately, he bowled the wrong line.”Tamim said that Akmal’s dismissal was a “schoolboy error”: “All I can say is that Kamran’s run-out was a schoolboy error. All of our foreign players know what to do. They can improve. I really don’t have an answer for Kamran’s run-out. If someone like Dilshan, a batsman rated as high as Chris Gayle in T20s, did the job with bat and ball, we would have been in a good position. We depend a lot on them, which they have to understand.”

Liam Dawson, the uncapped Hampshire spinner, has been named in England’s 15-man squad for the World Twenty20, which gets underway in India next month.Dawson, 25, who impressed the selectors during the recent England Lions series against Pakistan A in the UAE, was not originally chosen for the current senior tour of South Africa. However, he will link up with the squad ahead of the two Twenty20s next week, when England’s coach, Trevor Bayliss, will get to assess his merits properly.”I haven’t actually seen him play a game,” Bayliss said after the announcement. “I went to one or two of the Lions practices and saw him in the nets. From a bowling point of view, he gets a bit on the ball and he looks as though he’s got something about him personality-wise. He can bat as well and he’s a good fielder apparently.”Dawson admitted the call-up came out of the blue. “I wasn’t expecting it,” he told BBC Radio Solent. “I did pretty well for the Lions in the two months I was there with them in the UAE for 50-over cricket and also the T20 series.”In the back of my mind, I thought potentially I might have a very small, outside chance, but thankfully I’ve been selected and I’m very excited about it.”

England squad for World T20

• Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) (Capt)

• Moeen Ali (Worcestershire)

• Sam Billings (Kent)

• Jos Buttler (Lancashire)

• Liam Dawson (Hampshire)

• Steven Finn (Middlesex)

• Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire)

• Chris Jordan (Sussex)

• Adil Rashid (Yorkshire)

• Joe Root (Yorkshire)

• Jason Roy (Surrey)

• Ben Stokes (Durham)

• Reece Topley (Hampshire)

• James Vince (Hampshire)

• David Willey (Yorkshire)

Steven Finn, who was forced to withdraw from the tour with a side strain, has also been named in the 15, alongside six other players with previous experience of a World Twenty20. Eoin Morgan, the captain, is the only survivor from England’s victorious campaign in the West Indies in 2010, with England choosing, as expected, to overlook Kevin Pietersen despite his impressive recent form in both South Africa’s Ram Slam tournament and Australia’s Big Bash League.There is no place, either, for Stuart Broad – another veteran of the 2010 campaign – who has not played a 20-over match for England since 2014 but had been an outside bet for selection after being drafted into the limited-overs leg of the South Africa tour following injuries to Finn and Liam Plunkett, who also misses out.Reece Topley and David Willey, the left-arm seamers who have been England’s regular new-ball pairing in 50-over cricket, both make the trip, with Chris Jordan and the allrounder Ben Stokes providing England’s other fast-bowling options.James Vince, the Hampshire batsman who also impressed in the UAE with both the senior side and England Lions, is also included in the party, alongside Sam Billings, who will provide hard-hitting back-up to the likes of Jos Buttler and Jason Roy and is currently playing in the Pakistan Super League. James Taylor, however, does not make the cut despite impressive form for England’s 50-over team in recent months.Mahela Jayawardene, the former Sri Lanka batsman, will once again join England’s coaching team for the first ten days of the tournament as a consultant, with Paul Collingwood, England’s trophy-winning captain in 2010, working alongside Trevor Bayliss, Paul Farbrace and Ottis Gibson for the duration.”The limited overs cricket played in the last eight months has been incredibly exciting to watch and these players deserve the honour of representing England at a global event,” said James Whitaker, the national selector. “We have made significant progress during recent series with plenty more to come over the next few years.”Liam Dawson has been selected after consistently strong performances for the Lions recently against Pakistan A. As a left arm spinning all-rounder he will be a very useful addition particularly in sub continent conditions.”Congratulations to all selected and on behalf of the selectors good luck to Eoin and Trevor.”Andrew Strauss, director of England Cricket, said: “Mahela Jayawardene and Paul Collingwood proved very popular additions to the coaching team when they spent time with England in the UAE earlier this winter and I’m delighted that they are both able to help our T20 side. Their international experience, previous success at World T20 tournaments and, particularly in Mahela’s case, knowledge of conditions make them ideal resources to tap into and I have no doubt the players will gain a huge amount from having them around the dressing room.”

Warwickshire have agreed to release Mark Wagh to allow him to sign for Nottinghamshire. He had two years of his existing contract left to run.Wagh had reportedly been unsettled for some time, and the announcement was not a surprise. “It’s been a very hard decision for me as I have spent my whole cricketing career at Warwickshire and I would like to thank them for their understanding,” he said. “I just feel a new start will help me and I’m looking forward to the challenge of proving myself in a new environment.””When Mark approached us with this request we considered the options,” Warwickshire’s chief executive, Colin Povey, added. “[We} concluded that if Mark believes he will have better opportunities at Notts then we should not stand in his way.”Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, was understandably more upbeat. “Mark is an accomplished batsman and I believe he can be the answer for us at No. 3 in the Championship,” he said. “It’s been a problem position for us for the last couple of seasons but Mark has all the attributes to be a success there. I’m confident he’s got plenty of good years ahead of him and along with Jason Gallian and Will Jefferson, I think we now have a high-quality top order.”I think Mark is ready for a fresh start and this move may be just what he needs to get him enjoying playing cricket again. I’ve seen him play well against us on a number of occasions, so I’ve always kept any eye on his progress, and I’m delighted he’s signed.”

Piyush Chawla, the 18-year old legspinner, says he sees a bigger role for himself in the one-day internationals following Anil Kumble’s exit from the 50-overs game but he is keen to cement his place in the Test team too.”I think [with Kumble’s retirement] I will get to play a lot of that [ODIs], but I am aiming for a permanent position in both the teams,” Chawla said.Chawla said he was not overawed by bowling to the likes of Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs. “They are great players but not bigger than Tendulkar,” said Chawla.Chawla says he has become a more confident bowler after dismissing Sachin Tendulkar in domestic cricket. “In domestic cricket, I have got Sachin Tendulkar out. If I can get his wicket, I can dismiss any batsman in the world.” Chawla had bowled Tendulkar with a googly in the Challenger Trophy event at the start of the last season.Looking back at the tour of Ireland, Chawla wished he had taken more wickets. “I am happy but not satisfied. I wanted to take more wickets,” Chawla told the . “I bowled well and created chances, I am happy with my bowling but didn’t get wickets. Bowling well is in my hands which I tried but wickets are something not up to you. It has been a good tour and a great experience as I got a chance to be on the field with the seniors of the team