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The New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum is set to launch defamation proceedings against John Parker over a document concerning the way Ross Taylor’s removal as captain was handled. The law firm Chapman Tripp is expected to file proceedings in the High Court in Hamilton next week over the document titled “The Taylor Affair”, which they claim was written by Parker.McCullum said in a statement released by his lawyers that he had “no option but to take legal action”. “Mr Parker’s paper makes some very serious attacks on my integrity, my honesty and my ethics as a professional sportsman,” McCullum said. “I have endeavoured to resolve these issues with Mr Parker but have been unable to do so. He has left me with no choice but to defend myself and my reputation this way.”McCullum said he was not seeking monetary damages but wanted Parker’s “acknowledgment that the claims he makes are completely false”.Mike Hesson, the New Zealand coach, is also believed to be considering legal action against Parker and issued a statement on Friday that said he was aware of McCullum’s comments. “I have similar concerns to him regarding the comments made by John Parker about me,” Hesson said. “I have taken legal advice and the matter is currently being dealt with by my lawyers. I have nothing further to say regarding the matter.”Parker, who once captained New Zealand, has been critical not only of Taylor’s removal as captain but also the wider governance of New Zealand Cricket.

Australia offspinner Nathan Lyon believes he is bowling well despite being axed after the Chennai Test and asked to work on some technical issues. Lyon said he knew he had leaked too many runs in the first Test but felt he had bowled alright under the circumstances.Lyon’s immediate future remains unclear after the Australia coach Mickey Arthur said during the week that the offspinner had been down on form for some time and that there were technical aspects of his game that had to be addressed after he collected 4 for 244 during the loss in Chennai, an analysis that included a beautiful ball that turned between bat and pad to bowl Sachin Tendulkar. He was replaced for the second Test in Hyderabad by Xavier Doherty and Glenn Maxwell, who bowled in tandem, and Australia’s preferred spin strategy for the third Test in Mohali remains a mystery.”I thought they came out alright in Chennai,” Lyon said. “To bowl Sachin Tendulkar through the gate you must be doing something right. I was quite happy with that, I went for a few runs here and there, but bowling against the best bats in the world in their conditions, they were obviously going to come hard at me playing one spinner in the side.”But I’ve worked hard in the nets and I’m feeling confident in my own bowling. The technical stuff … it’s all the same, I haven’t changed anything … since I was 16. I reckon it [my confidence] has gone up if anything, bowling the best batsman in the world through the gate. As an offspinner growing up that’s what you dream of. My confidence has gone up a level rather than down.”Since his Test debut in August 2011, Lyon has been the seventh-highest wicket-taker in Tests and the only spinners ahead of him on the list are Rangana Herath, Saeed Ajmal and R Ashwin. However, his home summer was disappointing. Hyderabad was the first Test in which he had been dumped for another spinner, having previously only missed out against India at the WACA when Australia went with a four-man pace attack.”You are never safe, especially playing at the top level, especially having quality spinners in and around the squad,” Lyon said. “That’s the great thing about Australian cricket. We have different options we can go in with, that is the selectors’ choice they made for Hyderabad and hopefully it is a different scenario in Mohali.”I haven’t spoken to [chairman of selectors] John Inverarity, but Mickey and all our coaches have worked hard in the past week and we had a good training session in the middle. I’m still feeling confident in my bowling so hopefully they haven’t lost faith.”Inverarity has flown home to Australia and Lyon’s chances of playing in Mohali will be determined by the new selector on duty, Rod Marsh, along with Arthur and the captain Michael Clarke. After the Chennai Test, Clarke said he had been impressed by the way Lyon bounced back in the second innings to get rid of Virender Sehwag. Later, Lyon received advice from both Shane Warne in Hyderabad and spin mentor Stuart MacGill on the phone from Australia.”We spoke about the more mental side of the game over here in India,” Lyon said of his chat with MacGill. “Yes, I bowled one maiden in Chennai but they are the best players of spin and that was quite a difficult pitch to bowl on. It was turning a lot then some weren’t turning at all. To have MS Dhoni go off like that was something unbelievable and I have taken a lot out of that, I feel I’ve grown within myself and learnt a lot about my bowling.”

West Zone

Irfan Pathan took three wickets as Baroda beat Mumbai by 55 runs in Ahmedabad. Baroda put up an imposing 194 for 3, thanks to a power packing innings of 101 off 63 balls by Aditya Waghmode. This was his first T20 century, and he was supported by contributions from Kedar Devdhar (23) and Yusuf Pathan (40*). Mumbai, in reply, were 13 for 3 as Irfan Pathan, playing his first match after recovering from a knee injury sustained during a Ranji Trophy match in November 2012, struck two early blows. Aditya Tare’s 62 along with Siddharth Chitnis 21, proved to be the only form of resistance as the team struggled to 139 for 9.Asad Pathan’s swashbuckling 87 not out led Gujarat to an eight-wicket win over Maharashtra. Chasing a target of 148, Pathan dominated the bowlers to take his side to victory in 14.2 overs. His innings included six fours and seven sixes. Earlier, Gujarat restricted Maharashtra to 147 for 8, led by Nikhil Naik’s 52. Mehul Patel and Akshar Patel picked up three wickets apiece.

North Zone

Himachal Pradesh won a low-scoring thriller by one run against Services in Rohtak. Almost all of Services’ bowlers contributed, with Himachal Pradesh stuttering to 78 all out in the 19th over. Only three batsmen got into double-figures, as Shadab Nazar and Abhishek Sakuja picked up three a piece. Services were in all sorts of trouble, as they limped to 28 for 6. Only the bowlers got into double-digit scores as a few run-outs at the end of the innings ensured Himachal held on for a one-run victory, with Sakuja run out of the penultimate ball.Haryana’s bowlers contributed to their victory over Punjab by 47 runs in Rohtak. Haryana scored 150 for 4 in their 20 overs, led by Sachin Hooda’s 56 and Rahul Dalal’s unbeaten 40. Punjab were unable to string substantial partnerships through the course of their innings, with Ajit Chandila taking three, and Amit Mishra and Harshal Patel picking up two each. They were skittled out for 103 in the 18th over.

East Zone

Assam crumbled to a 53-run defeat against Bengal in Agartala. Set a target of 131, Assam folded for a paltry 77, with only two batsmen scoring runs in double figures. Sayan Mondal was the pick of the Bengal bowlers, picking up 3 for 13, while Shami Ahmed picked up 2 for 13. Earlier, Shreevats Goswami top-scored with 43, as Bengal finished their innings at 130 for 5.
Odisha registered a 22-run win over Tripura in Agartala. Put in to bat, Odisha piled up 172 for 8 in their 20 overs, with half-centuries from Bikas Pati (64) and Govind Podder (52). In reply, Tripura were restricted to 150 for 6. A 58-run, second-wicket partnership between Ajay Ratra and Udiyan Bose gave Tripura a good platform, but Odisha bowler Rakesh Mohanty dismissed three batsmen quickly to leave Tripura 22 runs adrift.

Central Zone

Uttar Pradesh successfully chased Railways target in Nagpur to win by six wickets. After being reduced to 4 for 34, Karan Sharma (62*) and Ashish Yadav (44) led a recovery for Railways to finish on 130 for 5. Praveen Kumar had best figures of 3 for 22. UP were able to string regular partnerships, as Akshdeep Nath and Piyush Chawla finished the game off in the 18th over.Vidarbha edged Rajathan in a low-scoring match in Nagpur by 10 runs. Vidarbha were unable to put together regular partnerships, with Akshay Kolhar top-scoring with 34 at the top of the order. Aniket Choudhary and Ashok Menaria picked up three wickets apiece, as Vidarbha stuttered to 113 for 9. Rajasthan started in horror fashion, reduced to 6 for 4. All of Rajasthan’s bowlers picked up wickets, led by Amol Jungade’s 3 for 12. Contributions from Dishant Yagnik (26), Raman Chahar (17) and Madhur Khatri (15*) were not enough as they finished 10 short of the target.

South Zone

L Balaji’s four-wicket haul helped Tamil Nadu beat Andhra by eight wickets. Batting first, Andhra were dismissed for 106, as Balaji and Rahil Shah struck regularly. AG Pradeep tried guiding Andhra towards a substantial total, but had no support from the other batsmen. In reply, Tamil Nadu chased down the total with ease, guided by unbeaten 30s from Abhinav Mukund and S Badrinath.Kerala registered a six-wicket win against Hyderabad in Shimoga, reaching their target with two balls to spare. Put in to bat, Hyderabad scored 133 for 6, affected by two run-outs in the innings. In reply, Kerala were cruising at 123 for 2 in the 18th over, before the wickets of Nikhilesh Surendran and Sachin Baby slowed down the chase. They eventually scored the winning runs in the 20th over.Fifties from openers Mayanka Agarwal and Manish Pandey helped Karnataka ease past Goa by nine wickets in Shimoga. Chasing a total of 120 for victory, the openers put on 108 runs before Pandey guided the side home in the 19th over. Earlier, Goa were hampered due to as many as three run-outs in their innings. Wicketkeeper Keenan Vaz top scored with 38.

Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan could miss the two Tests against Sri Lanka next month after scans revealed that he is suffering from exertional compartment syndrome on his shin bone, a condition that can be caused by frequent running, which leads to pain and swelling.One of the methods to treat this condition is “controlled participation in sports”, according to the Bangladesh board physician Debashish Chowdhury, who suggested Shakib could be playing only the limited-overs matches in Sri Lanka.”The CT and bone scan didn’t reveal any major damages. His problems can be managed by physiotherapy, physical exercise and controlled participation in sports,” Chowdhury said. “Whether he will play Tests will depend on Shakib and the selectors.”Shakib had missed the limited-overs leg of the home series against West Indies late last year and was given six weeks rest. He has played six BPL matches for Dhaka Gladiators, missing two due to a hamstring strain.A decision on Shakib’s participation in the Test series will be taken at a meeting of BCB’s cricket operations committee. Chief selector Akram Khan said he would like to see Shakib be ready for the Test series in Zimbabwe in April rather than next month. “If required, we would let him be fit for the Zimbabwe Tests in April, because we didn’t do well there in 2011. We want to take our best side for that series.”Bangladesh will play two Tests in Sri Lanka in March, as well as three ODIs and a Twenty20. According to the BCB, Bangladesh will travel to Zimbabwe for a full series in April, though the number of Tests has not been announced.

Twenty20’s potential to be toxic for Australia’s Test match plans has been underlined by the decision to “quarantine” the Boxing Day Test squad from the BBL before the team convenes in Melbourne. Of the 13 only Peter Siddle is not presently signed up to a BBL team, but none of the other 12 will take part in any of the matches scheduled between now and the start of preparation for the second Test.Usman Khawaja will have a particularly focused lead-in to the Test, as he steels himself for the possible task of replacing Michael Clarke in Australia’s batting line-up. Clarke’s hamstring strain will be given every chance to heal in time for the MCG match, but in the meantime Khawaja has been seconded to Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence in Brisbane for intensive training sessions with the acting batting coach Stuart Law.Australia’s team performance regime has been stretched by the task of finding an adequate balance between the demands of T20 and Tests, especially during the period of the home summer when the national team plays the five-day game without any first-class cricket to buttress the reserves.Pat Howard, the team performance manager, has said that it will likely take at least another two years before teams the world over have found ways to deal effectively with the effects of jumping from format to format, and the coach Mickey Arthur said that there was no alternative to holding the squad out of the BBL this week, noting the injuries to the likes of Ben Hilfenhaus, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood that have already arisen this summer from the T20 riddle.”That’s always going to be a conundrum for us, who do we play, who don’t we play,” Arthur said. “We feel that the Test match is massively important on Boxing Day, we want to quarantine the 13 players. We’re sitting with enough injuries as it is. We want Usman to go back and work really hard on his red ball game. I want him to go and do some work on just tightening his game up again. He’s been practising with a white ball, and we want to give him every opportunity to make it a success if he gets picked.”Johnson didn’t play for Brisbane Heat [on Tuesday night], and that was really an issue between Mitchell and his franchise. Not a bad issue, there was just dialogue between them, Mitchell’s wife has just had a baby, so there was dialogue there. We just think it’s best now that we quarantine those 13 players, because once we start letting one off then there’s always the issue of why’s he playing, why’s he not playing. It’s in the best interests of the 13 to get ready for Boxing Day.”Khawaja’s looming return is a significant vindication for the left-hander, having changed states and worked assiduously at his batting since he was dropped from the Test team for the Boxing Day Test last year. The national selectors have sought improvement in the areas of fielding, running between the wickets and general team ethic, and Arthur said the panel was now convinced that Khawaja had gone a long way to meeting those marks.”I don’t think we would have picked him if he hadn’t shown that continued improvement that we wanted from him. I think Ussie’s done well,” Arthur said. “It’s no coincidence that you sit with Phil Hughes and Usman Khawaja at Nos. 1 and 2 in the amount of Shield runs. They thoroughly deserve their opportunity to come back.”It was just a year ago right here that both of them lost their places. So what they’ve done in a year to get back has been immense, and that’s a credit to both of them. So to welcome Ussie back into the fold is going to be quite exciting.”Should Clarke not be fit, an enormous amount of pressure will be placed on Australia’s recast top four to improve on a largely promising display in Hobart, when only Shane Watson of the quartet failed to pass 50. David Warner reached that tally in both innings of a Test for the first time, while Phillip Hughes looked the part at No. 3.”I thought our top six this game contributed immensely to the win,” Arthur said. “First-innings runs are always massive. We got first-innings runs, four out of six fifties from our Nos. 1, 2 and 3 which for me was really big. That was one area we wanted to be very consistent in, and then as far as Watto goes, he’s got a massive amount of quality, so pretty sure that he’s going to do the job for us at No. 4. So really happy with how our top six stacked up.”Another man likely to benefit from the “quarantine” is the left-armer Mitchell Starc, who showed evidence of his progress as a bowler by scything through Sri Lanka’s tail on the final afternoon at Bellerive Oval after an exhausted Peter Siddle had been withdrawn. Arthur said Starc’s gradually improving consistency was a source of some satisfaction ahead of the tours of India and England.”It’s just experience, just exposing him to situations like he was in Hobart,” Arthur said. “The more he’s exposed to those conditions, the better he’s going to become. There’s a massive amount of talent, and I think he’s just going to get better and better.”

Offspinner Harbhajan Singh and batsman Ajinkya Rahane, who have been part of India’s squad for all three Tests against England, will join their respective Ranji Trophy teams for the next group game that begins on Saturday. The third Test of the four-match India-England series is currently underway in Kolkata, but neither player is part of the Indian XI.This decision is in line with the policy adopted by the India team management over the past four seasons, by which as many players as possible are released from the national squad for Ranji games during home series’. This is done with a view to help the reserves remain match-fit.Harbhajan and Rahane will fly from Kolkata to Mumbai on Thursday, to join Punjab and Mumbai – these teams will play each other at the Wankhede Stadium in the next round of Ranji games. The pair, along with most of the other India regulars, featured in the season-opening round of the Ranji Trophy matches from November 2. While Harbhajan could make little impact with the ball as the Punjab captain against Hyderabad, Rahane scored 129 and 84 for Mumbai against Railways.The players’ availability will be a major boost for both teams, in particular Mumbai; Punjab, with young batsman Mandeep Singh at the helm, have already assured themselves of a place in the knockouts with four victories in five matches, but Mumbai are yet to win this season.Harbhajan, having recovered from a viral infection, featured in India’s humiliating ten-wicket defeat against England at the Wankhede Stadium. Rahane is yet to play in the Test series. The final game of the four-Test series will begin in Nagpur on December 13.

Scorecard
Nathan Reardon and Chris Hartley saved Queensland from embarrassment on the first day against New South Wales in Canberra, where the Bulls stumbled to 4 for 18 after choosing to bat. At stumps, Queensland had recovered to 7 for 198, with Ben Cutting on 23 and Cameron Gannon on 4, after the loss of Reardon for 71 late in the day.Doug Bollinger picked up two wickets from the first three balls of the match, trapping Wade Townsend lbw for a golden duck and Usman Khawaja lbw for a second-ball duck. Bollinger’s fellow left-armer Josh Lalor then got rid of Joe Burns for 1 from 30 deliveries and Peter Forrest for 17 to leave the Bulls in serious trouble, before Reardon and Hartley staged a recovery.Their 117-run partnership put the match back on a slightly more even keel, although both men had lives early – both dropped by Steven Smith. Reardon was put down on 2 and Hartley on 8 off the bowling of Bollinger, and the misses proved costly for New South Wales.Eventually it was the debutant legspinner Adam Zampa who removed both batsmen, before the captain Steve O’Keefe chipped in with the wicket of Nathan Hauritz.