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Cricket Kenya, the new body created at the weekend by Ochillo Ayacko, the sports minister, came one step closer to assuming full control of Kenyan cricket after the country’s two largest provincial organisations, the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) and Coast Cricket Association (CCA), voted overwhelmingly to back it in preference to the existing Kenyan Cricket Association.At a meeting in Mombasa, the CCA’s ten member clubs voted 8-0 to support CK, with two abstentions, while in Nairobi, 19 of the NPCA’s affiliated clubs chose to do the same. Perhaps most tellingly, Ruaraka, always seen as a stronghold of the KCA, also backed the new organisation.It is believed that Ayacko will contact the ICC on Wednesday morning and, armed with the support of the government and now almost all of Kenya’s stakeholder clubs, request that CK and not the KCA be recognised as being the official representatives of Kenyan cricket. In the face of such overwhelming support, it is hard to see how the ICC can do anything but agree.If the last few days had been bad for the KCA executive, then today things got even worse as another senior executive – Ramesh Bhallah, the team manager and a selector – resigned, citing (according to the KCA) “pressure of work and personal commitments”. However, Cricinfo knows that he has been increasingly at odds with the executive and has sought to distance himself from the board in recent weeks.Bhalla’s departure leaves Sharad Ghai, the KCA’s chairman, increasingly isolated. Of his once rock-solid support within the board, only a handful remain loyal, and in the face of such massive opposition, his position appears untenable. If the ICC agrees to the minister’s request, the KCA and Ghai, with no money and few friends, could be rendered utterly irrelevant anyway.Earlier, the KCA’s selectors had been due to name the squad for the Intercontinental Cup tie against Namibia at Windhoek match this morning, but it soon became clear that some had deep reservations as to their authority to pick a side to represent the country against such a backdrop, and also with so many leading players either unavailable or on strike.Officially, the naming of the squad was delayed to allow the availability of certain individuals to be confirmed, but Cricinfo understands that it is unlikely that any announcement will be made until Ayacko has spoken to the ICC.Perhaps the most telling sign that change was on the way was that a number of the striking players, who have steadfastly refused to play while the KCA and Ghai were in charge, have resumed training. All have said that they will play for the new board for free.”We are happy to resume training under the government and we’ll be training here on a daily basis,” Kennedy Otieno, the former vice-captain, told the East African Standard. “At the moment we have no coach but we believe the minister is working on something. But with or without a coach, we shall continue training. We all know what to do.”Ravi Shah, probably the best batsman outside Test cricket, was absent from that group, nor did he appear with the depleted KCA-sanctioned squad preparing under coach Mudassar Nazar. “I have played cricket and will continue playing despite whoever selects me,” he said. “But at the moment I am not training because I have a knee injury.”Within days, Cricket Kenya is expected to name a full-strength squad to face Namibia for the Intercontinental Cup tie at Windhoek.Meanwhile, at the KCA offices at Nairobi Gymkhana, two other officials – Harilal Shah, the vice-chairman, and Jasmeer Singh, the communications manager, were held for four hours by more than a dozen coaching staff who claimed they had not been paid. The KCA is widely believed to be bankrupt, and Cricinfo has evidence that it cannot meet even its most vital commitments.Finally, on Wednesday morning a Mombasa court is due to start hearing a case brought jointly by the NPCA and CCA against the KCA over the board’s constitution.

Dasun Shanaka will be Sri Lanka’s T20I captain until the end of the forthcoming T20 World Cup. The move to replace Charith Asalanka as captain in the format had been floated by the previous selection committee under Upul Tharanga, whose term expired this month. But new chief selector Pramodya Wickramasinghe confirmed that Shanaka would lead the team as he announced the preliminary squad for the tournament.”We decided that Dasun Shanaka should be captain until the end of the World Cup, after talking to head coach Sanath Jayasuriya as well,” Wickramasinghe said on Friday. “The previous committee had chosen a list of 25 players. We spoke to Jerome Jayaratne, the head of the high performance, as well as Sanath Jayasuriya. We decided to announce that same 25 as a preliminary squad for the World Cup.””We are looking at Dasun as an allrounder. We’ll have to talk to Sanath Jayasuriya and work out what is required of him.”Shanaka had been made stand-in captain for the tri-series in Pakistan last month, after Asalanka was sent home from that tour to recover from an illness, although standard protocol is to keep unwell players within the team for a minor illness of the kind Asalanka had. Sri Lanka had lost to Zimbabwe through the course of that tournament, but managed to earn qualification for the final, in which they were comfortably defeated by Pakistan.”For now we’ve got to continue with what the previous committee was doing,” Wickramasinghe said. “They had been following a plan. If I were to come in and change a lot of things, that would not be ideal. My plan is to keep this team together for the World Cup, and then see how best we can build after that.”Although sacked as captain, a job he had been doing since the last World Cup in mid-2024, Asalanka remains in the squad. It has been his modest form in the format that had helped prompt his ouster. Asalanka had hit 156 runs at a strike rate of 122 from 12 innings this year, and he has not had a history of being an outstanding T20I batter, with his overall strike rate at 126. He remains among the new selectors plans, according to Wickramasinghe.The preliminary squad also opened the door for the return of Niroshan Dickwella, who last played for Sri Lanka back in March 2023, and that in Tests. But Wickramasinghe said the wider squad wanted for a top order batter who could keep wickets, which has seen Dickwella come back into contention.Sri Lanka preliminary World Cup squad:Dasun Shanaka (Captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Janith Liyanage, Charith Asalanka, Kamindu Mendis, Pavan Rathnayake, Sahan Arachchige, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Milan Rathnayake, Nuwan Thushara, Eshan Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera, Pramod Madushan, Matheesha Pathirana, Dilshan Madushanka, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushan Hemantha, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Traveen Mathew.

Former Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer’s stomach samples contained significant amounts of a deadly pesticide, the chief forensic officer at the government forensic laboratory in Kingston told the inquest into Woolmer’s death on Thursday.Fitzmore Coates said the toxicology analysis showed that there was 3.4 milligrams of cypermethrin per millilitre in Woolmer’s stomach sample. He also testified that there were traces of cypermethrin in the blood and urine samples, and in a straw-coloured liquid taken from his room at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel.”The final calculation of cypermethrin in the stomach content which I analysed would be significant. It could cause vomiting, diarrhea, nausea and death,” Coates told AFP. His testimony backed the findings of Ere Sheshiah, the pathologist who performed the autopsy on Woolmer. Sheshiah had said that the cause of death was “asphyxia, associated with cypermethrin poisoning”.Woolmer was found unconscious in his room at the Pegasus Hotel in Jamaica on March 18, a day after Pakistan’s shock defeat to Ireland in the World Cup. The police had initially backed Sheshiah’s finding that Woolmer was murdered and released a statement to that effect. However, a review by three other pathologists – Nathaniel Cary, Michael Pollanen and Lorna Martin – said Woolmer died of natural causes, possibly due to a heart attack.As the investigation continued, toxicology tests could not conclude whether Woolmer was injected with a poison or not. Marcia Dunbar, a Jamaican forensic analyst, testified at the inquest that evidence of cypermethrin was found in blood and urine samples. Of three samples of blood taken from Woolmer, Dunbar said one tested positive for cypermethrin while the others did not, and no suitable explanation was given for this. She also said that one of the containers she received from the police containing the samples had been contaminated.John Slaughter, a British forensic expert, later told the inquest that he found no pesticide in the sample which was tested in his lab on May 4. He said the presence of cypermethrin could have been due to contamination at the government forensic laboratory in Kingston.However, Judith Mowatt, the director at the government forensic science laboratory, testified that she had received an email from Joe Marchesi, a crime scene manager at the metropolitan police in London, which stated that Slaughter had said the samples sent to his office were insufficient to conduct a thorough investigation. Mowatt, however, said she hadn’t discussed the issue of inadequate samples with Slaughter.”He [Marchesi] said there were concerns about the amount of samples available for them to work with,” Mowatt told the . “He indicated that there was enough stomach content but in regard to urine, blood and straw-coloured liquid there was not enough for a tox-screen.”On November 5, the coroner Patrick Murphy had asked for further tests to be carried out on samples taken from Woolmer’s body. The directive came on a request from Mark Shields, the Jamaica deputy commissioner of police, following discrepancies in the toxicology reports by forensic scientists from the Caribbean and the UK. Shields said more samples would be retrieved from the UK and the local forensic laboratory.

Kapil Dev has filed a petition against the Indian board for stopping his pension after he joined the Indian Cricket League (ICL), an initiative not backed by the BCCI.Kapil levelled the charge that the board had “deliberately amended the rules” following his move to the ICL by altering the word ‘pension’ with ‘Benevolent Fund’.Kapil’s affidavit, which was filed in the Delhi High Court, read: “The only way of earning a livelihood for us retired cricketers is through the game and the board cannot, by illegally changing its rules and regulations, deprive us of the benefits.”He also contested BCCI’s decision to sack him as the chairman of the National Cricket Academy, a post he held till joining the ICL as the chairman of its executive board.The BCCI members met for a special general meeting last August where the decision to remove Kapil from the chairman’s post at the NCA was made along with decision to deny players the right to derive any benefit from the BCCI if they were associated with the ICL. This meant former players, Kiran More, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Sandeep Patil, EAS Prasanna, Madan Lal, Rajesh Chauhan, who joined the ICL in various roles, also had their pensions revoked by the board.

Division One

Nottinghamshire became the first side to notch a win in 2008’s Championship with a comprehensive rout of Kent, who were beaten by 10 wickets at Canterbury. Nottinghamshire only needed 22 runs to complete the victory with Will Jefferson (5) and Matthew Wood (17) guiding them home.Hampshire’s match against the champions Sussex ended in a predictable draw, with rain preventing any play on the fourth day at The Rose Bowl.Persistent drizzle in London also called a halt to the game at The Oval, with Surrey drawing their match against Lancashire.

Division Two

Essex eased to their first win of the season, beating Northamptonshire by nine wickets on the final day at Chelmsford. After their poor day yesterday, when they slipped to 38 for 4, Northants’ batsmen fared much better with Lance Klusener cracking 92. But he became David Masters’ fourth victim, Essex dismissing Northants for 237 to leave the home side needing a mere 15 to win. Jason Gallian fell for 1 but Varun Chopra saw them home in the third over.Nadeem Malik took 5 for 51 to spark a mini Middlesex collapse in which they lost their last five wickets for 141 as Leicestershire romped to a six-wicket win at Grace Road. Owais Shah notched his fifty, adding to the fine 116 he made in the first innings, and Shaun Udal also cracked his maiden half-century for his new county, but Middlesex fell away to be dismissed for 258, leaving Leicestershire 166 to win. Chris Silverwood nipped out two early wickets to give Middlesex hope, but Matthew Boyce’s 66 and an unbeaten 69 from Jim Allenby urged Leicestershire to their target.Tony Frost, Ant Botha and drizzly conditions in Birmingham all conspired against Worcestershire, who were denied an opening victory against Warwickshire on the final day at Edgbaston. Resuming on 26 for 3, Warwickshire’s resilience began with the nightwatchman, Lee Daggett, frustrating for nearly an hour before he was bowled by Gareth Batty. Navdeep Poonia followed almost immediately, and when Luke Parker edged to gully, the hosts were 109 for 7. Enter Frost (46*) and Botha (18*) who ground Worcestershire down for an hour-and-a-half, and inclement weather prevented any further action after tea.No play was possible between Gloucestershire and Derbyshire at Bristol, the match dribbling to a damp draw.

Scorecard