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The Indian Premier League has leading England players in its sights, according to its chairman, Lalit Modi, and is prepared to look at its future dates to accommodate them.Speaking to the BBC, Modi said: “I know a lot of them are interested but we don’t want to conflict with the English season. If that means we have to move our matches a few weeks in advance, we would be happy to do that to accommodate the English players. We would like to see a lot of the English players in the IPL but I cannot commit to them until the ECB actually finds a window and clears them.”Modi has said several times over the past month that English players were interested, and his latest comments seem to be a response to Giles Clarke, the England board (ECB) chairman, who said at the weekend that no English-qualified players could be poached by the IPL. “We have a contract with the BCCI [Indian board] … in that contract, they’re not allowed to take any English players of any kind to play in IPL if there is no No Objection Certificate. The IPL will not play any player who has not received an NOC.”Modi has maintained that the IPL will work with the England board, although earlier this month he suggested that the ECB might “move their season back by a few weeks … then we can have a window. It would be a win-win situation for everybody.”That idea, aside from the meteorological issues, left Clarke distinctly unimpressed. “We are not interested in people playing in the IPL,” he said. “The IPL is a domestic competition and we’re not going to alter our season for a domestic season in another country.”Modi is aware he has to be careful. While as chairman of the IPL he can say what he wants, he has to balance that position with his role as vice-president of the Indian board.The IPL is already impacting on England with several overseas players preferring to play in it rather than start the season with their counties. And while only one England player – Dimitri Mascarenhas – has signed, it has been announced that five of the New Zealand squad for the tour which starts in five weeks will miss two warm-up games because of their IPL commitments.Clarke has maintained that the large sums of money on offer are still not enough to tempt the best in his country. “I don’t think the rewards being talked about are particularly ones England players would be interested in,” he said. “Should any player give up his English contract he would, of course, risk losing his England place. We play international cricket during the time the IPL is on and most players don’t want to lose their international place.”Asked about Mascarenhas, Clarke made clear his position. “As far as the ECB was concerned it was entirely a matter for his employer. Hampshire are taking a serious risk, which they acknowledge, that Mascarenhas might get injured while playing in the IPL and be out for the whole English summer.”One England player who might sign, Modi hinted, is Steve Harmison. Although he has a central contract, it appears increasingly unlikely that will be renewed after a string of substandard performances led to him being dropped from the side in New Zealand.The signs are that the relative harmony that has so far existed between the IPL and the ECB could start to be tested in the coming months as the IPL’s desire to sign up as many of the leading stars grows. That, in turn, could test the relationship between the board and its contracted players.

ScorecardKenya cruised to a 104-run run victory in the third and final ODI at a sunny Mombasa Sports Club, completing a series whitewash over Bermuda to give their World Cup preparations a major boost. For Bermuda, however, the upbeat mood which has been a hallmark of their game ever since they qualified for the tournament 16 months ago has given way to the reality that they are far from ready to compete with cricket’s big guns.The game was as good as over by the halfway mark. For much of the last decade Steve Tikolo has been widely accepted as the best batsman outside mainstream international cricket. He is now past his best – and Kenya’s recent international isolation has also dulled his cutting edge – but he turned back the clock with a majestic hundred which enabled Kenya to post 305 for 8.Dropped early on, Tikolo cut loose against some mediocre bowling to record his second – and highest – hundred in an ODI. Both in Nairobi and in the first two matches here, the pitches were damp and made run-scoring hard work. Finally, this match was played on a hard, fast and true surface and Tikolo gorged himself.As was the case on Sunday, the main stand was between Tikolo and the precocious Tanmay Mishra. The pair added 117 for the fourth wicket in 18 overs before Mishra was undone by his own carelessness as he looked to open up. The burly Dwayne Leverock weighed in with wickets at the end to finish with 5 for 53.Thomas Odoyo reduced Bermuda to 6 for 2 before a third-wicket stand of 98 between Dean Minors and Irvine Romaine got the innings on course, albeit slipping behind the asking rate. When Romaine departed in the 26th over the required rate was close to being in double figures, and with the spinners, especially the fast-improving Hiren Varaiya, proving hard to get away, Bermuda gave up the chase and opted for some batting practice instead.

Andy Pycroft, Zimbabwe’s team manager, wants to put in the background the politics and the economics that have afflicted Zimbabwe’s cricket in recent times. Instead he wants to concentrate on developing their reconstructed, inexperienced side for their forthcoming trip to the Caribbean.”We’re looking at cricket not politics and trying to prepare this new side as quickly as we can.”As they prepare to head for the West Indies for a series of seven one-day internationals, starting on April 29, Pycroft is optimistic they will make the type of progress to ensure they return to Test cricket early next year.”We wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing unless we believe it was possible,” Pycroft said. “The time frame set to try and get back into Test cricket is February next year.”We’ve very much been focused on one-day cricket because we believe that’s the way to bring the side through and then get back into longer cricket once we’ve got the experience that we need.”Pycroft, who played three Tests and 20 one-day internationals for Zimbabwe between 1983 and 1992, was speaking from Harare during an interview with CMC CricketPlus during the third day of the Carib Beer Challenge final between Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados at Guracara Park on Monday.A series victory, he admitted, would certainly raise a lot of eyebrows. “A lot of people have written Zimbabwe cricket off with the problems they’ve had, but there is still a lot of potential there.”Their 16-man squad, led by Terrance Duffin, includes several players with very little international experience, but the manager is upbeat about the preparations.”The mood’s been very good. It’s a very young side. The average age is only something just over 20 years old, forced on us because a lot of players have given up in the recent past,” Pycroft said. “The side we’ve got together has been practising hard over the last five or six weeks. They are learning quickly and playing quite well. The strength of the side is more in the bowling department. The batting is quite inexperienced.”Prior to coming to the Caribbean, Zimbabwe played against Kenya and after the ODIs against the West Indies, they will remain for a triangular limited-overs series in Trinidad that also involves Bermuda and Canada.”We want these lads to get as much experience as possible. A lot of these guys haven’t played at international level,” Pycroft said. “They are getting better and better. The aim of this tour is to give them experience as quickly as possible and to be as competitive as possible. There is no doubt we can do it.”

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Ian Butler and Devon Smith turned in stellar performances with the ball and bat to secure Windward Islands’ spot in the KFC Cup final against Trinidad. Butler took 4 for 30 to restrict Barbados to 155 and Smith carried his bat through the chase to lead Windward to victory by three wickets at the Arnos Vale Ground in St Vincent.Butler backed up Rawl Lewis’s decision to bowl first by taking four of the top five Barbados wickets in quick time. They were struggling at 92 for 5 at one stage, a position from which they never sufficiently recovered. Floyd Reifer top-scored for Barbados with 42 but their hopes of a fightback were snuffed out by Rawl Lewis, who took 3 for 29.Chasing a modest target of 156, Windward lost Lyndon James for 13. After a partnership of 42 for the second wicket, Smith lost Andre Fletcher and Miles Bascombe in quick succession and Windwards were struggling at 62 for 3. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals but Smith, who struck 75, provided a steadying hand right through. The required run-rate was never a problem and Smith held up one end as wickets fell at the other to take Windward home with 35 balls to spare.

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Geoffrey Boycott would have approved of it: dour batting by Yorkshire against quality seam bowling in helpful conditions, with only one wicket falling in two hours play. Nottinghamshire’s four-man seam attack bowled 30 overs and the hosts made it to 51 for 1, with Michael Vaughan on 25 and Anthony McGrath on 14.It was a surprise that Yorkshire chose to bat against the only other Division One team to win a match so far this season, but their batsmen performed creditably in the best Yorkshire tradition. Most pleasing would be the innings of Vaughan, who had survived for 81 balls at the close.The sun shone early on, which meant that play on a damp outfield started after an early lunch, but more rain fell before tea and forced a premature end. Importantly for Yorkshire they only lost one wicket, that of Joe Sayers, who made 9 off 72 balls. Slow it may have been, but it was an intriguing battle.The main points of interest were the batting of Vaughan and the bowling of his England team-mate and former county colleague Ryan Sidebottom, although they rarely came up against each other. Sidebottom moved the ball away from the left-hander Sayers, tying him down with seven consecutive maidens and the batsman only got off strike with a leg-bye in the last.Vaughan mostly handled the bowling of Charlie Shreck and was off the mark secondball, with a neat dab for three past gully. He was beaten several times, but broke through every now and then with strokes of pure class, such as when he flicked Shreck past square leg for four and then drove the next ball to the cover boundary.He ruined Sidebottom’s opening figures with two more boundaries – an edge through the slips and a classic extra-cover drive – leaving Sidebottom with 8-7-9-0. Vaughan did at times show impatience at being tied down, flashing on a couple of occasions, but Sayers was the one who fell, playing on to Mark Ealham with the total at 32.Stuart Broad, in his first championship match for his new county, also bowled well, getting lift as well as movement. His seven overs cost 14 but he was unable to make a breakthrough.There was a brief and unusual interruption at one stage when a fox seemingly thought it was required as a substitute fielder, straying onto the outfield before disappearing as mysteriously as it had come. Presumably it had been wearing a media pass, or else the gatekeepers had been lax in allowing it in without paying. Perhaps they thought it a costume-day participant who had got his Test dates mixed up.Sidebottom had just returned for a second spell before tea when bad light closed in, quickly followed by rain, and the day’s play was over. More of the same on the second day may frustrate fans who have become used to Twenty20, but it will be strongly competitive in the best traditions of the northern game.

Mick Newell, the Nottinghamshire coach, won’t be making a formal complaint despite the controversial finish to the Twenty20 Cup final at Trent Bridge. Leicestershire edged home by four runs but Jim Allenby’s final delivery was extremely close to a no-ball for being over waist height.However, following the result Newell said the issue would now be laid to rest despite being unhappy at the umpire’s decision. Asked if he thought it should have been called, Newell said: “Yes. But I won’t be mentioning it to the umpires. They’re not going to change their minds now.”I don’t feel robbed as such but I’m a little disappointed as I thought it was fairly clear, but it happens I suppose. I assume either umpire could have called it had they seen it but Leicestershire were already celebrating, so it was a tough situation and if they don’t see it they don’t see it.”But Samit Patel, who was interviewed moments after the match finished, was less restrained in his comments. “It was clearly a no-ball and it’s cost us a chance to win the final,” he told Sky Sports. “We got so close but someone has to lose and it’s us today.”However, winning skipper Jeremy Snape disagreed, insisting that the decision to allow the delivery was in line with the policy the umpires had followed all day. “I had complete faith in the umpires,” he said. “We got in a winning position and Jimmy [Allenby] – credit to him – bowled a great last couple.”Heavy rain was falling during the closing stages of the final and Snape said that played a part in the frantic finish. “The ball was wet and the bowlers had rags to control the ball in the rain so it was hard but we’ve seen balls at that height all day not being called.”Leicestershire have become the first team to win two Twenty20 titles but Snape is not getting carried away by the success. “We’re only four years in so we’re not going crazy about making history but we’re really pleased.”It was tough but we believed we could come and win and credit to the spinners, they have been big match-winners for us all season.”

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File photo – Peter Fulton’s 55-ball 65 helped Canterbury chase down the target in 37.4 overs•Getty Images

Fifties from Peter Fulton and Henry Nicholls stretched Canterbury’s unbeaten run in this season’s Ford Trophy to five, as they collected a six-wicket victory against Auckland.Chasing 244, Fulton and Nicholls built on Ronnie Hira and Tom Latham’s strong start. The pair added 82 for the third wicket at a brisk pace before Nicholls fell to Lachie Ferguson with the score at 181 in the 32nd over. Fulton, however, continued his assault, smashing five fours and four sixes in his 55-ball 65. He was dismissed four overs after Nicholls, but by then Canterbury were just 28 runs away from the target with over 14 overs in hand. Todd Astle and Andrew Ellis took the visitors home in 37.4 overs, further strengthening Canterbury’s position at the top of the table.In the first innings, Auckland were guided to 243 for 7 by wicketkeeper Brad Cachopa’s 107. Cachopa walked in in the fourth over and dropped anchor for the hosts, batting till the last over of the innings. He was unable to build partnerships with the middle order as quick wickets reduced Auckland to 164 for 6. Donovan Grobbelaar then slammed an unbeaten 45, adding 75 with Cachopa for the seventh boost Auckland in the death.

Holly Colvin and Lydia Greenway were the stand-out performers on the opening weekend of Super 4s action. Colvin, the England left-arm spinner, took 5 for 7 and Lydia Greenway hit 147 runs over the two days. Ebony Rainford-Brent also impressed in her first outing in the Super 4s.During the first round of matches, Rosalie Birch’s Sapphires fell to defeat against a strong Diamonds outfit. Jenny Gunn began the competition in fine form, hitting 51 and captain Nicky Shaw chipped in with 43 not out as the Diamonds reached 196 for 4. In reply the Sapphires were all out for 154, Kent spinner Jo Watts taking 3 for 10.In the second match on Saturday the Rubies beat the Emeralds by seven wickets. The Emeralds, batting first, reached 207 for 7, with Beth Morgan making 44 and Laura Joyce 40. In reply Greenway smashed an unbeaten 87 as they reached their target with 5.1 overs remaining.The Rubies remained unbeaten for the weekend as they beat the Sapphires by 66 runs on Sunday. Greenway once again led the way making 60 before falling to Jenny Laycock, who returned impressive figures of 4 for 7, including three wickets in four balls. In reply Colvin picked up her five-wicket haul as the Sapphires were bowled out for 61.The Emeralds won their match against the Diamonds by 15 runs. Jane Smit made the highest score of the innings, 39, for the Emeralds before being run out by Gunn, as they made 167 for 9. In reply, the Diamonds fell to 152 all out, as only Kate Oakenfold made a contribution with 44.After the first weekend of matches, the Rubies are unbeaten and sit at the top of the table, whilst last year’s winners the Sapphires are yet to open their account and sit at the bottom of the table.

Seamer Glen Querl made an eye-catching entrance to Zimbabwean first-class cricket as a match haul of 9 for 101 from him helped set up a nine-wicket win for Matabeleland Tuskers over Southern Rocks at Masvingo Sports Club.Querl grew up in Zimbabwe and played Under-19 cricket for them before heading to England to further his career, and landing a spot on MCC’s Young Cricketers programme. From there, he was picked up by the Unicorns – a team of non-contracted professionals in the English domestic one-day competition – and become an established member of their seam attack.After a couple of speculative matches for the Mountaineers’ B side at the end of last season, he returned to Zimbabwe and won a contract with Tuskers, sharing the new ball with Keegan Meth in the first innings against Rocks. He made a telling start on his first-class debut, his 6 for 38 helping to skittle Tuskers for 148. Half-centuries from opener Terry Duffin and wicketkeeper Adam Wheater ensured a lead for Tuskers, after which Meth’s five-for set a fourth-innings target of exactly 100. Tuskers lost Brian Chari early, but Duffin and Gavin Ewing saw them home with minimum fuss against the struggling Rocks, who are yet to win a first-class match this season.Mid West Rhinos very nearly pulled of a remarkable win in their match against Mashonaland Eagles at Kwekwe Sports Club. Having conceded a first-innings lead, Rhinos seemed to be out of contention after setting Eagles a target of just 158 in the fourth innings. In a remarkable turnaround, Rhinos clawed their way back in to the match and eventually held Eagles to a tense draw, reducing them to 154 for 9 before the match came to an end.Rhinos had reached 321 in their first innings after being put in to bat, thanks mainly to the efforts of the in-form Gary Ballance, who cracked 83, and Solomon Mire’s career-best 96. Eagles captain Stuart Matsikenyeri then underpinned a strong batting effort, his 144 adding to three half-centuries from Sikandar Raza, Regis Chakabva and Peter Moor as Eagles reached 463.Ballance, who has now scored 421 runs in his last three first-class innings, carried the batting once again in the second innings, his his 128 – and Riki Wessels’ 73 – guiding Rhinos to 299 all out. Eagles stumbled through the early stages of their chase on the final evening, but appeared on course during an 81-run fifth-wicket stand between Chakabva and Moor. Once they were parted, however, panic set in and three run-outs reduced Eagles to 154 for 9 in the final over of the day.

Derbyshire have signed former Surrey left-arm spinner Nayan Doshi and Leicestershire batsman John Sadler as they continue to remodel their squad for the 2008 season.Doshi walked out of Surrey during August citing a lack of first-team opportunity and initially tried to sign for Sussex. However, he couldn’t obtain written permission from Surrey – required for a mid-season switch of counties – and didn’t play again during 2007.Sadler, the left-handed top-order batsman, played a key role in Leicestershire’s 2004 and 2006 Twenty20 titles.”I am delighted that we have been able to bring these two quality players in the prime of their careers to Derbyshire,” said head of cricket John Morris. “They will be outstanding additions to our squad in terms of their ability on the field but also what they will add off it.”Statistics don’t tell you everything but if you look at both of these players their careers were flourishing before disrupted seasons in 2007, even then they both managed to turn in some outstanding performances.”According to the the club are also hopeful of securing Rikki Clarke’s signature as their new captain and are still chasing Mahela Jayawardene as an overseas player.