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Graham Roope, the former Surrey and England allrounder, collapsed and died in Grenada yesterday. He was 60.Roope will probably be best remembered for his outstanding close catching – he was one of the best slip fielders of his generation – and it was this as much as his batting that won him 21 Test and eight ODI caps between 1973 and 1978. He scored 860 runs in Tests at 30.71 as well as holding 35 catches, and was unlucky in that he seemed to be on the verge of finding his feet when he was discarded – he made seven fifties, but never reached three figures.He was at his best in backs-against-the-wall situations. At Karachi in 1977-78 he batted for almost five hours in making 56 (ended by a shocking lbw decision) to bail England out after they had collapsed to 107 for 5. And in 1975 at The Oval he made his Test-best of 77 against Australia after England followed-on. They saved the match, but England did not tour that winter and Roope was given a torrid working over by West Indies early the following season in a warm-up match and that cost him his place when the Test series started.He toured twice with England. In 1972-73 he visited India and Pakistan, where he made his Test debut, and in 1977-78 was on the trip to Pakistan and New Zealand.Geoff Arnold, the current Surrey bowling coach, who played with Roope for club and country, spoke to Cricinfo about his memories of his former team-mate. “He was a very affable and jovial guy. He was especially good against quick bowling and would often walk back with them to try and get them on his side.””As a slip fielder he was outstanding, I’d put him in the top half a dozen I’ve ever seen. He held some stunning catches off me for Surrey and England. In fact, if he ever did drop a catch it was often the easier ones that were coming straight at him. He had great reflexes as a goalkeeper and this showed when he was at slip.”And off the pitch, too, Arnold said Roope was a character: “He could talk the hind legs off a donkey in the changing rooms and was a great weather forecaster. We thought he could sense a drop of rain 300 miles away.”

The corkscrew-curled Roope was also a bit of a lucky charm – England only lost twice when he played. He was also the man at the other end when Geoff Boycott completed his 100th first-class hundred at Headingley in 1977.A front-foot middle-order batsman, Roope was a mainstay for Surrey for a decade and a half, and his best season came in 1971 when his 1641 runs at 44.35 were key to the county winning the Championship ( he also took 59 catches in that summer). His medium-pace bowling was also effective, more so in his early career. In 1968 he captured 50 wickets. He appeared in four one-day finals, finishing on the winning side only the once in the 1974 Benson & Hedges Cup.He represented Berkshire both before and after his first-class career, and was also a decent football goalkeeper, playing for Wimbledon, Kingstonian, Woking and Corinthian Casuals. After retiring he coached and did some commentary work.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A spirited chase led by Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa fell 18 short as Australia celebrated the end of Ricky Ponting’s rocky batting patch with a tight victory. While the home side toasted a return to form ahead of Sunday’s first final, India’s plight to reach the CB Series deciders now comes down to the match against Sri Lanka on Tuesday after they reached 299, a haul relying on Gambhir’s second century of the tournament.A horrible series was forgotten by Ponting during his fine 124 while half-centuries to Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds also lifted their clouds of poor form in a brutal team display of 7 for 317. In the face of such a challenge – it was easily the highest total of the series – India were always behind and it was only the performances of Gambhir and Robin Uthappa that kept them in the game after the first four wickets went by the 11th over.Gambhir and Mahendra Singh Dhoni met at the difficulty of 4 for 51 and made sure the team could provide some outstanding fight during the 98-run liaison, but the assignment eventually proved too difficult. Gambhir varied his pace throughout his display and his 113 from 119 balls was important, although his side was left wanting more. Uthappa tried his best with Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh providing excellent help as the overs ran out.Gambhir lifted his rate after Dhoni departed, having taken his time in the first half of his innings, but he was unable to drag his side ahead. His best shot was a pull in front of square leg off Brett Lee – a slog-sweep for his only six from Brad Hogg was also impressive – and he was strong on the offside. The main shame was the lack of support provided from his top-order team-mates.Dhoni failed to ignite regularly, usually working the ball around like he was chasing a total in the 200s, but while he was there the Australians sensed danger. He was removed for 36 when Lee picked up his second major wicket on a mixed night that included five wickets and some no-ball problems, including three in a row in a nine-ball over. At 5 for 149 India’s were in big danger, but they didn’t stop battling and Gambhir found a willing partner in Uthappa.They needed about nine an over and the slow bowlers Michael Clarke and Hogg were targeted in the 67-run partnership in 8.4 overs. A sharp piece of work from Gilchrist, who stumped Gambhir when his back foot slid out of the crease when trying to slog Hogg, earned his fifth dismissal. Uthappa and Pathan scurried another 41 and Harbhajan arrived to slash 20 off 11 before he miscued and Gilchrist benefited again. Next ball Uthappa holed out to midwicket, leaving with 51 from 46, and Lee had four wickets. He came back to finish the match by bowling Ishant Sharma to collect an unlikely 5 for 58.The batting problems began when Stuart Clark captured two early victims with the edges of Virender Sehwag (18) and Yuvraj Singh (5), who both pushed unconvincingly and provided work for Gilchrist. Rohit Sharma went in a similar manner to Bracken after the chase started badly when Sachin Tendulkar stepped across his stumps and was lbw to Lee fifth ball. What they needed was the start their opponents managed.After a subdued campaign the Australia top order decided blasting out of a slump was the best option and in a game of no consequence to them they raced like a bushfire. Pegged back by the slower bowlers after reaching 92 from the first ten overs, they rebuilt through the reborn Ponting before Symonds added some late-innings impetus with 59 off 49 balls.

Along with Hayden, Ponting and Symonds have been the main under-achievers in the series, but the results of Ponting – his highest score in six previous matches was 25 – were the biggest worry for Australia. The century, his 26th in ODIs, came when he found a single to mid-off from his 111th delivery and he accelerated until he skewed to Pathan at deep mid-off.Before today Ponting and Hayden had been responsible for sleepy starts that were from the 1980s, but the modern approach returned and the early exchanges were like a Twenty20. Ishant and Sreesanth, who came in after Munaf Patel suffered food poisoning, were unable to stop the initial pummeling. Sreesanth went for 37 off four overs and Ishant was only slightly better in giving up 37 from five.Some reshuffling from Dhoni was effective – Harbhajan was employed for the 11th over – and only 32 came in the next ten overs, but Ponting was able to break away. Once Hayden departed for 54 and Clarke (31) left to a poor pull shot off Sehwag, Symonds joined the flexing. His six fours and two sixes were typically forceful and his fifty came up with a heave over the fence from Pathan.India chased the same quick opening as Australia got from Gilchrist, whose 16 came from seven balls, before he left to a miracle take from Dhoni. Sreesanth clipped Gilchrist’s inside edge, forcing Dhoni to change direction and he leaped to his right for a one-handed take. It was the highlight of India’s time in the field and from there things went downhill.The bowlers were almost helpless and gained figures to forget. Sreesanth went for 58 from eight overs – he did take two wickets – Ishant gave up 65 in ten and Pathan allowed 73 in nine. Harbhajan and the part-timers Sehwag and Yuvraj fared better, but it was Australia’s turn to fire. India will hope the same applies to their big-name batsmen when they face Sri Lanka in Hobart on Tuesday in a must-win encounter.

Shoaib Akhtar has said he had no point to prove to anybody when he went out to bowl against the Delhi Daredevils in his IPL debut for the Kolkata Knight Riders. “I just wanted to win the game,” said Shoaib, who ripped through Delhi’s batting with four wickets from three overs.With Kolkata defending a low total, Shoaib removed Virender Sehwag off the second ball of the innings, dismissed Gautam Gambhir in his next over and then took two more off successive balls in his third.Last month the Pakistan board banned Shoaib for five years on grounds of disciplinary problems but allowed him to play the IPL. He last played for Pakistan in November 2007.Shoaib said he was stressed but put everything behind him before the match. “For me, my team is the most important thing,” Shoaib said. “Kolkata is my home team. Eden Gardens is my home ground. Sharing the dressing room with Shah Rukh Khan and Sourav [Ganguly] was fantastic. They backed me. And I am really happy to perform. They put faith in me. And I am happy to deliver.”Ganguly, the Kolkata captain, acknowledge Shoaib’s performance. “He came to the country with lots [of things] happening behind him,” Ganguly said. “But he showed a lot of character.”Sehwag said it was the best Twenty20 spell he had ever seen but denied that Delhi’s batsmen fell to Shoaib’s pace.” We are used to pace,” Sehwag said. “We are all international players. I, Gautam and [Manoj] Tiwary. We batted too positively against Shoaib.”Their 23-run win keeps Kolkata at fourth place just above Delhi; their next match is against the Mumbai Indians on Friday.

On Gurunath MeiyappanFacing criminal charges and a judicial custody for a period of about 10 days rather shows the seriousness of the misconduct committed by him. His habit of regularly placing bets in IPL matches renders the argument of his being first offender and unblemished antecedents in previous IPL tournaments of no worth.That he lost up to Rs 60 lakhs in bets shows that he engaged himself in heavy bets. It is his bad luck that he did not make money out of these bets. Any agony suffered by him because of media coverage or any hardship that may have been caused to him is too small in comparison to the huge injury he caused to the reputation and image of the game, IPL and BCCI. If the reputation and image of the sport are lost, what remains? Being 40 years of age, he is not young but middle-aged. It is difficult to accept that he has passion for the game…The committee imposes following sanctions:

• He is declared ineligible for participation in the sport of cricket as explained in the anti-corruption code for a maximum of five years under article 2.2.1
• He is suspended for life from the activities as explained in Article 7.5 under Level 4 ( first offence ) of Article 2.4 of the Code of conduct
• He is suspended for life from being involved in any type of cricket matches under Section 6, rule 4.2(b) read with (j) of the Operational Rules.

Raj KundraAs part owner, having 11.4% of share-holding by his family and investment vehicle, and team official, Raj Kundra was required to conduct himself in comformity with the rules, regulations and codes framed by the BCCI. Being UK citizen, he had heavy responsibility on him to ensure that his acts and actions were not in conflict with the laws of a foreign country. Betting is a crime punishable under the Indian Penal Code. Besides that, it is an offence, corrupt practice under the BCCI’s rules regulations and codes. With so much of information available online, it is very difficult to accept that as a UK citizen, he believed betting to be legal in India. It is no secret that some of the players of the Rajasthan Royals of which he was the team official were found enmeshed in a web of match fixing . When a part owner (team official) indulges in corrupt practices, unsavoury individuals and bad elements become bold enough to involve vulnerable elements including players in all sorts of corruption. The findings by the Hon Supreme Court of the acts of betting have affected the image of the BCCI, IPL and the game of cricket and brought each one of them to disrepute and involvement in betting by team officials is against the spirit of the game, reflect the grave nature of misconduct he is found to be involved with.Sanctions:

• He is declared ineligible from participation in the sport of cricket as explained in Anti Corrupton Code for the maximum period of 5 years under Article 2.2.1
• He is suspended for life from activities as explained in Article 7.5 under Level 4 ( first offence ) of Article 2.4 of the Code of Conduct.
• He is suspended for life from being involved with the BCCI in any type of cricket matches under Section 6, rule 4.2(b) read with (j) of the Operational Rules.

On India Cements
Moreover, Mr Gurunath Meiyappan was in the position of owner. He is the son-in-law of Mr N Srinivasan, managing director of India Cements, which is a franchise of the team CSK, and Mr Gurunath Meiyappan was considered to be the face of the owner due to his actions. Therefore, offences of the persons who are the face representative of the owner would have to be considered as acts of the owner for the purpose of the operational rules with reference to IPL league matches and consequently the actions of such persons which bring the game, BCCI into disrepute.
Not only that no urgent action was taken by India Cements against Gurunath Meiyappan but as a matter of fact no action has been shown to have been taken against him. The order of suspension passed by the BCCI against Gurunath Meiyappan after his arrest is not an action by India Cements against its official. The plea by India Cements regarding long history to contribution of cricket and cricketers cannot be accepted in view of the fact due to the act of Gurunath Meiyappan, team official of CSK who happened to be son-in-law of Mr N Srinivasan, MD of India Cements, the then BCCI president the purity of the game has been affected and the contribution if any made by the franchise has also been wasted because millions of people, true lovers of the game feel cheated. Moreover, disrepute has been brought to cricket, BCCI and IPL to such an extent that doubts abound in the public consciousness about whether games are clean or not.
Having regard to the findings recorded by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and on taking into consideration all relevant facts and circumstances as noted and discussed above, the Committee proposes to impose sanction on India Cements Ltd (Franchisee) under Section 6,rule 4.2(c) of the Operational Rules by suspending it from the League for a period of two years. The period of suspension shall commence from the date of this order.On Jaipur IPL Cricket Private Limited
Mr Raj Kundra was indeed part owner and also team official and therefore for the purpose of operational rules with reference to IPL matches Mr Raj Kundra’s actions that brought the game, the BCCI and the IPL into disrepute have to be considered actions of the franchise. We do not think that Jaipur IPL can shirk its responsibility by terming the acts done by Mr Raj Kundra as having been done in his personal capacity. If those who indulge in corrupt practices forbidden by the rules of the game are an integral part of the franchise in view of their accreditation, part ownership, close relationship and also being team official, the argument that these acts were personal and as a consequence of them if the image of the game, the BCCI and the league got affected, the franchise cannot be held responsible does not merit acceptance. Such a technical approach is legally unsustainable because of the very nature of relationship between the franchise and the wrongdoer.The general omissions by all franchises found in the ACSU report deserve various attention by the BCCI but in so far as Jaipur IPL is concerned its omissions are grave in as much as its part owner and team official have been found to have indulged in betting and that has affected the image of the game, the BCCI and the league and brought each one of them into disrepute. Jaipur IPL claims that it is highly celebrates as nursery for players but the fact remains that three RR players were arrested and charged with spot-fixing in the 2013 IPL season. The committee can also take notice of the fact that there has been allegation of approach to one of its players for corrupt practices in 2015 IPL season as well. This shows that all is not well with Jaipur IPL in handling anti-corruption issues. It is true that Mr Raj Kundra has relinquished his shares somewhere in the month of March but it is too late. No urgent action was taken by Jaipur IPL against Raj Kundra when his acts of betting became known. Once it is accepted that cricket is greater than individuals or a body of individuals and financial loss may be caused to a few players and franchises may not be a significant consideration while taking disciplinary action or for imposition of punishment for wrongdoing.On consideration of all relevant aspects of the matter, the Committee imposes sanction on JIPL (Franchisee) under Section 6, rule 4.2(c) of the Operational Rules by suspending it from the League for a period of two years. The period of suspension shall commence from the date of this order.

An exotic dancer from Melbourne has joined the chorus of women making allegations about Shane Warne’s behaviour, following claims made by the South African Helen Cohen Alon, that he had harassed her with text phone messages.The dancer, a married 38-year-old, has apparently come forward because what she perceives to be unfair treatment meted out to Cohen Alon, who was recently described as a “hairy-backed Sheila” by the former Test batsman David Hookes.”She says all the things that happened to her, this South African woman, happened to this woman as well,” said Harry M Miller, an Australian celebrity agent. “The stuff this woman alleges, if it’s true, will make a huge noise everywhere.”Meanwhile a former employee of Cricket Australia (CA) claimed they received regular complaints about Warne. “There’s just too many ladies with too many stories,” she told Channel Seven with her face hidden and voice distorted. “He made life very difficult for the staff there.”But CA general manager Peter Young said he didn’t know what the fuss was about. “I’ve been here for nine months and it’s not a fact that we get complaints about Shane Warne every day of the week,” he said. “We received calls about Shane when the anti-doping case was on, and we have received complaints about him this week in regards to the allegations, which remain only allegations at this stage.”Warne’s behaviour again in the spotlight

Mick Miller, the South Australia allrounder, has retired to set up a charter fishing business in Darwin. Miller, 25, told his team-mates of the decision following Saturday’s ING Cup game against Victoria at Adelaide Oval.He said the business venture, which would also involve his brother, was a move to secure the financial future of his young family. “This was a very difficult decision to make, particularly with the season underway, but needing to secure the financial future of my family is my No. 1 priority,” Miller said.Miller made his first-class debut for Queensland in 1998-99 but moved to Adelaide in 2001 to further his career. He played 18 first-class matches, scoring 745 runs at an average of 24.83, and collected 28 wickets at 39.50. In his final appearance last weekend he scored 28 and took 0 for 35 as South Australia lost to the Bushrangers.Harvey Jolly, the South Australian Cricket Association general manager of cricket, said Miller was a talented player who would be missed. “Mick has outstanding all-round ability and has represented South Australia well during his time here,” Jolly said. “He is not only a talented cricketer but someone who is a real character within the squad.”

Scorecard