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The BCB directors’ panel, which nears the end of its four-year term, still awaits a directive from the National Sports Council (NSC) – the regulatory body for all sports federations in Bangladesh – regarding an election schedule. The issue is the result of the year-long deadlock between the Bangladesh board and NSC over control of the board, as each side has been proposing ideas and rejecting those made by the other.The current impasse is over whether three NSC-appointed directors will be part of the newly elected board. A change has been made to the BCB constitution to accommodate the NSC’s call for three representatives, as opposed to just one, but it is still a point of contention. If pushed through, it could – contrary to the ICC directive that Members boards do away with government involvement in the administration of cricket – become a case of government interference. The BCB is largely a democratically elected body that has 24 directors (23 elected and, until now, one NSC representative) and a government-appointed president.There have been four previous elections: in 1998, 2001, 2005 and, the last one, November 12, 2008. The BCB’s current panel is scheduled to be in office until November 28, but the NSC is yet to make the announcement about the next election.”Everything depends on the NSC. They are in charge of all sports federations in our country, so there’s nothing that the BCB has to decide at the moment,” BCB’s acting CEO, Nizamuddin Chowdhury, told ESPNcricinfo. Sources close to the BCB and NSC have said that the BCB’s current directors’ panel will be asked to continue – although there is a possibility of the appointment of an ad-hoc body – till election dates are confirmed.In the previous elections, 167 councillors – representing the cricket clubs of Dhaka, District Sports Associations (DSAs), former cricketers, educational institutes, women’s sports body and services – were divided into three categories. The Dhaka clubs held 52 votes (one for each councillor) to elect 12 directors, district representatives had 68 votes to choose 10 directors, while 47 votes from the third category elected one director.Another point of contention is regarding direct councillorship for former cricketers. The BCB, at its annual conference earlier this year, amended its constitution, abolishing direct councillorship for former cricketers. That amendment was overturned by the NSC.The new board president, Nazmul Hassan, said last month that the BCB still had points to discuss with the NSC, though he hadn’t elaborated on what they were.ESPNcricinfo has learnt that the ICC has sent the BCB a letter in July, asking to be made aware of the board’s constitutional processes so that democratic practices are not compromised; the delay in holding elections may mean a disregard of BCB’s democratic practices. The BCB has replied to the ICC with the details of its constitution, and has also written to the NSC regarding these letters, but progress on the election front is still awaited.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKemar Roach and Shivnarine Chanderpaul were involved in a half-century stand (file photo)•DigicelCricket.com/Brooks LaTouche Photography

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• West Indies won two Tests in a series against a major Test team (excluding Zimbabwe and Bangladesh) for the first time since the 2-1 win against India at home in 2002.

• West Indies completed their first series win against New Zealand since the 1-0 win in 1995-96. West Indies had gone on to lose three of their past four series against New Zealand.

• There has not been a single draw in the last 12 matches in Jamaica. Only two other venues (Headingley and Melbourne) have a hundred-percent result record since 2000 (min 10 matches).

• For only the fifth time since 2000, West Indies completed a successful chase of a 200-plus target. Their highest chased in the same period is 418 against Australia in Antigua in 2003.

• Kemar Roach, who picked up four wickets in New Zealand’s first innings, made his highest Test score of 41. He went past his previous highest of 29 against Pakistan in 2011.

• The 70-run stand between Roach and Shivnarine Chanderpaul is West Indies’ best for the fifth wicket in the fourth innings against New Zealand and level fifth overall for the fifth wicket (fourth innings stands).

The end came sooner than the clouds. West Indies began the day needing 71 with six wickets in hand, but there were no twists as the hosts knocked off the required runs in just over an hour and secured a 2-0 series win, their first against a team other than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in the last three years. There were fears that the tropical storm, Ernesto, would wash away the last two days of the Test, but much to the relief of the home side the players woke up to clear skies. Kemar Roach and Shivnarine Chanderpaul played contrasting knocks but extinguished any fears that West Indies could capitulate in the anxiety of pushing for that elusive series win.Roach, who came in as the nightwatchman, was the revelation, outscoring Chanderpaul with enterprising shots. West Indies had the edge by the end of the third day but given their propensity to collapse, a couple of early wickets would have redressed the balance. The aim would have been to dislodge Chanderpaul early, but New Zealand found Roach a handful. His plan was to be positive and he wasn’t afraid to drive on the up. New Zealand, expectedly, set attacking fields but he managed to find the gaps.Roach got the chase rolling with a fierce straight drive off Tim Southee, and later in the over smacked a short one over point. Roach’s aggression took the pressure off Chanderpaul, who dropped anchor at the other end and didn’t give the bowlers an inch. Roach rubbed it in further by slapping a short delivery from Neil Wagner past cover to bring up the fifty stand. The writing was on the wall for New Zealand.Roach missed out on a half-century, though, when he drove hard at Kane Williamson and got a thick outside edge to point. When he departed, West Indies were just 23 away from victory. Narsingh Deonarine, who gave New Zealand headaches with his off spin, unleashed a couple of boundaries to take West Indies closer just as the clouds started to appear. The final honours went to Chanderpaul, who dabbed Williamson to third man to bring up West Indies’ first series win against New Zealand since 1996, and their first clean sweep since the 2002 series in Bangladesh.New Zealand, though, failed to give their outgoing coach John Wright a winning farewell. Defeat rounded off a difficult tour, in which they lost the T20s 2-0 and the one-dayers 4-1. They won’t have much time to rectify those errors, with the tour of India coming up in a few weeks.

England’s elite players would have more of a say in the management of their workloads under proposals that are being drawn up by the Professional Cricketers Association (PCA) ahead of the redrafting of central contracts next year.If PCA proposals are accepted, England would shift slightly towards the sort of squad system that has become an accepted part of Premier League football, as the most senior and successful players such as Kevin Pietersen were given more licence to miss matches regarded as less important.Angus Porter, chief executive of the PCA, facilitated unsuccessful negotiations last week between Pietersen and his representatives and Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, which failed to end the stand-off which has led to Pietersen’s premature retirement from all England limited-overs cricket.Pietersen wanted rest from more one-day matches and also proposed missing at least one of England’s May Tests to enable him to play a full IPL season.Porter remains adamant that a more formalised rotation system is essential if England’s top players are to maximise their time in the game. The current three-year agreement expires in autumn 2013 and the PCA and ECB are anxious to draw up a new deal before next summer’s Ashes series.”This is an issue we need to get to grips with and one that we will be discussing in the next central contracts negotiation,” Porter said. “We all recognise that with a really hectic schedule managing workloads is important particularly for senior players who have played the longest and who play in all formats of the game.”We need to find a way to provide a little bit more structure to what is already happening – to develop England cricket as a squad game where you not only try to win every game but you try to keep the talent fresh and at the top as long as possible.”Some kind of process that introduces some form of flexibility for those players who have been at the top for a good length of time is desirable and consistent with that.”Porter also pointed to the example of the ATP circuit where leading tennis players are exempt from less prestigious tournaments and so delay their retirement as a result. Roger Federer, who defeated Andy Murray in the Wimbledon men’s final earlier this month, may already have retired without the management of his playing demands.Reducing the amount of international cricket is virtually impossible under the self-perpetuating system where the Future Tours Programme is fixed until 2020 and TV rights have been sold well ahead – Sky TV in the UK have a deal until 2017 with a further two-year option – on the basis of these deals. That only leaves the options of rest and rotation and a more orderly fixture list.”The existing rules work well in some cases – Andrew Strauss is a good example of somebody who has benefited – and less well in others,” Porter said. “It is not inconceivable that they might allow players to retire from Test cricket and play in both forms of one-day cricket.”What central contracts could not resolve, said Porter, was the ECB’s uneasy relationship towards IPL.”I do think the ECB and the other boards have to grasp that nettle, accept the IPL exists and identify a window for it so we do not always have to manage the consequences of an event which without constraint will continue to grow and move around the schedule. It shouldn’t be the most difficult thing in the world.”IPL is this dirty great big thing that is not fixed in time and space in the FTP and until or unless the Boards and the ICC get to grips with it, accept that it is here to stay and identify a window of a sensible length for it, it is impossible for any of us to plan.”That will become increasingly evident between 2014 and 2016. ICC one-day tournaments are scheduled in March and April for each of those years, pushing IPL even later into the year – infiltrating England’s international season to an even greater extent.”Like most traditionalists, I believe that Test cricket is the priority,” Porter said, adding that it was an understandable ambition for England players to want to take part in “the most lucrative, high-profile and fantastic tournament. Being practical about it, IPL is different and is bigger. It is not impossible for us to do something about it if we can get the IPL placed in a window. “Unless accommodation between English cricket and IPL is found, Pietersen, depicted by many as a self-obsessed maverick, might turn out to be the harbinger of a battle-scarred future as future England players are frustrated in their desire to play in cricket’s most glamorous and rewarding T20 tournament.Porter, closer to the negotiations than most, said: “I can’t take issue with either side in the argument. Both have been very reasonable in their points of view and have tried to find some middle ground but you come back to the fact that at the moment there is an irreconcilable issue that IPL clashes with test cricket and the ECB regards Test cricket with absolute primacy. Much as they want to be reasonable they can’t and won’t budge.”

ScorecardFormer Derbyshire all-rounder Wayne White condemned his ex-team mates to a fifth Friends Life t20 defeat as Leicestershire won a thrilling North Group match by four wickets off the last ball at Derby.White hit the final ball from Rana Naved-ul-Hasan to the fine leg boundary to clinch victory and overhaul Derbyshire’s 171 for 3 which was built around Wes Durston, who batted through the innings for an unbeaten 55 from 50 balls.Leicestershire looked out of it needing 37 from the last three overs but after 23 came from the penultimate over from Alex Hughes, White and Robert Taylor saw their side home. It was a jolt for Derbyshire who had amassed their biggest total in this season’s competition.Leicestershire sped off from the outset as Josh Cobb and Abdul Razzaq took 66 from the first five overs. Cobb pulled Jon Clare for six in an over that cost 20 and Razzaq drove Hughes for three fours before he carved the spinner into the hands of cover.Cobb hoisted Durston for another six but Rana beat him with a slower ball that he chipped to midwicket and after 10 overs, the Foxes needed another 82 with a lot resting on the West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan. With the pressure building, he was run out by a direct hit for 22.The game appeared to be in Derbyshire’s grasp but when Chesney Hughes dropped White at short fine leg off the fourth ball of the last over, White made them pay by clipping Rana for four to clinch a dramatic victory.

ScorecardPaul Horton top-scored during Lancashire’s second innings as the champions set Middlesex a stiff target•Getty Images

Lancashire’s ability to press home victory at Aigburth, their base in exile during last year’s title-winning campaign, looks certain to be tested when they attempt to register a first win of the season against a determined Middlesex line-up.Four victories out of six in Liverpool last summer, where they have been based while Old Trafford continues its redevelopment, played a big role in securing their surprise Championship triumph. Playing in this prosperous suburb was supposed to be their big strength – until they began their title defence.Successive defeats against Sussex and Warwickshire at Aigburth have undermined their self-belief, but they will be hopeful of restoring it after a dramatic third day of their match against Middlesex established them as marginal favourites for victory.With 13 wickets falling during Friday, on a wicket that still rewards careful batting, Lancashire closed 399 runs ahead of Middlesex, who were 29 without loss and facing a minimum of 96 overs on the final day to either secure a draw or claim an unlikely victory.History would suggest a Middlesex win would take an extraordinary display, with the highest successful run chase on this ground being Kent’s 360 for 4 from 105 overs back in 2002. Lancashire have history of their own on this ground, including thrilling final-day victories over Yorkshire and Hampshire last season, to provide encouragement that they can force home their first win of the summer.”We have good memories here and we know it is a result wicket,” said Paul Horton, who top-scored for Lancashire with 89. “We played Yorkshire here on this wicket so we know it can go to the wire, but we have dominated the three days and hopefully we can dominate the fourth.”We’ve played well in patches this season without winning anything. We’ve probably not taken advantage of the positions we’ve been in, so tomorrow is a big day and we have to keep plugging away.”Middlesex have certainly provided Lancashire with hope after a dismal start to the third day, which they began on 155 for 5 and needing 88 runs to avoid the follow-on. In conditions that were anything but bowler-friendly, they lost five wickets for 48 runs in 15.1 overs before lunch to concede a 162 first-innings deficit.Once again, Ajmal Shahzad proved what a shrewd loan signing he may be for the champions and demonstrated his expertise as a strike bowler. He claimed two wickets, including one with his fifth ball of the morning, to finish with impressive figures of 4 for 40. Lancashire chose not to enforce the follow-on, the intense humidity and heat and the opportunity to bowl last on a wearing wicket no doubt influencing their decision.The contrast between Middlesex’s struggles and the ease in which Lancashire’s innings began was all too evident. Once Stephen Moore fell to another stunning slip catch from Ollie Rayner, Paul Horton and Karl Brown forged a 130-run second wicket partnership at a good rate.Fresh from his match-saving century at Edgbaston a week ago, Horton set the tone for Lancashire’s innings with 89 off 114 balls, including 11 fours on a ground where the slow outfield does not always make boundaries easily accessible.Having exhausted all their other options to limit the scoring rate, Middlesex turned to the part-time legspin of Dawid Malan, who profited from Lancashire’s adventure to claim an unexpected career-best of 5 for 61 from nine eventful overs.He was punished every time he dropped short and Brown hit successive sixes from full tosses, but he did succeed in interrupting Lancashire’s progress before they finally declared 428 runs ahead to give themselves 14 overs to bowl at Middlesex before the close.Horton was particularly annoyed with himself to get out to Malan, spooning an attempted pull to mid-on shortly before tea, but he was far from alone in gifting his wicket. Ashwell Prince was stumped charging down the wicket and Steven Croft was caught in the deep after hitting 28 from 19 balls, while Brown fell for an entertaining 76 clipping behind.By the time Glen Chapple, the captain, was run out Lancashire were far enough ahead to feel comfortable enough to declare. They were unable to claim a breakthrough before the close but their experience of nail-biting finishes last season should tell them that Aigburth has a habit of serving up final-day drama.

Toby Radford, the West Indies assistant coach, has denied that the confidence levels of the hosts’ young batsmen are taking a battering ahead of a tour of England, in the wake of the top order struggling once again on day two in Dominica. Chief among several areas of concern for West Indies is 19-year-old opener Kraigg Brathwaite, who after starting the series with a fighting half-century in Barbados has since made three consecutive ducks.Following Brathwaite’s dismissal at Windsor Park, Adrian Barath and Kieran Powell formed the foundations of a useful stand, but once Barath went the rest fell away alarmingly, leaving Shivnarine Cahnderpaul to mount the best salvage operation he could against an Australia attack that has slowly gained a measure over their opponents across three Tests. Radford, however, argued that the series had been a difficult one for batsmen of both teams.”I think it [this series] is difficult for both sides. I was happy with how we dealt with the new ball today. I thought Barath was good, I thought Powell was good,” he said. “Having got a really good start against the new ball, suddenly spin did the damage. We’ve had other games where we’ve struggled against the new ball, we’ve talked a lot about it.”How to play [Ben] Hilfenhaus, the fact he sets you up bowling away and then there’s the big inswinger… We’ve looked at that, thought we played that really well today and then on comes an offspinner, lots of turn and bounce, and he does the damage. These are young guys, talented guys, who I think will have good careers and we’ve got to be patient with them. They’re learning and they’ll learn around people like Shiv at the other end. It’s not suicide for us. You learn, you come back and are stronger. Hopefully we can go to England and then perform there.”As for Brathwaite, Radford said he and head coach Ottis Gibson would seek to remind the teenager of the character and ability he had shown in his first innings of the series. Brathwaite’s ability to hang in there at the crease is a critical element of the batting line-up West Indies are seeking to build, as they sorely need batsmen capable of soaking up time and overs in the manner of the 37-year-old Chanderpaul.”You chat with him [Brathwaite]. You talk with him. You practice with him whenever you can and you remind him how good a player he is,” Radford said. “He played very well in Barbados in that first innings. Today he got out in a similar fashion to how he got out in the second innings in Barbados, just hanging the bat a little bit, but again you back him. He’s a good player. He’s a young player. Our job as coaches is to keep his confidence high and work on any little issues as they come along. You’ve got to back your young players.”Of greater concern to Radford is the way in which Australia’s tail has repeatedly wagged. While the captain Darren Sammy had pointed to Michael Hussey as the major source of these rear-guards, in Dominica it was Matthew Wade shepherding the lower order, though Mitchell Starc and Ben Hilfenhaus also played a few handsome strokes of their own in building a final tally of 328.”We’ve regularly got out top quality players. [Shane] Watson, [Ricky] Ponting, [Michael] Clarke. Hussey’s been fantastic all the way through, didn’t get any in this game, but they bat very deep,” Radford said. “Guys come in at No. 9, 10 or 11 and can hold an end up. Last week it was Pattinson, today others take on that mantle. Starc played really well, he got 35 as a guy coming in lower down.”I think if we can take anything away [from this match], it’s important that we bat in the same way with the same brains, the same technique. We’re always looking to develop, we’re always looking to analyse and learn – that’s always my message when we have bad days, that you come in tomorrow and say ‘right, how we going to have a better one’. We must keep learning. I think we’re a side who’ve done well over the last few weeks, we’ve fought well. This happens to be a bad day and we’ve got to come back with a better one tomorrow, simple as that.”Radford said the West Indies bowlers had been reminded of the importance of bowling at the tail in the same manner they had stalked Australia’s top order, but admitted that fatigue after day one in the field under Roseau’s sapping tropical sun may have been a factor in a flat display on the second morning.”The message was we must bowl at those guys – Starc and Wade – as if they were Hussey and top order batters. We’ve got to bowl the same way. We can’t think they’re just going to fall over because we know Australians don’t just fall over,” he said. “Don’t think because they’re No. 9, 10 and 11 they’re just going to give their wickets away, it just doesn’t happen like that. I certainly think fatigue [played a part]. We had a long day in the field yesterday.”Six hours in that heat, I think, took a bit out of the seamers and it’s the physical toll [that affected them]. Someone like Kemar Roach, who has been absolutely magnificent and is a world class bowler, he’s starting to get a bit fatigued. He’s bowled all summer in this series and I think it was hard for him this morning to just dig that bit deeper again. You’re expecting a lot [of a bowler], to do it day in and day out in these temperatures.”

India may have crossed their first hurdle towards reaching the final of the Asia Cup by beating one of their stronger opponents in their opening match, but concerns over their bowling, especially the fast bowing, remain.In Vinay Kumar, Irfan Pathan and Praveen Kumar, they have three bowlers who bowl at a pretty similar, unthreatening pace. All of them prefer operating with the new ball, banking on any early movement on offer, and are far less comfortable bowling at the death. Praveen has not been at his best since his rib injury, Irfan isn’t bowling those magic balls that earned him a die-hard legion of fans, while Vinay isn’t the type of bowler who will give international teams sleepless nights.Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh’s captain, knows where India’s weak link lies. “Their bowling attack seems less stronger than Pakistan’s or Sri Lanka’s, that’s what I feel personally,” he said. “This is what is giving us confidence against India.”The statement comes on the day that Joe Dawes, India’s new bowling coach, got his first chance to get a close-up look at his charges. Linking up with the Indian squad for the first time since his appointment last month, he supervised a three-hour training session on Thursday morning.While Dawes will ponder how to improve the Indian bowling, Mushfiqur and Bangladesh have to come up with a plan to contain the Indian batting, which showed against Sri Lanka just how good they can be in familiar conditions. “It is quite difficult to bowl against their batting line-up,” Mushfiqur said. “But at the same time, a good ball is enough for a batsman if it’s his bad day. If we can capitalise on it and make them commit mistakes by bowling to their weakness, it would work.”Mushfiqur said Bangladesh’s first target was to consistently challenge the top teams. “More than just winning a game, it is important for us to play against big teams confidently, fight against them. This will help us grow and win. We lost the first game by going close, but we don’t do this on a regular basis, so we tend to forget what to do in such situations when faced with it.” This is their 10th Asia Cup campaign, a competition in which they are yet to post a victory against Test opposition. Unless Bangladesh capitalise on India’s weakness and end that streak on Friday, they will be facing another early elimination.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Andrew White and Andrew Poynter celebrate Ireland’s title triumph•Getty Images

Ireland and Afghanistan served up a blistering classic in the final of the World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dubai, putting to rest any fears that the game would be an anti-climax after both teams had already sealed their spot in the World Twenty20 to be held later this year.The game was adorned by brilliant innings from two pugnacious batsmen, Mohammad Shahzad and Paul Stirling. Shahzad cut loose at the bowling, crashing 77 off 57 balls as he finally found a way to overcome Ireland’s grip. Shahzad, the match-winner in this event two years ago, with an unbeaten 65 then, infuriated the Irish attack who responded with long hops that he deposited over the ropes.Boyd Rankin’s first ball was hit for six by Karim Sadiq, but Rankin responded with an angry spell, dismissing Sadiq, who was bowled after the ball crashed into his helmet and rolled onto the stumps. Trent Johnston also got some early stick but had the other opener Javed Ahmadi held at third man.The middle-order batsmen missed their way, but Shahzad ensured a platform which Gulbodin Naib* built on with two sixes off the last two balls.Dawlat Zadran bowled William Porterfield first ball, but that had reassuring echoes of the win over England in Bangalore and Irish fans saw it as an omen. Ed Joyce played some gorgeous shots before he chipped to midwicket.Stirling continued to flay the ball to all parts, making the second-fastest half-century in Twenty20 internationals, off just 17 balls, only behind Yuvraj Singh’s 12 balls of mayhem against England in 2007. His 357 runs, at an average of 44.62, was the best of the tournament. He played some audacious shots, notably a front-front hit for six over third man.Ireland had a couple more hiccups, when Kevin O’Brien was out the ball following Stirling’s dismissal. Wilson fell for 32 with three runs needed, but Andrew Poynter kept his head and the trophy was secured with seven balls to spare.Qualifying for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka was the main aim for Ireland here, but with the ICC offices less than 200 metres away, they took the opportunity to show how far they are ahead of their fellow Associates, against whom they have won 30 out of their last 33 games, two of the defeats by four runs. Ireland will be grouped with Australia and West Indies in the World Twenty20 in September.Ireland are perhaps too strong at their current level but what the ICC needs to be convinced of is if they can compete at the top tier. The recently-articulated ambition of playing Tests can only be achieved with regular wins over Full members.This campaign started with defeat to seventh-ranked Namibia, but Ireland often start slowly. Needing to win nine games in a row to qualify, they achieved their goal with little drama barring one tight game against Italy.The campaign needed near-perfect marshalling of resources, with their leading T20 batsman Niall O’Brien suspended beforehand, and allrounders Alex Cusack and John Mooney invalided out.That meant fringe players needed to step up, and Phil Simmons can have no complaints on that score. Gary Wilson had a brilliant run with the bat and kept wickets tidily, but it was the array of bowling talent that ensured Ireland’s passage, even with the loss of Cusack and Mooney.Johnston and Rankin could always be relied upon to make an early breakthrough, five times taking a first-over wicket. Rankin has improved since joining the England set-up and there are real concerns that he might win a national call-up there. Johnston has spent much of the past year nursing his knee, and the eventual operation left him on crutches for the winter. But he improved as the event progressed and his match-winning dismissal of the two top Namibians yesterday crowned his tournament, likely to be his last at Associate level.But before that, he has one last hit at the big boys, and will relish taking on the land of his birth (Australia).*March 24, 2012, 21:30 GMT – The report earlier mentioned that Nabi had hit the sixes. It has been corrected.

ScorecardYasir Arafat ripped through Chittagong’s middle order•BPL T20

Barisal Burners beat Chittagong Kings easily in Mirpur thanks to a half-century from Brad Hodge and three wickets from Yasir Arafat.It was a match Chittagong started brightly. The openers got them off to a flier, putting together 51 runs in just 3.5 overs. Ziaur Rahman was dismissed for 24 off 13 balls but England’s Jason Roy carried on, and got 42 off 25 balls. Chittagong had the base to go on and get a big total, but their middle and lower order collapsed. Left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam started the slide, dismissing Roy and Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor. Then Pakistan’s Yasir Arafat took three wickets to rip through the Chittagong middle order. None of Chittagong’s last six batsmen got into double figures, and they went from 123 for 3 to 150 for 9.Barisal looked keen to make short work of the chase, and the openers raced to 109 inside 10 overs. Ahmed Shehzad fell for 43 off 30 balls, and Brad Hodge followed, after scoring 67 off just 36 balls with eight fours and three sixes. A flurry of wickets followed but the opening pair had done enough to ensure Barisal got home in just 15 overs.

Such is the unifying power of cricket in Afghanistan that even the Taliban sent a message of support to the team ahead of their historic ODI against Pakistan in Sharjah on Friday. The match, which Pakistan won by seven wickets, was Afghanistan’s first ODI against a Test-playing nation and the first ODI played between an Affiliate Member of the ICC and a Full Member.A spokesman for the Taliban contacted the Afghanistan Cricket Board on the morning of the game to wish the team well and assure them they would be remembered in their prayers.Indeed, the event appears to have unified the Afghanistan nation in unprecedented fashion. The country’s president, Hamid Karzai, phoned officials at the ground several times in order to be kept up to date with the scores, while the country’s minister of finance, Dr Omar Zakhilwal, estimated that “hardly anybody was not watching” the match. “Nothing has ever brought us together like this,” he said.Zakhilwal, who is also chairman of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, stressed the importance of cricket in his war-ravaged country and called on the Full Members of the ICC – the Test playing nations – to remember their “responsibility” to continue to develop the game and to reach out to a country in need.”Cricket is not just a game for us,” Zakhilwal said during the ODI. “We have had so much bad news in Afghanistan. But cricket – and this game against Pakistan – has brought good news for the people of a country who have suffered so much in the past. This is a proud day.”There is nothing that can touch cricket in popularity or as a force for good in Afghanistan. There is absolutely nothing else that mobilises our society in the same way. Not politics, political events or reconstruction. Between 80-90% of kids will be watching this game and they play it on every street. President Karzai is watching and has phoned several times to get the latest news. Even the opposition Taliban have sent a message of support. Their spokesman said we are praying for the success of the team.”We have received support from other countries. But it is important people realise the role that cricket can play: it can help in our development and help rebuild our society. It can be used an example to show what we can achieve if we have peace and we work together. It can help restore peace and give people a sense of purpose. For other countries to play a role in bringing something good is a responsibility; Pakistan has contributed to this purpose and I hope other countries will also contribute.”As things stand, however, Afghanistan have no more ODIs scheduled against Full Member nations. They will not be competing in the Asia Cup, an ODI event that includes India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, which Zakhilwal refers to as “disappointing.” He hopes, however, that when the Full Member nations realise how important the sport has been in raising morale and providing a sense of purpose and unity in Afghanistan, they will rally to the cause and ensure the momentum is not lost.”The top teams shy away from playing us,” Zakhilwal continued. “I suppose they feel the benefits of beating us are small but the pain of losing to us would be great. We are pushing India, Australia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka for games as only by playing them can we improve and take cricket to the next step in our country.”The story of cricket in Afghanistan only started about ten years ago when people returned from the refugee camps in Pakistan. But there is something about the game that seems to appeal to the psyche of the Afghan people. It has created a sense of unity and happiness that has brought people together. This match is breaking the ice. But we want to be part of the big club.”Cricket is booming in Afghanistan. Not only is the international team now full time, but there are league teams in 28 of the 34 provinces and the country has an A team, an Under-19 programme and, next year, the sport will be made compulsory as part of the school curriculum.A country starved of entertainment, success and joy is crying out for support from the ten Full Members of the ICC. It remains to be seen who is listening.