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The Barmy Army’s woeful start to the Ashes series has continued, mirroring the fortunes of their countrymen on the field. After threatening a boycott of the series because of what they said was unfair treatment by Gabba security staff, the group of supporters has come under fire from the England board for alleged copyright breaches on merchandise.The reported the ECB had started legal proceedings to stop Barmy Army Ltd from selling items such as polo shirts and t-shirts bearing references to the Ashes and carrying the ECB’s logo of three lions and a crown. The board denied legal action had been started but said it was a possibility in the future.The ECB spokesman Colin Gibson told the board had written to the Barmy Army querying the use of the logo and the term “Ashes” on merchandise. “We have written to them pointing out breaches of our IP [intellectual property] and are waiting for their response,” he said. “No one wants legal action if possible.”The Sports HQ, the company that produces the merchandise, said the ECB had only made applications for The Ashes trademark. “The Barmy Army have used The Ashes mark since 1994, so they have a prior claim to it which potentially prevents the ECB from using it,” Simon Millington, a partner of The Sports HQ told the .”The shame is that the Barmy Army do a wonderful job in organising supporters and supporting grass roots cricket. The ECB should try to work together instead of making spurious claims.” Millington plans to speak to the ECB next week.

Scorecard

Lancashire may have had a wry smile when the fixture list pitted them back at The Oval, the scene of their heartbreaking 25-run defeat last September which handed Sussex the Championship title, for the first match of this season. They weren’t grinning, however, as Mark Ramprakash added to the twin centuries he scored in that game with his 98th first-class hundred as Surrey motored to 242 for 2 and overshadowed the return of Andrew Flintoff.For Ramprakash it was as though 2007 had never finished, but he should have been marching off with a duck. The over after Flintoff struck with his 20th ball Ramprakash edged the lively Oliver Newby behind, but Luke Sutton could only palm a regulation chance through the slips. There will have been a feeling of déjà vu in the Lancashire camp; during the match last September they had a chance to remove Ramprakash twice in single figures. History repeated itself when Ramprakash, on 24, pushed the ball towards mid-off and set off for a single before slipping mid-pitch. Flintoff collected, turned but missed his shy at the non-striker’s end with Ramprakash stranded.From then on it felt inevitable that Ramprakash would reach three figures, and the second half of his innings was markedly quicker. He brought up the hundred off 164 balls with a meaty pull through midwicket. It was just one of a string of imperious shots with his driving a stand-out feature. Before this game Ramprakash spoke about a couple of soft dismissals he’d suffered in pre-season and how it warned him to keep working. Faced with the first real serious challenge of the season it was enough to focus the mind.However, regardless of how many runs Ramprakash makes – and today’s came in front of Geoff Miller, the national selector – an England recall seems to have passed him by. Miller, though, was really here to watch Flintoff, playing his first first-class match since last August and he produced spells of five and four overs before bad light cut short his third stint. Play had been delayed by two hours by heavy overnight rain, but the surface was unaffected and Mark Butcher was happy to bat.Flintoff came on in the 13th over and worked up a decent head of steam from the Pavilion End on a typically true Oval pitch, following through nicely and getting the ball carrying to Sutton at waist height. His first spell ended with the impressive figures of 5-3-9-1 and he remained the pick of a Lancashire attack that struggled to contain except when Gary Keedy wheeled away from the Vauxhall End.The ball that gave Flintoff his first first-class wicket since August 11 was one of his more undisguised efforts as he dragged the delivery down short. Scott Newman quickly latched on with a pull, but didn’t keep the ball down as it spiralled towards long-leg where Newby sprinted in and held a fine, low catch. Newby had taken the opening wicket in the previous over, trapping Jon Batty lbw with a full delivery.Newby should have also been involved in a third wicket and Lancashire were made to pay for giving Ramprakash a life. Butcher joined in an entertaining third-wicket stand of 186 and was actually the more fluent early on. He crunched a couple of pleasing early drives and reached his half-century off 89 balls. His chance to open the hundred account for the season must wait; Ramprakash has already started and the countdown is on.

Subhash Dixit, a former India Under-15 captain, died after falling from the sixth floor of a building in Kanpur on June 9.Dixit, a resident of Kanpur, had left home for practice at the Green Park stadium; he went to a nearby shopping complex, from where he jumped. Dixit, 22, is believed to have been frustrated by his inability to make the Uttar Pradesh team for the Ranji Trophy.Dixit was captain of the Indian team during the Under-15 World Cup in 2000. He had also captained the Uttar Pradesh Under-15 and Under-19 teams. He was unemployed at the time of his death and came from a poor family. His father and one of his two sisters suffer from mental disability.Following his death, friends and fans of Dixit held protests in the city on Monday, demanding a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for Dixit’s family. According to PTI, the protestors blocked traffic by putting the deceased cricketer’s body on the road, and only relented when police and civil officials reached the spot. They handed over a memorandum to the Additional City magistrate.Placards criticizing the UPCA (Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association) were on display. The protestors alleged that none of the Association’s officials met Dixit’s family to express their sympathy.A group of people also attacked Shashikant Khandekar, a former selector for the Uttar Pradesh side, at his residence on Sunday evening.The UPCA announced a cash relief of Rs 1 lakh for Dixit’s family. In addition, the association said it would name the state Under-17 cricket tournament in his memory.

Search for Tom Parker on the internet and you get 17,100 results, most of which involve Elvis Presley’s manager. The Tom Parker that you will encounter at the Sydney Cricket Ground, though, is more focussed on a rock and roll of a different kind: hammering in the rocky surface before rolling it evenly.The 22-yards that Parker tends has been making a bit of news of late. It’s excited Brett Lee and prompted Brad Hogg to let out a grimace. Words like abrasive and rough are being replaced by lively and green. Both captains thought it was a “good wicket”, suggesting that there could be a bit in there for everyone. When a batsman and bowler call a pitch “good” you have something exciting brewing.”I tend to leave a bit more grass on the pitches these days than years gone by,” said Parker, who’s been the head groundsman here for close to a decade. “This pitch has probably got a bit more grass on it than we had in 2004. I feel it will probably have a bit more bounce in it. I’m just trying to keep a bit of pace in the pitch, trying to get a bit more carry to the keeper, and more consistent bounce throughout the match.”In years gone by, it has probably played a little slow and a little low. It’s going to seam around a bit on day one and on day two it should flatten out a bit more. By day four and five it starts to turn. To me that’s a cricket pitch. It should be changing every day.”India wouldn’t mind a surface that’s tending towards the bowlers. Look back at India’s overseas wins in the recent past – in Nottingham, Johannesburg and Kingston – and you have triumphs being engineered on lively surfaces. Rahul Dravid made an interesting point after the victory in Trent Bridge. “I’ve always felt we’ve done well when we’ve had the opportunity to take 20 wickets – we might lose the odd game but we also win games … Sometimes we’re put on the back foot early on good pitches, when we struggle to take 20 wickets.”While the batsmen thrive on flat pitches at home, they’ve not able to capitalise on hard surfaces abroad. Cape Town last year, when they collapsed for 169 in the second innings, was a classic instance of imploding on a benign track but there have been other instances of botching up chances in Lord’s and Melbourne as well. Given a choice, India might just prefer life on the pitch; not only will it enhance their bowlers chances but also offer their strokeplayers some pace to play with.Kumble, in his first press conference as captain, had made it clear that he wanted to “take the pitch and conditions out of the equation”. He reiterated the point here, adding that he “doesn’t want to worry too much about that”. The quick outfield will bring a smile. It means India’s batsmen can manage fours instead of having to rely on twos and threes. It may also mean a slightly better fielding effort, an area of their cricket which was exposed at the MCG.”It’s more to do with thinking and being a bit positive,” Kumble said. “If the mind is thinking positive, running between the wickets and fielding will be different.”

Worcestershire have signed Fidel Edwards, the West Indian fast bowler, as their overseas player for the second half of the 2008 season. Edwards is expected to join the club in time for their match against Northamptonshire on July 10, subject to clearance from the West Indies Cricket Board.Worcestershire had failed to sign Shane Bond, the former New Zealand fast bowler, after several weeks of negotiations but are confident in the international experience Edwards brings to the club.”Fidel is an International strike bowler with 30 Test matches under his belt who has the ability to bowl at 90 mph. His pace and aggression will suit Worcestershire for the second half of the season when the wickets have dried out,” Steve Rhodes, Worcestershire’ director of cricket, said. “He is exciting to watch and will add even more venom to our bowling attack.”Edwards, 26, said that playing county cricket had been an ambition for some time, and that he was excited at the opportunity to join the club. “I have heard it is hard work but I like it when I am being tested. It’s going to be a learning experience for me and I am willing to give whatever experience I have gained from playing test cricket. I can’t wait to be there.”Edwards has taken 75 Test and 44 one-day international wickets respectively.

Hamish Marshall’s unbeaten 155 in the New Zealand Academy’s game with Tamil Nadu Districts in Chennai is a significant step in his burgeoning career.His effort ensured the side complete control in its first game in the MRF Buchi Babu Invitation Tournament as it reached 382-8, a lead of 223 runs.The twin brother of James Marshall, Hamish has been the later developer of the two. However, he was always seen as a potential international. Three years ago, he was called into New Zealand’s Youth World Cup team when Michael Papps returned home injured.He won a place in the final of that tournament and a season later was playing for Northern Districts. While he took time to adapt, he was persevered with by the ND selectors and in 13 first-class games before the Academy tour to India, he had scored 418 runs at 20.9.His best score was 58 against Central Districts in last summer’s Shell Trophy competition.His Northern Districts coach Chris Kuggeleijn was delighted with news of his innings.”What that will do for his confidence is great. It is great to see someone doing well over there, not just because he’s from Northern Districts, but because we want to see New Zealand cricket do well.”Hamish could be anything he wants to be. He hadn’t really blown the world away in his last season but you can’t push young guys, just keep working with them.”You can see the potential is there, and what he does in the field is tremendous. He is a great fielder.”Watch him in four years time, who knows how good he will be?”I’m looking forward to catching up with him when he comes back. He might just have got the monkey off his back and gone from a promising player to a good one.”I’ve got a lot of faith in him and, in fact, in all the young players in our side. They can play three times better than what they did last season,” Kuggeleijn said.Yesterday he faced 223 balls when batting for much of the day and hit 19 fours in his innings. He came to the wicket with New Zealand 50/3 and added 83 for the fourth wicket with Jacob Oram, who was dismissed for 54.Aaron Redmond then dug in with Marshall during a 153-run fifth wicket stand. Redmond was next out for 71.New Zealand also maintained a good scoring rate with its 350 posted in 100.3 overs.

Sri Lanka 294 for 7 (Sangakkara 81, Jayasuriya 77) beat Scotland 135 by 159 runs
Scorecard

Sri Lanka’s veteran batsmen proved too strong for Scotland’s bowlers in their warm-up match at the 3Ws Oval in Barbados, as Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya rattled up an imposing total of 294 for 7 with a pair of brisk half-centuries. With Upul Tharanga anchoring the innings with a composed 70 from 114 balls, Scotland’s resolve crumbled as they were bowled out for 134 in reply.Sangakkara top-scored with 81 from 57 balls, but it was Jayasuriya – inevitably – who provided the turbo-charged start to Sri Lanka’s innings. He thumped four fours and five sixes in a 62-ball 77, with the captain, Craig Wright, coming in for special punishment: his solitary over was clubbed for 20 runs.Farveez Maharoof applied the finishing touch to Sri Lanka’s innings with 28 from 14 balls, including two fours and two sixes, and got in on the act with the ball as well, as he dismissed the dangerous Ryan Watson for 17. Scotland were never in the reckoning from the moment that Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga grabbed three wickets for nine runs.Jayasuriya also enjoyed himself with the ball, taking 2 for 7 in two overs as Scotland’s innings ebbed away. After the game Sri Lanka’s captain, Mahela Jayawardene, said he was satisfied, but they can still raise the bar.”We had a great day out and we are pleased with the result at the end of theday,” he said. “We still can get better and we will be working on ourintensity. There were times today when we slackened of a bit, so we knowwhat we have to do come Friday.”Scotland’s captain, Wright, summed up the game as a “a great learningexperience” and said his players would come back stronger in the other matches.He praised his seamers John Blain, who took 2 for 51, and Dougie Brown (2for 52) for their discipline and smart use of the change of pace. He alsonoted that left-hander Gavin Hamilton played well for his 25 off 59, whichmanaged to keep out Muttiah Muralitharan.

Jason Gillespie is eager to start his Glamorgan career after being granted clearance to play by the ECB following his time in the Indian Cricket League.Gillespie retired from Australian state cricket and took a contract with the ICL, which put his Glamorgan place under threat until he was one of a group of players cleared last week.”It was a great relief to me when I heard that I had got the go-ahead from the ECB to play for Glamorgan this season. I can’t wait to get started,” he told the . “I had spoken to a lot of people like Matt Elliott, Mike Kasprowicz and Jimmy Maher, as well as my former state coach Jeff Hammond [also a former Glamorgan coach] and they all said it’s a great place to come and play cricket.”Gillespie said the chance to join the Ahmedabad Rockets was too good to refuse and he found his spell in India an enjoyable experience. “The opportunity came to play in the ICL and it was something I couldn’t turn down,” he said. “I bowled pretty well but unfortunately the team I played for didn’t get very far in the tournament.”The sponsors were over the moon with the ratings, so I think there is a place for both the IPL and ICL in world cricket,” he said. “We are all cricket people and I’m sure compromises can be made with regards their places in the fixture list.”Gillespie will make his Glamorgan debut against Middlesex at Lord’s, a match that will also see Jamie Dalrymple taking on his former county following his winter move.

At the beginning of the series against Australia, India’s middle-order batsman Robin Uthappa had said his team would meet “fire with fire”. On the eve of the fourth ODI in Chandigarh with India trailing 0-2, Uthappa admitted that the “intensity levels had dropped” after the World Twenty20 because “they had little time to plan for a tough series”.Keeping the intensity levels high and playing hard cricket is what Ricky Ponting had said aggression was all about. He felt Australia’s dominance was a result of them training and preparing harder than most teams and their confident on-field attitude was a result of their meticulous planning. In Kochi, Australia had Yuvraj Singh caught on the drive by Matthew Hayden at short cover for 10. In Hyderabad, however, Yuvraj scored a scintillating 121 off 115 balls and Ponting said a team meeting had been held to form a plan of attack against him.”We’ve looked at a few different lines and lengths that we should be bowling to him and some areas that we let him off in the last game. We’ll adjust things a little bit and test him in different areas and see what the outcome is.”Ponting had also said the inclusion of India’s big three – Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid – in the ODI squad after they opted out of the Twenty20 tournament could work to Australia’s advantage because they knew their strengths and weaknesses. That statement was backed up by what followed. Ganguly hasn’t had a hit yet but Tendulkar and Dravid have scored only 90 runs between them in five innings.”If you have a look at a couple of their [Tendulkar and Dravid’s] dismissals, it would have been the way that we wanted to get them out, the way we’ve got them out a few times in the past. We know that they are quality players and on any given day they can be match-winners for India.”Sachin was just working his way into his innings the last game, setting himself up for a big one, so we have to make sure we don’t let him off the hook early on. If Ganguly plays tomorrow, we’ve got a pretty good idea of where we should be bowling to him and, so far, we’ve got Dravid pretty well looked after. But you can’t expect that to keep happening, these guys are going to come good and play well at some stage and we’re prepared for that if they do.”Australia have backed up all their talk with quality performances in the three games so far. It doesn’t matter whether the Indians get in the Australians’ faces on Monday, what matters is if they’ll be able to get on the scoreboard.

Dinanath Ramnarine, the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) president and CEO, has rebutted Bruce Aanensen, CEO of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), on his version of how the arbitration process had gone to date on the issue of the England tour, stating that some facts were misrepresented in a WICB media conference on Friday.After giving the players the go-ahead to sign up for the controversial tour yesterday, Ramnarine disputed Aanensen’s version of why the resolution for the controversial England tour had arrived at this juncture.The failure of the regional administration to deliver their supporting documents by an extended May 4 deadline set by an arbitration panel led by the Barbados Chief Justice Sir David Simmons forced Simmons to give a new deadline of May 7, 10.30am, for the WICB to submit their case and supporting documents.”If this time frame is not kept, the panel may have to consider proceeding to determine the issue on such documents as it has at the time,” Simmons said.The Chief Justice’s warning follows Aanensen’s claim that the board had submitted their case to the arbitration panel last Tuesday, a statement that was in contradiction to the one made by Aanensen in Friday’s WICB media conference that was broadcast throughout the region from the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain.”All the documents have been submitted to him,” Aanensen said in a CMC [Caribbean Media Corporation] interview last week. “He [Simmons] says he needs time to study them and that he doesn’t believe there is any way that they can have this arbitration prior to the team leaving on the 8th.”However, in Friday’s media conference, Aanensen explained the discrepancy in his earlier disclosure by saying the WICB could not be expected to have supplied their supporting documents and written submissions because they were only informed about the terms of reference on May 1.The terms of reference are whether the tour to England is within or outside the ICC Future Tours Program.”So how could Ramnarine say that the WICB did not meet the deadline of April 27 for submitting documents when the terms of reference were only known on May 1?” he asked, before adding that the Simmons-chaired panel would rule on the matter on May 15.However, documents seen by the Sunday Express showed no mention of a resolution by May 15, the panel only advising that if the need for oral argument arises, that would be facilitated on Wednesday (May 9) and Thursday (May 10) this week.Simmons had also attempted to extend the deadline to the WICB to May 4 but was advised by the board’s lawyers they would not be ready due to previously-pending matters.”In the circumstances I must insist that I have WICB’s case and documents no later than 10.30am Monday May 7,” the Simmons insisted.The Sunday Express understands that after the April 22 stalemate between WIPA and the WICB that sent the issue to arbitration, the Players’ Association issued both their supporting documents and written submissions to Simmons on April 27. The WICB are yet to issue theirs.If the WICB are tardy, the arbitration panel said it will be forced to issue a ruling without data to support the board’s case. Asked about other matters still outstanding from previous arbitrations, Ramnarine said he was concentrating on the England tour issue and would deal with those matters subsequently.