ICC news

DRS research not shown to ICC board

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	The ICC board did not take DRS to a vote but were not shown all the research © AFP  Enlarge

Independent research that may have swayed the ICC's executive board into approving mandatory use of the DRS was not shown at its meeting in Kuala Lumpur, despite being pivotal in convincing both the cricket committee and the chief executives' committee of the technology's accuracy.

Wally Edwards, the Cricket Australia chairman, has revealed that the research on ball-tracking conducted by Dr Ed Rosten, an expert in computer vision technology, was left off the agenda of the executive board meeting, which concluded without the issue of DRS even being put to a vote due to India's reluctance to accept its use.

The ICC will now send a mission to India to show Dr Rosten's research to the BCCI, alongside details of the enhancements made to Hot Spot, the infrared cameras used to detect edges that had their accuracy questioned after the 2011 Test series between England and India.

Edwards told ESPNcricinfo that while other members of the board had also expressed some reluctance to go ahead with mandatory use of the DRS, he believed the tabling of Dr Rosten's research may have resulted in a different outcome.

"ICC had got some independent research done on the accuracy and all those issues. Now unfortunately they didn't present that information to the board," Edwards said. "India have agreed and the boards have agreed for ICC management to go to India and take all the information, take their presentations, take their technical support and talk to them over there.

"India are willing to look at it, but they're sceptical, and others are too - it's not just India. I think it is part of the game for the future, but it's a good time to review. Unfortunately if that presentation, or whatever it is they had, had been presented to the board it might have changed things. But we probably need another process, because people would have to go back to their boards and say 'this is the latest, can we move from where we are to there'. Obviously Australia supports it, and we understand there's still an error factor, but overall it's better than what we had."

The accuracy of the DRS had been warmly endorsed by both the ICC's cricket committee and chief executives committee, with Dr Rosten's research a critical part of winning their approval. Following the CEC meeting, an ICC statement read: "CEC recommended to the Board the universal application of the DRS after being satisfied with the technology enhancements provided by new Hotspot cameras and the results of the independent research on ball tracking conducted by Dr Ed Rosten, an expert in computer vision technology. Dr Rosten had tested the accuracy and reliability of ball tracking in a recent Test series and concluded that the results were 100% in agreement with the outcomes produced from his assessments."

Much has been made of the back-room politics of the executive board, which appears to be far more consequential to the running of the global game than anything said in formal meetings. Edwards, however, said he did not find it unusual that the DRS was not tabled for a vote, based on his previous experience on various corporate and cricket boards in Australia. Instead, he awaited India's response to the research they will be presented with.

"Obviously if there are debatable issues we try to debate them. The more difficult the issue, the more you should talk," Edwards said. "But in any boards that I've been on, there are very few decisions that will actually go to a 'we're going to count the votes here' situation. Governance is one of them, but most others you'll find a consensus that says 'yeah right we'll give that a run'. I didn't find it unusual.

"We knew where India stand on it, and at this point in time they're not ready to change their thoughts. Those lines you see on TV, are they accurate, that's the scepticism. It looks accurate, but from their point of view they are reluctant just to accept it as gospel. I think it is possible they'll change, but we'll have to wait and see how they go with this new information in India."

Previous attempts have been made to demonstrate the intricacies and accuracy of ball-tracking and other technology to the BCCI, notably via a planned trip to Australia during the 2010-11 Ashes series. On that occasion the visit was at first approved by the BCCI but then ruled out due to "scheduling difficulties".

India news

Aaron suffers injury setback

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	Varun Aaron has once again been sidelined due to a back injury © AFP  Enlarge

Varun Aaron, the India fast bowler, has suffered a recurrence of a back injury that had ruled him out of India's tour to Australia last year. He told ESPNcricinfo that he was targetting a return during the Champions League T20 in October.

Aaron, whose last international game was in December in an ODI against West Indies in Visakhapatnam, returned to competitive cricket during the IPL. He played eight games for his franchise, Delhi Daredevils, and picked up eight wickets.

"There was a slight niggle, but I was still good enough to bowl at my best during the IPL," Aaron told the Indian Express. "But as soon as I experienced the pain again, I returned to the NCA some five weeks back."

"The back injury must have relapsed after the IPL," TA Sekar, Daredevils mentor, said. "He was 100% fit during the matches he played and he even bowled at 145 kmh-plus in them." Sekar said it was only after putting Aaron through the franchise's rehab schedule that Daredevils decided to play him; Aaron played his first game only midway through the tournament.

"Ideally the board should have sent him to Australia for treatment in December itself, especially since they had a qualified physio in Evan Speechly with them," Sekar said. "The two-month delay really cost him." Aaron was sent to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore for his rehab after he was ruled out of the Australia tour.

Aaron, who has played one Test and five ODIs for India, has had a history of back trouble, having suffered two stress fractures soon after he made his Ranji Trophy debut for Jharkhand in the 2008-09 season. He first played for India during the ODI series against England last October and made his Test debut the following month against West Indies. He was picked in India's Test squad for Australia, but once the stress reaction in his back was diagnosed, he was replaced by Karnataka seamer R Vinay Kumar.

Yuvraj Singh targeting New Zealand T20s

Returning from his battle against cancer, the India allrounder is seeking fitness and redemption, aiming to get back ahead of the World Twenty20

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	"This phase has made me very strong and I am sure this strength will take me back on the field" © AFP  Enlarge

Yuvraj Singh, having battled a rare germ-cell cancer called mediastinal seminoma for the last six months, is seeking fitness and redemption, and believes T20 will be an ideal format for him to explore his return to competitive cricket.

The World Twenty20 has been marked down by many as the event that will signal his comeback, but on Friday, Yuvraj said he ideally wanted to be completely ready in time for two T20 internationals against New Zealand scheduled for Visakhapatnam on September 8 and Chennai on September 11.

"It's important for me to play a little bit of cricket before I play the T20 World Cup. I should be ready enough to play in those two games. I want to be ready 15-20 days in advance so I can push really hard in the T20 World Cup."

He said he thought he had a "95 to 100%" chance of making it back in time for the World Twenty20 and the bigger event happened to be a "realistic" target. "I'm not going to come back 90% fit or 80% fit. If I feel I am 100% fit then I am going to go into the field… I am recovering really well, getting a lot of strength, my cardio sessions have been good. [If I] keep doing those repetitions, I think my body will recover faster."

The post-cancer routines, he said, had not varied greatly. "There's nothing different to it, it's just that I have to build on everything altogether. So T20 would be a great start for me because you're playing 20 overs. Then you play 50 overs. Once you have that feel of international cricket, you'll be fine to play all other formats." It is why he believed setting out for T20 would be an "ideal start" for him in international cricket.

Yuvraj was speaking at his academy, the Yuvraj Singh Centre of Excellence, at the Pathways School near Gurgaon, Delhi, on Friday, the day before the launch of a cancer initiative called YouWeCan. It was here that he made his first public appearance after returning from chemotherapy in the US in April. The man in the room this week was significantly altered from the bald, slightly hesitant and almost unrecognisable figure who wore sunglasses indoors to deal with the glare of camera lights.

The two months between then and now, Yuvraj said, had been spent recovering from his chemotherapy, taking a vacation with friends, and most recently his first nets session in six months. While he did make a brief appearance during the IPL in Pune, the return to nets at the NCA in Bangalore has given him energy, direction and optimism, he said.

The transformation from being in a wheelchair during his final cycle of chemotherapy in Indianapolis and three months later walking into the NCA nets or sprinting, up to what he called 90% of capacity, was, he said, an experience hard to "explain in words". Yuvraj called the NCA nets "stepping stones for me to come back". He said he had been anxious when he went into the nets for the first time. "It was special for me, but I was a bit nervous, my feet weren't moving great, but just moving, just being in the nets, was just a great feeling."

	He learnt to inject himself with a blood-thinner ever day for three months in order to deal with the post-chemo blood clots, and to accept the effects of his treatment as necessary elements of a painful route to a recovery

According to his own assessment, Yuvraj thought of himself as about halfway ready then, admitting his recovery was "more of a mental battle". For the better part, though, muscle memory had kicked in when he faced net bowling for the first time in six months. "As a cricketer your natural instincts are still the same. I was hitting the ball perfectly, I was catching the ball perfectly, I was bowling perfectly. It didn't look like I've been out of sorts. It just looked like I need more time to spend on the field in the nets. It didn't look like my bat is coming from somewhere else. Yes, my feet weren't moving that great. I was struggling to go towards the ball, but my hand-eye coordination was the same."

At the moment, he is trying to spend a total of five to six hours - though not at a stretch - on conditioning work. One of the first shocks for his body to recover from was an initial reaction to the leather ball after three to four months spent in bed, struggling to walk or breathe like normal. "Yes, I was a bit scared of the leather ball. When I was watching the IPL - guys catching, somebody hitting the ball - I would get scared. My body was under a lot of shock, just getting over that shock is coming slowly."

Instincts and muscle memory can kick in quickly for any athlete, Yuvraj said, but anxiety would only go away over a period of time, "The leather ball hitting you… that feeling has to go away, because eventually you have to go to international cricket and play at the pace of 145-150kph, so you want to be as confident as ever when you go back. You have to get that routine in, you have to spend hours and hours. You have to spend extra time on your body."

He said that the cancer treatment had "completely broken" his body and dealing with the load of an exercise regime for the first two weeks and the muscular pain was hard. "My body hurts a lot, but after two weeks I've seen the results, it's started to get better. A lot of strength has been gained. My body has not gone through a ligament tear or a hamstring pull. It will take its own time to come back."

Yuvraj was, he said, positive that the next two months would find him in far better physical condition. He said he felt comfortable batting, bowling, fielding and sprinting in short bursts. "If I can do five rounds [of a cricket ground] at a stretch, that means I am fit. At the moment I am not able to do do that. Cardio-vascularly my lung capacity has gone down after chemotherapy."

Yuvraj spent more than two months in Indianapolis, being treated at the IU Simon Cancer Center, where dealing with the after-effects of chemotherapy meant getting used to the loss of hair and appetite and "bad mood swings". He learnt to inject himself with a blood-thinner ever day for three months in order to deal with the post-chemo blood clots, and to accept the effects of his treatment as necessary elements of a painful route to a recovery.

"You can't keep the food inside, and it is the same for everyone who has chemotherapy. You smell the food but you can't taste it… in four-five days your taste comes back. These are normal symptoms. It is important for people to understand that it is you who has to take the initiative for getting better."

The YouWeCan initiative was, he said, targeted at all kinds of cancers. "If we can work on detection and stigma, the percentage of people dying of cancer can come down. It can make a huge difference."

Cancer, he said, had made him a more grounded, organised and disciplined person. "I am trying to be more disciplined in my eating, in my sleeping times, in who I want to meet and who I don't want to meet.

"Am I more organised? My room is still dirty. I still throw my clothes." He said he had begun to pray every day, "which earlier I used to struggle with".

The disease, he said, had made him appreciate the small things. He laughed about grabbing a bite to eat before talking to reporters, "I love every meal now. I just ate a samosa. I had struggled to breathe, so breathing fresh air is a great thing for me."

Yuvraj said he did not think of himself as someone who was going to give up on the demands of cricket. "I'm not a person who is going to say bas [enough]. I'm just going to live a normal life and I want to get back on the field, because I want to see how much my body can take. This phase has made me very strong and I am sure this strength will take me back on the field."

Yet, Yuvraj believed, the "motive" in his life had changed. "I am not going to be worried too much about my performances. I am just going to be happy that I am coming back on the field and play for India again.

"Yes, I have to excel in Test cricket - if it happens, it happens, if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. One-day cricket or T20, I would just love to come back and play for India and I would just be happy, trust me. It's a huge thing from where I was and where I am going to be."

I'M BACK WITH CRICKET +.I THINK THAT ALL OF YOU WILL CORPORATE WITH ME - GEORGE CYRIAC (OWNER & GM)

 India news

ODI retirement not on Tendulkar's mind

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	Sachin Tendulkar: "As long as I am enjoying (ODIs) and I feel like being part of it, I'll continue playing." © Getty Images  Enlarge

Sachin Tendulkar has insisted he has no plans to retire from the ODI format though he has skipped all but two of India's one-day series since last year's World Cup. Tendulkar has also opted out of the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka starting later this month.

"It's not what XYZ think, it's what I feel and I feel as long as I am enjoying and I feel like being part of it, I'll continue (playing ODIs)," he told CNN-IBN.

On the subject of ending his one-day career, Tendulkar drew a parallel with his international Twenty20 retirement. "I felt I shouldn't be part of the Twenty20 squad in 2007 and I had been asked (to stay on) but I felt I should not be part because the team did well. When I get that feeling in one-day cricket may be I would take that decision."

Tendulkar has played both of India's one-day tournaments so far this year, but decided to sit out the upcoming Sri Lanka series. "I just wanted to spend time with my family, as simple as that," he said. "I spoke to the BCCI and requested them. To be able to spend time with my children is also important."

In Tendulkar's absence, India's opening pair for the Sri Lanka series will be Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, who himself had asked for rest for the Asia Cup in March. Sehwag backed Tendulkar's decision to miss the series. "Not only me but the whole country misses Sachin when he is not in action," he told reporters in Delhi. "But one should realise that he is 39 years and he should be allowed to pick and choose which series he wants to go. He will certainly be available for the Test series against New Zealand."