The cricket corral: news round-up

A weekly cricket round-up.
By Salik Aziz
Sri Lankan Premier League pushed to 2012
Sri Lankan Premier League has been pushed to August 2012 despite a strong stand being taken by SLC sending a message that league will be organized with or without BCCI's support. However, the Sri Lankan Cricket officials now admit that it was India’s boycott that made it unviable for them to organize the league as they are not financially stable. The league will now be replaced by a six-team local t20 tournament.
NOTW to face closure this Sunday
The tabloid that unfolded the spot-fixing controversy will now get folded itself after its last edition on July 10. The closure is the after effect of the phone hacking scandal involving over 4000 people being the victim. The news was not received patiently by the staff and fury among the members was reported.

Afridi, not the captaincy material-Ijaz Butt
Ijazz Butt has finally realized that Afridi does not have what it takes to be a leader. He also eliminated the chance of Afridi being the captain once again during his tenure. However, the option of playing as a team member was not refused by the chairman with the same bluntness. Butt also revealed the political influences he sustained during the whole NOC episode and more in a recently given interview to a local sports channel.
Speaking of the captain, the current test and ODI captain, Misbah ul Haq, regarded the recent waveof controversies floating over Pakistan cricket as a torture.
Sangakara delivers a memorable MCC speech
Former Sri Lankan captain and senior player, Kumar Sangakara, gave his MCC speech to earn a standing ovation by the audience. Contrary to that, the same speech was not received well back at home by the sports minister. Sangakara, in his speech, chose to narrate the history of Sri Lankan cricket and talk about mismanagement and corruption of the administration over the hot topics like UDRS.
Meanwhile, the ODI series between Sri Lanka and England comes down to the final and decisive match as England squared the series in fourth ODI.

Government steps into Gayle-WICB dispute
After a long dispute between Chris Gayle and WICB, followed by an equally long and emotional public statement by Gayle, the heads of Caribbean Community has decided to step in. WICB and Gayle had strained relations since the World Cup exit and time only made it worse until Gayle publicly appealed the government to intervene.

Indian Squad announced for the English tour
The 17 men squad for the upcoming English tour was announced by the BCCI on July 2. Tendulkar, gambhir , Sehwag and Yuvraj returns to the team. However, Sehwag will at least miss the first test as he is still recovering. Moreover, Zaheer Khan also returns to the team while Sreesanth has also been announced for the tour. The tour begins from July 27; Dhoni will lead while Gambhir will be his deputy.
Currently, India is playing in West Indies and look strong as they dominate on day 3.
PCB dragged to court by Kaneria
It seems that Afridi inspired Kaneria to drag PCB in the court once again. Kaneria filed the legal petition against his continued exclusion from the team without any apparent reason. The petition was accepted and PCB is called by the court to submit their answer on July 26.

Logart rejects the “Indian influence” on FTP
Haroon Logart, ICC’s CEO, rejected the conjecture that BCCI influenced the FTP to create a window for IPL. Logart also rejects that there is no window for IPL in the FTP, however, the document states a two-week official window for IPL. Furthermore, Logart rejected the perception of India being the dominating force in other cricket affairs.