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Sixteen players have started legal proceedings against the organisers of the Cricket All Star T20 Match which was held in Toronto in May claiming they have yet to be paid. Ontario-based Kat Rose Custom Designs Inc (Kat Rose), which organised the Cricket Canada-approved event, was served notices at the Toronto Small Claims Court on September 27 regarding unpaid match fees and expenses totalling $113,000 approximately.Affected players include Sanath Jayasariya, Saqlain Mushtaq, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Mark Boucher, Devon Smith, Tino Best, Brendan Taylor and Bangladesh allrounder Nasir Hossain, who was supposed to be paid $10,000, ESPNcricinfo has learnt.”We are incredibly disappointed and distressed by the lack of professionalism of the Kat Rose organisation,” Tim May, the chief executive officer of FICA, said. “The players fulfilled their contractual obligations and are now each left out-of-pocket to the tune of several thousand dollars of their own money. How can anyone in good conscience conduct business this way?”It is unacceptable that the players have yet to be compensated and reimbursed for their time and costs.”May said Kat Rose contracted individually with all of the players to secure their attendance and participation in the match, held at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Additional events included a gala dinner, a practice, and a fan autograph session. Kat Rose has claimed the absence of some of the cricketers from Pakistan because of last minute visa issues meant the event was financially unsuccessful.

While the riches on offer in the IPL may have turned the head of Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan insists he will turn his back on the most lucrative competition in world cricket if it helps him regain a place in England’s Test side.Morgan, who was dropped from the Test team after a grim series against Pakistan in the UAE, is contracted to the Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2013 IPL season, but said that international cricket will always take priority and that he would prefer to play county cricket next April and May if it helps him win back a Test place.While Morgan would, under the terms of his England and Middlesex contract, be entitled to miss the first four or five weeks of the English domestic season in order to play in the IPL, he knows he will need to impress in first-class cricket if he is to force his way back into the Test side. Certainly Morgan’s chances of impressing during the 2012 IPL season were limited as he failed to make it into the Kolkata side, though he has previously gone on record to credit the experience of training alongside players from around the world as hugely beneficial to his learning experience.”The bigger picture for me is playing Test cricket,” he said. “As a 15-year-old I came across to England to play Test cricket. It’s always been my priority. I’ve had a little sniff of it and I’ve absolutely loved it. I was in the side when we became No. 1 and I was on the Ashes tour as a spare batter. Nothing can ever come close to the stuff you experience as a winning Test-match side. If it came about that I was back in the Test team during the IPL I’d be the happiest bloke in the world.”Morgan’s words will delight England coach, Andy Flower. Flower has previously stated that “you’re not going to learn much about Test batting in the IPL” and blamed Pietersen’s desire to play the entire 2013 IPL season and maximise his earning from his £1.2 million deal with the Delhi Daredevils, as “the catalyst” in unsettling the player over recent months.Morgan, however, feels that the opportunity to play Test cricket is more important than the money on offer in T20 leagues. While he still harbours the hope that his improved form in limited-overs cricket – he looked back to his best in scoring an unbeaten 89 in 63 balls in the ODI against Australia at Lord’s in June – will win him a Test recall, he knows that if he is to convince the selectors that he is committed to regaining his Test place, he may well need to prove himself playing for Middlesex in the County Championship. And if that means missing out on the deals available in the Big Bash and the IPL it is a price he is prepared to pay.”Is Test cricket my priority? Absolutely. I’ve never doubted that. If I’m involved in international cricket, it always takes priority and if I’m within one or two positions of the Test team, then I’ll probably make the decision myself to come back and play county cricket. If I’m in the frame for a Test place, then things might have to change [regarding IPL availability], definitely. I looked into it a small bit this year but, because I was three or four places off the Test side I left it. I don’t think I can play Big Bash. If all goes well I’ll be on the Test tour, if not I’ll make other plans.”When anybody gets dropped they need to show that they’re in substantial form and that they’ve scored enough runs to justify their position in the side. They need to show they’ve come back a better player. Looking back I’m a better player than I was at the start of the year. I’ve proven that in spurts over the summer. Hopefully again I can do that again during this ODI series against South Africa.”Morgan’s first-class record is modest for a man with aspirations of playing more Test cricket. He has not scored a first-class century since the Edgbaston Test over 12 months ago and, in his seven-year career with Middlesex, averages just 32.71. His record this season is even more disappointing: he has averaged only 18.16 in the five County Championship matches he has played. While he has scored nine first-class centuries, only three of them have come in the Championship and none have been in the top division.Morgan’s next chance to impress the England selectors comes on Tuesday in the second ODI of the series against South Africa in Southampton. While he is quick to clarify that he has never had any problem with Pietersen personally, Morgan did admit that the opportunity provided to other players in Pietersen’s absence might have been beneficial.”Kevin is a world class cricketer and any team around the world would want him in their side,” Morgan said. “But there are issues surrounding him at the moment and it will take time to resolve them; the quicker that happens the better. Personally I didn’t find him difficult but I’ve not been around the Test team a lot.”The guys who have come in have done really well. Ian Bell has come in and been amazing and maybe the extra responsibility, in Ravi Bopara’s case, has helped him blossom as a cricketer. I’ve practised with Ravi for years and it’s now that he’s really showing the cricketer is capable of being and that’s great.”The focus as a side to is to progress up the rankings and build towards the World Cup and Champions Trophy next year. We’re making huge steps towards bringing in match-winners who can take the game by the scruff of the neck and move forward.”

The fast bowler Trent Boult and the wicketkeeper-batsman BJ Watling have been ruled out of the New Zealand side for the first Test against West Indies, starting in Antigua on Wednesday. Both men are suffering from quad injuries and they did not take part in the tour match against the WICB President’s XI, a game in which the New Zealanders narrowly escaped with a draw, leaving 13 players available for selection for the Test.The left-arm fast bowler Neil Wagner has emerged as a strong candidate to make his Test debut after impressing during the tour match, in which he took 3 for 65 and then played a fighting lower-order innings to held the side avoid defeat. Wagner, 26, was born in South Africa and qualified for New Zealand selection in April, and he could be part of a three-man pace attack alongside Chris Martin and Doug Bracewell.”He has had to wait his time. He’s got a very good first-class record and bowls with a lot of aggression,” the captain Ross Taylor said of Wagner. “Neil Wagner has got a big chance to make his Test debut here in Antigua. He’s an aggressive left-arm bowler who will be dangerous with the older ball as well, reversing it.”Wagner was one of New Zealand’s better performers in the tour match and the lack of runs from the specialist batsmen – Kane Williamson’s first-innings 55 and Brendon McCullum’s second-innings 51 were New Zealand’s only half-centuries in the game – would be a concern heading in to the Test. However, Taylor said the side would be better for the outing, despite the lack of runs.”A warm-up game is a warm-up game. We got what we wanted out of it,” he said. “We obviously would have liked a few more runs from our batsmen. We got two bats. We were lucky to come away with the draw but we had a good innings, most of the batsmen had a decent bat out there and the bowlers got a good trundle for one innings. We haven’t played with the red ball for a while and it was good to spend a bit of time on our feet.”[The openers] probably didn’t bat as long as the middle order. But they’re good players in their own right and I’m sure they’ll be looking forward to getting out there on this wicket. The ball is different. It does seem to swing a little bit more so we had to negate that early on and negate the West Indies fast bowlers.”One advantage for New Zealand is the fact that the warm-up game was played at the same venue as the upcoming Test match, which has given them an early look at the conditions in Antigua. Taylor said all in all the three-day game had been a benefit for his men.”We had a few players coming back and four or five of the guys haven’t played cricket for a while,” he said. “It was good for them to get out there and play some cricket. The warm-up game, you don’t often get to play on the ground you’re going to be playing a Test match on. Just getting used to the familiar surroundings I’m sure will be beneficial for the team.”

Muttiah Muralitharan has declared his intention to play in the Big Bash League next season, and the Melbourne Renegades could be the most likely team to win his services. Muralitharan played for Wellington in New Zealand’s domestic T20 competition last summer instead of turning out in the BBL but he has said he is keen to take part in the Australian tournament before he retires.Muralitharan, 40, is currently playing T20 cricket with Gloucestershire and having retired from international cricket, he has become something of a domestic T20 specialist. Already this year he has played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL and the Chittagong Kings in the Bangladesh Premier League, and several BBL sides would be interested in signing him to their squad.”Yes, I’m going to play there next summer,” Muralitharan told the this week. “It is going to be maybe the last year of mine so I may as well come and enjoy the Big Bash. I am still bowling well.”If Muralitharan does join a BBL side it won’t be his first flirtation with Australia’s T20 cricket. In 2009, he signed with Victoria for what was then called the Big Bash, but the deal fell through due to Sri Lanka’s international commitments.He told the his relationships with Brad Hodge and Andrew McDonald made the Renegades an attractive proposition, and such a move would also set up a cross-town spin rivalry between Muralitharan and the Melbourns Stars’ Shane Warne. However, the BBL contracting window does not open until next week, after the end of the contract period for the state sides.

The BCCI’s technical committee has recommended that structural changes be made to the Ranji Trophy, India’s premier first-class tournament, by doing away with the existing Elite and Plate divisions and rearranging the 27 teams into three groups of nine each.The committee’s other recommendations for domestic cricket include increasing the points for outright wins in the Ranji Trophy, allowing Ranji knockout games to go into a sixth day to produce a result, allowing bowlers two bouncers per over in one-day cricket and one bowler 12 overs.The existing Ranji Trophy format, which replaced the zonal system in 2002-03, has teams divided into Elite and Plate League, and into two more sub-groups. Six teams from Elite and two from Plate make it to the quarter-finals. If the BCCI’s working committee ratifies the recommendations, the tournament will have three groups. The BCCI is yet to finalise the exact criterion for division, but it is expected that group A will be the strongest and C the weakest. This will ensure every team gets eight matches at least; presently eight teams play seven league matches each, seven teams play six each and the remaining 12 get five each.

Key changes

• 27 teams be divided into three groups, instead of two in the existing Ranji format

• Each team gets to play a minimum of eight Ranji games

• Knockout games to be five-day fixtures, with an extra day available to encourage result

• Outright wins worth six points instead of five

• Bowlers permitted to bowl two bouncers an over

• One bowler permitted to bowl 12 overs in one-dayers

Three teams each from A and B, and two from C, will make it to the quarter-finals. The quarters and semi-finals, four-day matches at present, will be played over five days, and if a first-innings lead has not been achieved by then, they will go into a sixth day. If a first-innings lead has not been established by the sixth, the winner will be decided by a coin toss.The committee also made recommendations to incentivise outright wins in league matches. If they are ratified, outright wins will be worth six points as opposed to five. The bonus point, which accrues on ten-wicket or innings victories, will remain.Another important recommendation is for bowlers to be allowed two bouncers an over and for one bowler to have a 12-over quota in one-day matches. The field restrictions, though, won’t follow the changes recommended by the ICC in international cricket.India’s domestic calendar was shuffled as well. The Irani Cup is likely to be played at the end of the season, and the Duleep Trophy at the start. There could be two Irani Cup matches this season as a result: Rajasthan (2011-12 champions) v Rest of India, and this season’s champion v Rest of India. The Challenger Trophy has also been restructured. One of its three teams could be the winner of India’s domestic one-day competition, the Vijay Hazare Trophy.Sourav Ganguly, the head of BCCI’s technical committee, said there would also be an emphasis on producing good quality pitches. Anil Kumble, who was a special invitee to the meeting, said these changes would provide better structure to the Ranji Trophy.”Besides giving each team an equal number of matches home and away, this format brings in more competition as teams will have an equal chance of making it to the top two of their respective groups,” Kumble told the BCCI’s website. “We believe the home and away format gives that incentive for the state associations to organise four home matches in the centres they want. As the president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association it gives me the opportunity to take the game outside of Bangalore and develop it in the smaller centres.”

Ben Stokes, the Durham allrounder, is to undergo a scan on a back injury that currently prevents him from bowling. Stokes, who was named in the England Lions squad to take on West Indies next month, suffered discomfort during Durham’s drawn Championship match against Middlesex at Lord’s but is hoping it will not prove to be a significant problem as he seeks to press his case for an international recall.Stokes appeared in five ODIs and two T20 internationals for England last year, though he struggled to make an impact and subsequently underwent surgery on a finger injury that prevented him from playing cricket over the winter. Although he was called up on the strength of his batting alone, Stokes has put extra work into his bowling and already has 11 first-class wickets at 16.72 from three matches this season, albeit five came in the rout of Durham’s university students. The 20-year-old would not have bowled against Surrey last week – and in the end he did not get a chance to bat either, as The Oval suffered its first complete abandonment since 2007 due to persistent heavy rainfall.”It’s not quite ready for bowling at the moment,” Stokes said. “We’re just taking a few precautions with that. I’ve got a scan coming up so hopefully that will tell us more. If it stops me from bowling that is going to be a setback. I had a couple of stress reactions in my back when I was younger but this doesn’t feel similar so hopefully it’s not that bad.”I always work on both bowling and batting, as hard as each other. At the moment, there’s a lot of work going into my bowling because there’s a lot of improvement needed. So if this back injury does prevent me from bowling it will be give a chance to work on batting.”Already marked out as one of the most talented young players on the circuit, Stokes has a chance to make a statement with the bat, at least, when the Lions take on West Indies in less than two weeks’ time. He has not set any targets for the season, other than making runs and taking wickets, but with the make-up of England’s top order far from certain, Stokes could potentially play himself into Andy Flower’s plans with a big innings.If he remains on the Test fringes – with Ravi Bopara expected to bat at No. 6 against West Indies and Nick Compton stockpiling hard-won early season runs – Stokes has realistic hopes of a return to England’s limited-overs sides. “It’s fantastic to be involved again with the Lions, especially after a frustrating winter,” Stokes said. “Hopefully I can put in a good performance on the pitch when it comes to the game.”For the second week running, Durham were frustrated by the London weather, with not a ball bowled against Surrey. Indoor nets and watching the IPL on TV were as close as the players got to cricket as both clubs lost ground on Division One leaders, Warwickshire. Durham’s next match is at Edgbaston, beginning on Thursday, with Stokes seeking to build on a modest return of 90 runs from four Championship innings so far this season ahead of the Lions fixture.”It is tough sitting and watching the rain come down, especially at the start of the season because every team wants to get off to a good start and it’s pretty disappointing that the weather’s holding us back,” Stokes said. “Batting out in the middle is a lot different to batting in the nets. It is a bit frustrating not getting any game time but you’ve got to find a way to get in as much practice as you can.”

Dav Whatmore, Pakistan’s head coach, has said that his team will be sternly tested during their tour of Sri Lanka which begins on June 1.The Pakistan players began a two-week conditioning camp in Lahore on Wednesday to prepare for the upcoming tour. They started with a fitness session in the morning at the National Academy and a net session at noon in Gaddafi Stadium.With temperatures in Lahore touching 40C, Whatmore said he hoped his players would find it easy to acclimatise themselves to similar conditions in Sri Lanka. “It’s pretty warm out here as well but it will be easy for us to acclimatise (to Sri Lankan conditions),” Whatmore said. “We’re lucky to do a bit of work in the heat in the morning and a little bit in the afternoon.”Some of the bowlers and batsmen have been working out in the heat to ensure we are prepared. I think we have to prepare properly for a series against a strong opposition.”Pakistan announced separate teams for each format for the upcoming tour and Whatmore said he was satisfied with the selection process.”I am happy to see that players are being selected based on their suitability to a format. As far as leadership is concerned, it’s not up to me and I will support what the PCB decides.”He also backed the inexperienced players selected for the tour. “There are one or two changes in the squad and that’s a good thing as by keeping exactly the same squad we would be marching on the same spot, but we must move forward all the time.”Whatmore, who has had two stints as Sri Lanka’s coach in the past, said he was expecting batting-friendly pitches in Sri Lanka. “We are not expecting anything different. The limited-overs pitches [in Sri Lanka] are good for batting.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSteven Croft is bowled by Lewis Gregory as Lancashire are bowled out for 199•Graham Morris

Lancashire displayed the determination and resolve that went a long way to securing their first championship title in 77 years last summer as they tore aside a lackadaisical MCC batting display in the season’s opener in Abu Dhabi.They made a habit of achieving the improbable in 2011, and they have given themselves a real chance of doing it again at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium after reducing the MCC to 81-8, a lead of 148, with some high-class bowling in the final session.Lancashire were in choppy waters at 106 for 7 just before lunch on a pitch offering help to all bowlers, but Glen Chapple, their captain, top-scored with 42 as the last three wickets put on 93 and then the bowlers showed their mettle.Peter Moores, Lancashire’s coach, has seen such recoveries before. “It’s been a typical Lancashire game,” he said. “We’ve got ourselves behind the eight-ball and scrapped very hard to get out of trouble. It’s a bit of a trademark for us. We don’t lie down easily. It doesn’t mean you’re always going to win, but you give yourselves a chance.”Because we’re a very close team, you can always expect someone to find something from somewhere. If it doesn’t work at the top, it’s likely to at the bottom. If it isn’t Chapple or Keedy with the ball, it will probably work for Smith or Mahmood.”In fact, Lancashire were handed the advantage by Simon Kerrigan, their left-arm spinner, who struck three times in a three-over second spell at a cost of just two runs as the MCC collapsed from 67 for 3 to 80 for 8. Tom Smith started the tumble of wickets with a couple of scalps, including the key one of Blackwell, before Kerrigan got Niall O’Brien, Stephen Peters and Batty – the last two in a double wicket maiden.Lewis Gregory had earlier played a key bowling role for the MCC. Gregory, a recent England under 19s captain, returned his best figures in first-class cricket in only his fifth game by removing Steven Croft and Luke Procter, prospering at the North End which offered more encouragement to quick bowlers in the desert stadium.Gregory, at 19, is the youngest player in the match, and he is trying to make a name for himself in longer form of the game having impressed last summer – his breakthrough campaign – in 40-over and Twenty20 cricket. After suffering a back injury last year, the seamer has worked hard during the winter months at remodelling his action to try to become a bigger threat with the red ball.”I had the stress reaction last summer, which is on the way to a stress fracture,” he said. “I haven’t had many injury problems before because I didn’t bowl a great deal as a youngster, so it was frustrating.”I’ve done quite a lot of work on my action this winter to try and get more momentum going towards the batter and through the crease. It’s definitely helped my red-ball cricket. I’m starting to swing the ball a bit more, but I’m not quite there yet, confidence wise. In terms of pace, I’m a little bit behind where I want to be because I haven’t felt confident enough just to let it go yet.”To start the season with my best figures after all the work I’ve done in the winter is a big bonus. Hopefully I can go on to bigger and better things.”Edited by David Hopps