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The ICC appears to have taken a huge step forward in appointing a new chief executive with Haroon Lorgat, the former convenor of Cricket South Africa’s selection committee, accepting an official offer to take up the job. The offer, Cricinfo has learnt, was made on Wednesday evening during a “well-conducted” and “professional” meeting Lorgat had in Cape Town with David Morgan, the ICC’s president-elect.Morgan met Lorgat on behalf of the ICC’s four-man recruitment committee, which includes Ray Mali, the ICC president, Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president and Morgan’s chosen successor, and Creagh O’ Connor, the chairman of Cricket Australia.However, Lorgat’s appointment is still some way away: Morgan will now report to the recruitment committee, which will have to agree on the preferred candidate and then make a recommendation to the ICC executive board to confirm the appointment as early as possible.Lorgat will take over from Malcolm Speed, who steps down from the position after this year’s ICC annual conference, which will take place between June 29 and July 4.The ICC has been looking at an early resolution to the search for its next CEO after its earlier choice Imtiaz Patel, also from South Africa, declared on Sunday that he had withdrawn interest in the job. Lorgat, who figured on the ICC’s original shortlist of six, had told Cricinfo on Monday that he would consider any such offer as “a great honour”.Lorgat, 47, headed CSA’s selection committee for three years till the 2007 World Cup. A qualified chartered accountant – whose roots, like Patel’s, are in India – and formerly a senior partner in Ernst & Young, he is currently on the board of Kapela Investments, a private venture he set up last year with five other associates.Dave Richardson, the former South Africa wicketkeeper and ICC’s general manager, was the other significant candidate for the job after Patel pulled out. IS Bindra, the former BCCI president and a third name of note on the ICC’s shortlist, has already been appointed the ICC’s principal advisor.

Ronnie Irani has retired as Essex captain with immediate effect. Earlier this month, Irani said he would be retiring at the end of the season, but his knee injury – which had already pretty much ruled him out of the first-class game – has now been deemed serious enough to rule him out of any cricket whatsoever. He will undergo surgery later in July.”I’m naturally disappointed that things are ending this way,” he told the Essex website. “I was hoping to swallow this bitter pill at the end of the season but unfortunately the end of my playing career has come earlier than anticipated.” He had rejected a two-year contract earlier this year.Irani, 35, has been an Essex stalwart since 1994 when he moved to Chelmsford following four unfulfilled seasons with Lancashire. Early in his career he was a fine allrounder, batting in the middle order and bowling a large number of overs, occasionally with the new ball. By 1996 he’d done enough to attract the interest of the England selectors and was picked in David Lloyd’s first squad for the one-day series against India.He made his Test debut against India that same season, at Edgbaston, taking a wicket with his fifth ball, but managed just two further Tests. His ODI career lasted slightly longer and he squeezed into the 2003 World Cup squad for his final international honours.As Graham Gooch, Essex’s coach, told Cricinfo a few weeks ago: “It’s a massive loss for us because we’ve lost our leader, our most experienced player. He’s been an inspirational captain for Essex, a leader from the front, a role model in the way he goes about his cricket. He’s been a great servant for Essex and a great entertainer for the fans here.”

The ICC board has surprisingly rejected a recommendation from its own cricket committee to trial a process of allowing players three appeals per innings to the TV umpire if they felt a decision made by an on-field umpire was incorrect during this year’s ICC Champions Trophy.”The reservations expressed by the cricket committee when they recommended the player appeal measure were mirrored to a much greater degree by the ICC board in its rejection of the concept after extensive deliberation,” said ICC president Ehsan Mani. “The board was concerned about the impact of the trial on the Spirit of Cricket and the effect it might have on the integrity of umpiring at all levels.”It was also felt the ICC Champions Trophy was too high profile an event at which to undertake such a trial. As such, further discussions will now take place to see whether the concept can be tested at domestic level.”Duncan Fletcher, England’s coach, had repeatedly spoken in favour of the three-appeal concept. But, for the time being at least, technology will only be used at the discretion of the on-field umpires.Meanwhile, another decision from a week-long series of ICC meetings in London, saw the chief executives’ committee (CEC) also approve a series of recommendations concerning the issue of bad light in international cricket. Research on the subject will be undertaken in Australia, England and Pakistan and pending the completion and review of that research, artificial lights can still be used in Test matches. The CEC also agreed to the increased use of light meters as a guideline for determining whether light is fit or unfit for play.

Luuk vav Troost, the Holland captain, has criticised the ECB for not allowing his team to participate in the English county season. Holland lost to Scotland in their last group match of the ICC Trophy – a game they needed to win to stand a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals – and Troost suggested that Scotland had an unfair advantage over the other teams.”They won’t even let us play in the C&G Trophy any more,” the BBC Sport website quoted van Troost as saying. “We didn’t play very well against Scotland and if we don’t improve we won’t qualify at all. Scotland are a much stronger team than they used to be after playing in the English one-day league. I’m very jealous – I don’t understand why we’re not in it.” Holland played in the C&G Trophy this year, losing to Warwickshire by 23 runs in the first round, but will not feature in the tournament from next year.Holland can still make it to the 2007 World Cup as the fifth qualifier – a position for which UAE, Denmark and Namibia are also in contention. Holland play the first of those qualifying games against Denmark on Saturday.

Brad Hodge, the Australian-born batsman, has been named as the new captain of Leicestershire. He takes over from Phil DeFreitas, who stepped down on Monday after 20 months in the role. Leicestershire have also named Darren Maddy, who made his debut for Leics 10 years ago, as the new vice-captain. Hodge, 29, has been in terrific form this season, averaging 64 in the County Championship and just under 50 in the National League."We are delighted that Brad has agreed to take on the captaincy," said James Whitaker, Leicestershire director of cricket. "As vice captain he is the natural successor to Daffy, and I am confident his knowledge, experience and enthusiasm will help us in our quest to get to where we want to be. I am excited about working with Brad.""I am also pleased that Darren, who has excelled as captain of the side on a number of occasions already, will now become official vice captain," he added. "He has been at the club for a long time and been a dedicated professional."

Rod Marsh, chief coach at England’s academy and recently appointed as a selector, has dismissed arguments that English cricketers play too much cricket during the year.In an interview with BBC radio, Marsh dismissed claims by some young cricketers that they are being asked to play too many games. “Name me another professional sport where you basically get seven months off,” he said. “What do they do in the winter time? Go away and play if they can. What do they do pre-season? Go and get ready for the season.”The more you play the better you should become because playing is a lot more fun than practising. That’s the attitude I want these youngsters to take.”But Marsh warned people not to expect immediate miracles from those at the academy, insisting that the set-up was “miles away” from where he wanted it to be.”You have to be patient and we have a lot of work to do still and it’s mainly the players who have to realise what it takes and make the commitment,” he explained. “There is the talent there but they have to understand all the things that go to make a great Test player. They have to make personal sacrifices and be prepared to develop what talent they have.”And Marsh also cautioned the media about building up the newest crop of young players, singling out James Anderson as one who should be given time to develop. “It’s early doors for him,” Marsh said. “He’s only been in the game five minutes. He’s got very good ability and I’m sure if he continues to develop he will be an outstanding bowler for England.”

Glamorgan are now officially promoted in the Norwich Union League and all but champions of the Second Division with two points from an abandoned game at New Road.With two games to play, they are eight points clear of Worcestershire with a huge run-rate advantage to guard against an unexpected shift in recent form.Worcestershire have failed to win in four games – two lost and two rained off, whereas the Welshmen have amassed 28 points from eight matches.They were again in their best batting form when scoring 254 for 6 in a reduced innings of 43 overs. Robert Croft completed his fifth half-century of the season in the competition and Matthew Maynard took his aggregate to 241 from three innings in a week.Together they put on 111 – Glamorgan’s best in the League for the fourth wicket against Worcestershire – as the Second Division title favourites accelerated from a modest 77 for 3.Keith Newell, Ian Thomas and Jimmy Maher all reached double figures before Croft reached 50 from 59 balls. The England off-spinner was bowled for 61 by David Leatherdale and Maynard hoisted Stuart Lampitt to mid-on after making 71 from 85 deliveries.The first break for rain came during a late dash of 47 in five overs by Michael Powell and Darren Thomas, who was lbw to Andy Bichel’s final delivery after hitting 25 from 17 balls. Powell was unbeaten with 20 from 15.Worcestershire were given an imposing target of 264 under the Duckworth-Lewis method but were unable to start their reply before heavier rain ended the proceedings at 4.30pm.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details5:14

Manjrekar: Dean Elgar was SA’s wildcard

Some balls turned. Others didn’t. The batsmen were uncertain. And 12 wickets fell on the day, nine of them to spin, as the Test season in India began with a distinctly subcontinental flavor. Some like M Vijay felt untroubled at the crease. Others didn’t last long enough to figure things out. South Africa would feel aggrieved that Faf du Plessis and Stiaan van Zyl fell in the latter pile after they bowled India out for 201.At 28 for 2 after the first day’s play and having gone in a batsman short – JP Duminy has not recovered from his hand injury – South Africa will need a big first session tomorrow, and have two grand players of spin in Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers to pin their hopes on.But if part-time spinner Dean Elgar could swindle four wickets in eight overs, India’s frontliners should be chomping at the bit. R Ashwin already has a wicket. Ravindra Jadeja, on his Test return, played his second-longest innings and struck with his second ball and Amit Mishra ripped a couple of legbreaks that could easily have taken Amla’s edge or his off stump.”Never seen so many cracks in Chandigarh ever,” said Sunil Gavaskar. “If you’re a spinner, what more do you want,” said Anil Kumble. It was dry and consensus was it had been rolled less than usual. Safe to say that the pre-series demand for turning tracks has been met.The agenda was to bat first and bat big. Virat Kohli won the toss on his 27th birthday and his first Test as captain at home to give his team the opportunity to do so. Only the voodoo that part-time spinners do hit India hard as Elgar, better known to be an opening batsman, one-upped two key players. Cheteshwar Pujara, who could have built India’s innings around him, was trapped lbw with a straight ball and Ajinkya Rahane, who has shown he can resurrect top-order wobbles, nicked the one that turned sharply.That Elgar has the knack to shock opposition line-ups is not entirely a surprise. His first Test wicket was Misbah-ul-Haq, when he was cruising towards a century in Dubai in 2013. He bested Steven Smith as well, at a time when South Africa were at their wits end after a 184-run partnership in Cape Town in 2014.They weren’t facing as dire a situation today, but Amla trusted his experiment so much that the frontline spinner Imran Tahir had to wait till the 44th over to bowl and Elgar was celebrating like King Kong – banging on his chest with each India batsman he swatted away. At one point he was on a hat-trick when Wriddhiman Saha nicked a beautifully flighted delivery to first slip to reenact Rahane’s dismissal. The trick was simple – he bowled at an enticingly slow pace to pull errant drives and the batsmen either nicked off or the gap between bat and pad was exploited.India owed a good portion of their runs to a fifty from Vijay, who looked as in control as the rest looked flustered. The difference perhaps came as a result of the batting styles: Vijay played late and delicately, the others tended to jab and push to feel bat on ball. He was exquisite on the drive and the flick because he picked the line and length early and then committed to a stroke. The conviction behind them was apparent, the power never ever so. He breezed to 75 runs, with 12 fours, in only 136 balls. Then there was Jadeja, returning to the side after six back-to-back five-wicket hauls in the Ranji Trophy, and showing an improved tenacity to bat as well. But otherwise there wasn’t much.Shikhar Dhawan, backed by the team management to deliver, retained his place as opener but couldn’t muster any fight. He had knocked back three balls and flashed at the fourth wide outside off stump to bag a duck and give Vernon Philander and South Africa the early strike they needed.Topping up on that seemed unlikely when Pujara joined Vijay and put up a sturdy 63 runs for the second wicket. They left the ball watchfully, ran well between the wickets and ushered the bad balls to the boundary as good Test batsmen should.Good Test bowlers make that difficult and Steyn did persuade Vijay, who was yet to score, to feel outside his off stump. But the edge went too quickly for Harmer at gully. Then there are bowlers like Elgar, who rock up at the right time and deliver the right ball. It was the orthodox left-arm spinner’s delivery but it just did not turn as Pujara was clearly expecting and was trapped leg-before, another of those dismissals where he missed a straight ball.Kohli fell to his own intent. He plays with hard hands. He likes coming at the ball. He wants to force it onto his bat and one of those times coincided with a Kagiso Rabada delivery that came quite a bit slower off the track. The leading edge was taken and Elgar, again, pouched a catch diving forward at short cover. That South Africa have made all these inroads without Morne Morkel, who has not sufficiently recovered from his foot injury, indicates the depth of their resources and the disciplines they have maintained. But they, like India, went in with five bowlers and six batsmen and will need every one of them to step up tomorrow.

Luke Ronchi, the big-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman, will join Mumbai for next month’s Indian Premier League after signing a three-year deal with the franchise. Ronchi owns a 56-ball century with Western Australia, a domestic one-day record, and his all-round skills are perfectly suited to the Twenty20 format.Mumbai have Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Harbhajan Singh and Shaun Pollock in their squad and Ronchi, who has a strike-rate of 176.97 in his 12 abbreviated matches, is looking forward to joining them. “I can’t wait to get over there and start training with the likes of Tendulkar and Jayasuriya and try to gain as much as I can from the wealth of experience they possess,” Ronchi said.”It will be a tremendous learning experience for me, not just in how to play Twenty20, but in all aspects of my game because I will be surrounded by so many champions. And there may be an opportunity to open the batting with Sachin in front of his home crowd in Mumbai – that would be the stuff dreams are made of.”While Ronchi has joined the IPL’s playing ranks, Matthew Mott, the New South Wales coach, has accepted an offer from John Buchanan to be an assistant with Kolkata. Mott guided New South Wales’ Pura Cup final victory last week and he will be in India for Kolkata’s first game against Bangalore on April 18.”It’s going to be a great experience for him,” Dave Gilbert, the New South Wales chief executive, told the Sydney Morning Herald. “They have a terrific side, and the opportunity to work with Buchanan will be beneficial for him.”To be honest, our limited-overs form has been pretty ordinary in the last couple of seasons, and this is a great chance for Matt to go there and observe first-hand some of the game’s innovations. There will obviously be some pretty interesting cricket being played, and he will be able to take note of it all and plan for our assault on the title next season.”

A report in the Royal Gazette claimed that Saleem Mukuddem had been found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute after criticising the Bermuda board (BCB) over the way he was dropped during the World Cup.But it seems that the BCB, who has reportedly dished out a year’s probabtion as punishment, decided to send notification to the player by ordinary mail rather than the more usual email, delaying the official announcement of the decision.”I haven’t had anything official from the board as yet … all I’ve seen is what was reported,” Mukuddem told the newspaper. “I don’t know whether it’s true or not but what I would say is that if it is true, then I’m disappointed it has leaked out before I have been officially informed. That’s not the way it is supposed to work.”Regardless of the decision I will not be making any more public comments on the matter. I had a chance to give my side of the story and the public are now aware of it. That’s all I set out to do. I have done nothing wrong. Anything else I have to say on the matter will be dealt with privately between the board and myself.”In a separate disciplinary hearing, assistant national coach Herbie Bascome was found not guilty on the same charge after he sent a letter criticising the BCB following its decision to cancel his son Oronde’s cricketing scholarship. The board was publicly slammed over the decision, not because it withdrew its financial backing but because it was openly critical of his attitude to the game.