Gilchrist wants to call it a day

Adam Gilchrist, one of the most destructive ODI batsmen, with a staggering strike rate of 96.65, is considering retirement from the shorter version of the game to prolong his Test career. The explosive Australian batsman, with 9,038 runs, including 15 hundreds from 268 one-dayers, has all along maintained that he would not quit one form of the game for the sake of extending the other. And the swashbuckling left-hander was in supreme form in his last one-day innings, in the World Cup final in the Caribbean a little more than a month ago, when he hit a cracker of century to decimate the Sri Lankan attack. But the birth of his third child and the uniform exit of his teammates -- Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer and Shane Warne -- from the international scene seem to have triggered a change of opinion. "Up until the last 12 months, I had never been a guy to consider phasing out one form of the game and just focusing on one," 35-year-old Gilchrist was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald. "But I am open to thinking about that now. I have been quite firm on playing both forms in the past, but I guess that things have changed a little," he added.

WORKING COMMITTEE TO MEET ON JUNE 12

The Cricket Board's all-powerful Working Committee is to meet on June 12 to discuss various issues."The Working Committee would meet on June 12 in Delhi," informed BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah from Rajkot. The meeting of the national selection committee, slated for the same day at Bangalore, was likely to be put off by a day because of the clash of dates, according to Shah. The selection committee meeting was to choose the Indian team for Ireland, Scotland and England tours. Among other things the Working Committee is expected to ratify the decision taken by the Coach Selection Committee on June 4 at Bangalore though. Shah said the agenda for the meeting has not yet been fixed. This seven-member committee to find a successor for Greg Chappell is headed by BCCI president Sharad Pawar and includes three former India captains -- S Venkataraghavan, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri.

YOUNIS WON'T BE OFFERED CAPTAINCY AGAIN?

Senior Pakistani batsman Younis Khan will not be offered captaincy of the national team ever again in the future, PCB chief Naseem Ashraf said. Ashraf said though Younis would be considered as a player, he won't be offered to lead the Pakistan team ever. "As far as his playing for Pakistan is concerned he will be considered whenever he makes himself available to play for the national team. But I don't think he will ever be offered the captaincy again," he said. Younis had refused the captaincy after the World Cup when Inzamam-ul-Haq stepped down as skipper after Pakistan were eliminated in the first round of the mega event. Younis cited poor form, personal pressures and unhappiness with the situation in Pakistan cricket as reasons for refusing the captaincy.

ADDITIONAL ODIs A THREAT TO PLAYERS' FITNESS: ICC

The ICC Cricket Committee has expressed deep concern at the crammed international calendar, saying "the addition of many ODIs" to the Future Tour Programme was bound to have a "severe impact" on the standard of the game and the players' fitness. "The committee expressed concern about the congestion in the international calendar in particular the addition of many ODIs which, it felt, may have a severe impact on the quality, intensity and standard of international cricket and may result in injuries to players and a dearth of fast bowlers," the ICC said in a statement. The Committee, which met here over the last two days under the chairmanship of former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, recommended against allowing Zimbabwe to return to Test fold. It said that the African team must "demonstrate its ability to perform at a standard that does not risk undermining the integrity of the game" before being allowed to play the longer version of the game. It also proposed significant changes to the ODI playing conditions including change of ball after 35 overs in an innings and allowing a free hit off the delivery that follows a no-ball. Permitting three fielders to be placed outside the inner circle during the second or third power plays, discontinuing the use of adhesives on pitches, stretching the boundaries wherever possible boundaries to a maximum of 90 yards -- were among the other changes recommended by the Committee. The committee gave a thumbs-down to a trial of player appeals to TV umpire at the inaugural Twenty-20 World Cup in South Africa in September. It, however, gave a go ahead to the concept being tried out in domestic championships.