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This hardly needs comment. It’s about Sharad Ghai in the Nation.

“After ending his contractual obligation to pay the salaries of Kenya cricket players after the end of the shenanigans in 2006 the country’s performance has been dismal. But the indefatigable Ghai, a former Kenya table tennis international, could as well have been weaving his business magic in any other sport outside cricket.

“He has a passion for all top-flight competition -- from rugby football, swimming, volleyball and football. In a short stint, he involved himself with the national football team, Harambee Stars, hoping, then, to put the players on the same professional status as the cricketers. Familiar Kenya Football Federation lack of foresight put breaks on Ghai’s venture.”

Read on. It gets better.

Nepal, the odds-on favourites who have dominated recent Asian Cricket Council Under-19 tournaments, were brought down to earth with a bump by Hong Kong who sent them crashing to a 36-run defeat. The result means both teams go through to the semi-finals.

Irfan Ahmed was the star of the show for Hong Kong, thumping 103 off 101 balls in a score of 193 for 7. Nepal struggled from the off and were bowled out for 157, Irfan Ahmed making the Man-of-the-Match adjudication a formality with 3 for 72 while Shakeel Haq took 4 for 17.
In the other Group A match, Singapore beat Saudi Arabia by 39 runs.

With Afghanistan already through from Group B, the other place was between UAE and Qatar, and it was Qatar who went through, bowling Bhutan out for 69 and coasting to a nine-wicket win - UAE’s 130-run defeat of Oman wasn’t enough.

Afghanistan will play a shell-shocked Nepal, while Hong Kong meet Qatar

An outstanding all-round display from Irfan Ahmed stole the show at Unity as he almost single-handily carried Hong Kong to a 36-run against Nepal. Ahmed hit an unbeaten 103 as most of the other batsmen struggled, then he followed that up three wickets as Nepal were bowled out for 157.

Qatar raced to a nine-wicket win against Bhutan who were bowled out for just 69 as Ali Ishtiaq took 4 for 11.

Oman were overwhelmed by UAE’s batting strength, falling to a 130-run defeat, after Rahul Chattwani hit a fine 98 to form the cornerstone of UAE’s 329.

Singapore eased past Saudi Arabia by 69 runs as Prem Dadlani’s 70 led them to 201 which proved too much of a run chase for the Saudis.

Nepal, the odds-on favourites who have dominated recent Asian Cricket Council Under-19 tournaments, were brought down to earth with a bump by Hong Kong who sent them crashing to a 36-run defeat. The result means both teams go through to the semi-finals.

Irfan Ahmed was the star of the show for Hong Kong, thumping 103 off 101 balls in a score of 193 for 7. Nepal struggled from the off and were bowled out for 157, Irfan Ahmed making the Man-of-the-Match adjudication a formality with 3 for 72 while Shakeel Haq took 4 for 17.
In the other Group A match, Singapore beat Saudi Arabia by 39 runs.

With Afghanistan already through from Group B, the other place was between UAE and Qatar, and it was Qatar who went through, bowling Bhutan out for 69 and coasting to a nine-wicket win - UAE’s 130-run defeat of Oman wasn’t enough.

Afghanistan will play a shell-shocked Nepal, while Hong Kong meet Qatar

Afghanistan's cricketing fairytale just keeping rolling along, and in front of hundreds of supporters they beat Nepal to reach the final of the ACC U-19 Elite Cup. To put the result into context, Nepal have won every staging of this tournament since 2000, and until yesterday's loss to Hong Kong, had not lost an U-19 match in all that time.

Nepal batted on winning the toss, but while the first two overs produced 23 runs, two wickets fell and thereafter the innings struggled for any momentum. Only Prithu Baskota looked to take the attack to the bowlers, hammering three sixes on his way to 81. Some late hitting helped Nepal to 186 for 8, with 73 coming off the last ten overs after they had been 113 for 6.

Afghanistan also wobbled early on, and at 54 for 3 in the 16th over, Nepal appeared to be back on track. But Man of the Match Aimal Wafa (61*) and Asgher Hotak (478) came together at 84 for 4 and not only consolidated but also kept up with the required rate, adding an unbeaten 106 for the fifth wicket to see their side home.

There was less drama in the other semi-final where Hong Kong beat Qatar by 23 runs, despite only making 161 themselves.

The Africa Under-19 Championship got underway this week and the big surprise from the tournament so far is the appearance of Sierra Leone at the top of the table. They kicked things off by beating Kenya by four wickets then followed it up with a 10-wicket thrashing of Nigeria, who were bowled out for a paltry 44. Uganda, second-placed in the table with two wins out of three, beat Tanzania quite comfortably by six wickets, but their unbeaten run came to an end when Namibia rolled them for 128.

---Points Table (as of third day)---
1. Sierra Leone (6 points, NRR: 1.323)
2. Uganda (4, 0.986)
3. Zambia (4, 0.513)
4. Namibia (4, 0.510)
5. Botswana (4, -0.226)
6. Kenya (2, -0.289)
7. Tanzania (0, -0.864)
8. Nigeria (0, -2.158)

Ravendra Jadeja is cleaned up by Yusuf Abdullah. (AP Photo)

Deccan Chargers captain Adam Gilchrist celebrates after taking the catch of Mumbai Indians' Sanath Jayasuriya. (AP Photo)

Herschelle Gibbs in action during his match-winning 69. (AP Photo)

Yusuf Pathan is congratulated by a teammate as the Rajasthan Royals beat the Delhi Daredevils by five wickets. (AP Photo)

Bangalore Royal Challengers batsmen Mark Boucher and Manish Pandey celebrate after their win over Kolkata Knight Riders. (AP Photo)

Kings XI Punjab players celebrate after defeating Mumbai Indians. (AP Photo)

Delhi Daredevils' Tillakaratne Dilshan celebrates after hitting the winning runs against Deccan Chargers. (AP Photo)

Chennai bowler L Balaji reacts after taking the wicket of Yusuf Pathan. (AP Photo)

Don’t run singles at high altitude. That is the advice of Gareth Lewis, 27, a British policeman who has just played a 20 over-a-side game at Gorak Shep, close to Mount Everest base camp, a staggering 17,000 feet above sea level. “It was difficult to bat and bowl at that height. There were not many singles. Batsmen hit lots of sixes and fours," Lewis said. "I took just six or seven paces to bowl instead of a full run-up."

Lewis was vice-captain of Team Tenzing which lost to Team Hillary by 36 runs on April 21, but he was not disappointed. "It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life," he said.

His team-mate Nick Toovey, 28, shared that feeling. "It was fairly surreal. There was Mount Everest next to you, and yaks on one side of the pitch. I was sad it was all over, I wished it had lasted a bit longer." Jonathan Hill, who umpired the game, had even thought up an excuse for possible poor decisions. "Concentrating was difficult because your brain works slower up there," he said.

It was literally a heady feeling for the two teams and the umpires, doctors and handful of spectators who climbed for nine days carrying their bats, pads and even a roll-up pitch to get to Gorak Shep for the world’s highest cricket match. Next stop? Getting the game registered with Guinness World Records.

Samir wrote recently about his problem in adjusting to the idea that a team allegedly representing Delhi had a load of foreigners in it. Here in England, this is not exactly a novelty, since most counties have had overseas players for forty years - even Yorkshire relaxed its Yorkshire-born-only rule nearly twenty years ago.

There are probably still a few diehards hanging around among the membership of every county who think the use of overseas players is immoral or unpatriotic, but the vast majority have completely adjusted to the idea of adopting someone from abroad as one of their own.

As a general comment, without the benefit of statistics or specific team strategies, I’d have to say that I think the Batting Powerplay has often been more of a negative than a positive to most teams. I didn’t really watch the recent ODI series’ in West Indies and NZ so I can’t comment on them but in games involving Australia, it seems to me that most captains have yet to learn how to best use their Powerplay.

South Africa have used it to best effect thus far, mainly because they have managed to keep wickets in hand and therefore been able to use Albie Morkel’s clean hitting (and to a lesser extent Duminy and Boucher).

Sorry for the absence last week. I have no excuses, apart from the lame one
that last Monday was very busy. So to make up, let me begin with one from
the previous week.

Most of you will have noticed Osman Samiuddin's return. It was business as
usual the moment he got back from his honeymoon (which, incidentally, Thai
anti-government protesters chose to make memorable by coming out on to the
streets to engage the army) and he was called on write about the ICC's
decision to remove Pakistan from the list of World Cup hosts. This he did with familiar
clarity and reason:

In such darkness, sadness is understandable, even desirable if
it brings introspection, but there should be no place for anger

It's been mostly IPL last week, and though the cricket has been mostly tepid
so far, the spicier pitches in South Africa have ensured that batsmen have
had to fall back on traditional skills. Not surprisingly, the top performers
have all been familiar names, and it gave Peter Roebuck cause to rejoice:

the first few matches of this year's IPL have reminded all and sundry that cricket is just a game played with a bat and a ball, that good cricketers will find a way, that determined and skilful players will adapt, that the leading lights in 10-day cricket are likely to prosper in 10-over cricket as well.

As promised, we've been having fun at Page 2. I highly recommend a couple of
sections. The CV has so far featured Lasith Malinga, Andrew Symonds and Kevin Pietersen. Watch out for more. And to catch cricketers talking about their lives on and
off the field, check out Quick Singles, which has featured JP Duminy. What would Harbhajan Singh grab first if his house was on fire? Find out here.

It's not just Page 2 alone. Over at Inbox, Andrew Hughes has been good form over the last week. Here's his take on the delights of sponsored commentary. Your writing can feature in Inbox, too. Use the "Submit your piece" link to send in your articles.

From Brendan Layton, Australia

An old problem has just been highlighted by Pakistan captain Younis Khan, and one that is always inflammatory and brings out the worst in parochial cricket fans. He mentioned on Cricinfo following the third ODI that controversies seem to rear their ugly head whenever an Australian team plays a nation from the subcontinent, and some degree he's right and to some degree he is wrong, although I'm not sure to what context he is speaking.

DURBAN (Reuters) - The Bangalore Royal Challengers beat the Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Kingsmead on

From Andrew Hughes, United Kingdom

I haven’t been feeling very English lately. I do my best to conform to expectations. I never cry in public, unless I’m drunk. I don’t complain about poor service in shops, unless I’m drunk. At the first sign of a sunny spring day, I rush out and buy ten pairs of ridiculous three-quarter length shorts. All the same, in recent days, I have the uncomfortable feeling that I am letting my people down.

You see, I’ve been watching an awful lot of the IPL, which in English cricket circles is a bit like admitting that you failed all your exams. People look at me with a mixture of horror and pity. “But what about Michael Vaughan,” they say, in an effort to lure me back to the straight and narrow with a nice, decent bit of cricket chat, “Do you think he’ll get back into the England side? And what about Ian Bell?”

LONDON (Reuters) - A new domestic Twenty20 competition will begin in England next year with the winners qualifying for the lucrative Champions League.

(Reuters) - Indian Premier League results and standings on Wednesday.

DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - The Bangalore Royal Challengers secured a five-wicket win off the penultimate ball against the Kolkata Knight Riders to move off the bottom of the Indian Premier League (IPL) standings on Wednesday.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian and Pakistan players tied to the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL) have been asked to ditch the rebel organisation if they want to be considered for international cricket.

(Reuters) - Indian Premier League results and standings on Thursday.

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh may lift their ban on Indian Cricket League (ICL) players after India offered a similar amnesty, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said.