Should Zimbabwe be allowed to resume Test cricket in November? Malcolm Speed, chief executive of the International Cricket Council, does not think they should.
I have seen a copy of his confidential report for this week’s ICC meeting in London, in which he says: "My personal view, shared by the cricket committee and ICC senior management, is that the game in Zimbabwe and, more widely, the rest of the cricket world, will not be well served by Zimbabwe resuming Test cricket at this stage.
“It is respectfully suggested that we must find other ways to assist cricketers in Zimbabwe".
Read the rest of this entry
Pini Zahavi, the Israeli who is often described as a 'super agent', has demanded a "prompt and unambiguous statement", which "would include an apology", from the Premier League and Quest, the private investigating firm used by the League to examine transfers.
Zahavi is angry at his handling in last week's Quest report, which alleged that he had not cooperated fully with the inquiry.
The agent's Tel Aviv lawyers sent the letter to the Premier League this afternoon and in their two-page letter, which I have seen, they set out why Zahavi feels so angry and aggrieved.
Read the rest of this entry
With little over a week to go before Gordon Brown takes over as Prime Minister, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, which is in charge of London 2012, is making some important decisions regarding the London Olympics.
I understand that Jeremy Beaton, a vice president of construction company Bechtel, is about to be announced as the managing director of the project.
He will be the man in the ministry who will be responsible for making sure the Olympic sites are built on time and the Olympic Development Authority, which is responsible for building the sites, will report to him.
This is a very important appointment in the running of the Games, but this afternoon a DCMS spokesman refused to discuss the details, only saying an appointment was due shortly.
Read the rest of this entry
London 2012 is making British sport realise that there are other goals besides putting on a good show and winning a lot of medals.
These remain prime objectives, of course, but another important target is for Britain to regain some of the prestige and power it used to exercise in international sports.
UK Sport has been running a year-long leadership programme for sports federations. This week they held a meeting in Sunningdale, normally reserved for ministers and top civil servants to gather and discuss strategy.
Read the rest of this entry
The problems involving Liverpool fans in Athens have been well documented, but what is not so well known is the problem their manager had the night of the Champions League final.
There was a lot of comment that in his press conference on the morning after the match Rafa Benitez was not in a happy mood. Wholly understandable given the nature of the defeat against A.C. Milan and also not helped by the fact that that he did not seem to be sure how much money he had to spend on players.
However, I am told by George Gillett, the American who jointly owns the Reds, that the mood of the manager was not helped by the fact that on the night of the final he did not have a bed in the Liverpool team hotel.
Read the rest of this entry
Tuesday's announcement by the Jamaican police that the Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer was not murdered after all is a wholly unsatisfactory end to an investigation gone badly wrong.
But the problems have been compounded by the fact that cricket is haunted by the spectre of corruption and match fixing.
The Jamaican police have now said that Woolmer died of natural causes on 18 March, and they may try to defend themselves by blaming the pathologist who initially diagnosed murder - and also, to a certain extent, by placing some of the blame on the media.
But much of the media interest was fuelled by the openness of the Jamaican police, their willingness to talk to the media and their confident assertion that it was murder.
Their initial announcement of an inconclusive cause of death began the speculation, which then became uncontrollable once they announced with such certainty that this was murder by strangulation.
Read the rest of this entry
The Olympic brand which London 2012 unveiled at the Roundhouse on Monday was certainly innovative and has already provoked debate.
Indeed, on the BBC Sport website it has produced the sort of reaction which suggests many do not like it.
Now, that may be the initial negative response that any new idea often gets.
I must say watching Lord Coe, leader of London 2012, launching the brand I was reminded of his pitch for the Games at Singapore.
Read the rest of this entry
Mihir Bose's blog is no longer being updated. You can read recent entries about BBC Sport's coverage and insights into the latest issues on the 