BBC BLOGS - Test Match Special

Agent regulation is a good step forward

Alison Mitchell | 19:00 UK time, Monday, 13 September 2010

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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)'s announcement in the wake of the spot fixing scandal that they intend to create a register of agents, has to be welcomed.

The move has been prompted by the alleged involvement of agent Mazhar Majeed in the scandal engulfing Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amir, with the PCB stating that every player under its auspices will have to register their agent with the board for approval, or be ineligible to play.

Majeed, agent to Butt, was arrested following the News of the World sting, where it was claimed he arranged for Asif and Amir to bowl deliberate no-balls during last month's Test against England at Lord's. Majeed was later released on bail without charge, while Asif, Amir and Butt have been provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) pending the police investigation.

A lack of regulation around agents on the subcontinent means there has never been a way of keeping track on who is getting involved in the game. Anybody is able to claim that they represent a player. Indeed, anyone can approach a player with an offer of representation and the player has very little assistance in checking the credentials and credibility of that individual.

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Who gets on the plane to Australia?

Oliver Brett | 07:57 UK time, Saturday, 4 September 2010

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With the cricket world gripped by the potentially hugely damaging Pakistan spot-fixing allegations, Ashes fever has been thoroughly dampened down.

However, it is not too long before England's selectors gather to select 16 names to take to Australia this winter, and to prompt some debate I asked Test Match Special pundits Jonathan Agnew, Alec Stewart and Phil Tufnell to name their squads.

Here are their thoughts, and, for what it's worth, I have added my own suggestions as well.

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The continuing struggles of Pietersen

Oliver Brett | 20:11 UK time, Friday, 27 August 2010

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The scenario is as follows: Mohammad Amir is bowling with more skill and more confidence than any teenage cricketer is entitled to have. His third ball of the morning has snaked viciously away from Alastair Cook's bat at the last minute to have the England opener caught behind, and Kevin Pietersen is fresh to the crease.

Pietersen watches Mohammad Asif send down a maiden to Jonathan Trott, before Amir begins his first full over of the morning. He takes guard and the typically hushed packed house at Lord's somehow goes even quieter for a second or two.

Amir plays a joker, sending down a delivery that is neither particularly straight, nor does a huge amount in the air or of the wicket.

It is out there - 18 inches outside off-stump, half-volley length - fairly glistening with temptation. But, with thick cloud cover, the ball still new and England 39-2, Pietersen must show the self-restraint of a monk, not the wilful abandon of Don Juan.

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