Ashoka, Davis on ICC Elite panel

Calcutta: The ICC on Wednesday promoted Sri Lankan Ashoka de Silva and Australian Steve Davis to the ICC’s Elite Panel of Umpires to increase the pool of top officials from 10 to 12. The two , who have been serving on the international panel of umpires, have been elevated to the Elite Panel by the selection panel after recommendations of an ICC umpiring task force.

De Silva has stood in 33 Tests and 76 ODIs after making his debut in 1999 and has served previously on the Elite Panel between 2002 and 2004. The 52-year-old also played 10 Tests and 28 ODIs for Sri Lanka between 1985 and 1992. The Australian Davis, 56, has stood in 11 Tests, 71 ODIs and three Twenty20 Internationals having made his top level debut in 1992. He has been a member of international panel since 2003.

ECB in talks with Stanford

London: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) raised the prospect of a lucrative Twenty20 series against a West Indies team on Tuesday after confirming they had held further talks with Texas billionaire Allen Stanford.

Stanford, who launched a domestic Twenty20 competition in the West Indies, met with ECB chief executive David Collier and Julian Hunte, president of the West Indies Cricket Board, on Monday to discuss a range of issues.

Pollock for Durham

London: Former South Africa allrounder Shaun Pollock will play for English county Durham in the Twenty20 Cup this season, the club said on Wednesday.

Pollock will join up with Durham in June. “When I got the offer from Durham I really jumped at the chance to get on board, they are determined to do well in the Twenty20 Cup and I want to contribute to that success,” Pollock told the Durham website.

Knight Riders’ gaming partner

Calcutta: On-line gaming portal zapak.com, a Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group venture, has tied up with the Kolkata Knight Riders as the latter’s official gaming partner in the billion-dollar tournament. According to a release on Wednesday, the portal would create a dedicated cricket zone on the official website of the Sourav Ganguly-led city outfit. The zone will have 10 cricket games custom built specially around Knight Riders and, based on the response for these games the portal aims to introduce more games, the release added.

NZ tour to Pak

Karachi: New Zealand have confirmed that they would tour Pakistan to play three ODIs before the ICC Champions Trophy in September, the PCB said on Wednesday. “They will come just before the Champions Trophy. They will also be sending a security delegation to assess the conditions before the tour,” said Shafqat Naghmi.