Saleh Bhana

A six off the last ball of the match by rookie Asif Dassu has handed Dadabhai a one wicket win over Ahir 'A' in the final of the Panamanian cricket league on Sunday.

Played before a crowd of around 9,000 of Panama City's Indian community, the match started with Ahir A winning the toss and electing to bat on a very hot afternoon. Ahir captain Jagdish Ahir smashed a very quick half century and was dismissed by a brilliant stumping by Salim Jasat. Despite this, Ahir A managed to post a very good target of 159 runs in their 25 overs.

Dadabhai's reply began with a very aggressive batting by Imran Bulbulia and Harum Bhiku. That was until Bulbulia was hit in the face, via the top-edge of his bat retiring, which forced him to retire hurt and go hospital for seven stitches. Dadabhai's batting after the injury slowed down the and wickets began to fall.

Bulbulia returned to the match with 36 balls and 52 runs remaining. He scored some quick runs until bowled by Jagdish. After this wicket Ahir thought they had the game in their hands. Jagdish was also brilliant at bowling taking three very important wickets trying to take his team to the championship. His figures at bowling was 3 for 22 in five overs.

The last over of the match began with nine runs needed and one wicket remaining, Asif Dassu and Faruk Jasat were in the crease for Dadabhai CC, they took some singles and everything was going to be decided in the last ball of the match with Dassu at strike.

With a six needed to win the match, the rookie Dassu overcame the stress and nervousness of the moment and smashed one of the biggest six ever scored in Panamanian cricket and gave the championship to Dadabhai in a thriller.

Panama remained undefeated with an easy 111-run win over Brazil on the second day of the Pepsi ICC Americas Division 2 at Windsor Park. Panama elected to bat and after losing their openers on 26, the captain Irfan Tarajia and Soyab Chohan added some stability with a stand of 56. Rajesh Ahir then smashed 79 off 69 balls, with good support from Munaf Kachhalia (41) as Panama posted 291. Rudyard Hartmann had another good day with the ball capturing 3 for 57 while Ravindra Chanchlani took 3 for 36.

Brazil got off to a good start, with their openers Greigor Caisley (49) and Guilherme Lefèvre (28) adding 73. Deodat Randolph top scored with an unbeaten 64 at No.4, but the rest failed to reach double figures as Brazil was dismissed for 180 in the 39th over. Nilesh Bhakta was Panama's best bowler with 3 for 26.

In the other match at Haynes Oval, Suriname breezed past Turks & Caicos Islands with a 109-run victory. Suriname wicketkeeper Anthony Seeraj top scored with an unbeaten 49 to guide them to 263. While there were no large scores, eight batsmen reached double figures.

Turks & Caicos lost wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out for 154 in the 35th over. Opener Errion Charles smashed ten fours in his 70, the top score of the innings. Terbhawan Ranjit captured 6 for 41 in 7.2 overs and not surprisingly, was named the Man of the Match for his efforts.

The third day of the tournament will see Brazil playing Suriname at the Haynes Oval, while Turks & Caicos takes on the home side Bahamas at Windsor Park.

Panama 291 (Tarajiya 47, R Ahir 79, Kachhalia 41, Chanchlani 3-36, Hartmann 3-57, Islam 2-69) beat Brazil 180 (Caisley 49, Lefevre 28, Randolph 64*, Bhakta 3-26, Chohan 1-13, Kachhalia 1-14, Vhora 1-18) by 111 runs

Suriname 263 (Sewanan 35, Patrick 30, Gokoel 31, Seeraj 49*, Doughty 2-20, Saunders 2-29, Gilbert 2-53, Brown 2-59) beat Turks & Caicos Islands 154 (Charles 70; Ranjit 6-41, Dudnath 2-22, Gokoel 1-30, Baker 1-42)

Panama 303 (Bhakta 48, Tarajiya 47, Chohan 69; Singh 3-35) beat Suriname 181 (Sewanan 31, Amir 4-28) by 122 runs.

Bahamas 304 (Peters 62, Taylor 40, Tappin 40, Hartman 4 for 57) beat Brazil 112 (Caisley 26, Ekanayake 3-44) by 192 runs.

Expectations of a classic final in the Pepsi ICC Americas Division 2 Championship between Suriname and Bahamas took a sudden change with Suriname going down to a convincing defeat at the hands of Panama on day one of the event. It was the third Americas tournament in a row Panama has beaten Suriname.

Panama won the toss and decided to bat on the artificial surface of Windsor Park. A solid opening partnership of 121 between Nilesh Bhakta (48) and Imran Bulbuia set the stage for a large target. The opening stand was followed by useful contributions from Irfan Tarajia (47) and skipper Soyab Chohan (69) as Panama reached a respectable innings of 303 in its 50 overs. Vishaul Singh remained the most successful bowler for Suriname taking 3-35 in six overs.

The defending champions started their reply in a confident manner with openers Vishaul Singh and Deraj Sewanan putting on 61 in ten overs, but when Singh was dismissed, the rest of the batting line up showed little resistance and it was dismissed for 181 all out in the 40th over. Panama's Sailesh Amir was the pick of the bowlers taking 4-28. With its effective all-round performance on the first day, Panama now joins the Bahamas as the teams to watch for in the Championship.

On the turf wicket at the Haynes Oval, host Bahamas had an easy day against newly-promoted Brazil. The South Americans lost their captain Matt Featherstone to an injury prior to the tournament and it was very obvious his batting talent was sadly missed. Bahamas won the toss and elected to bat on a good strip.

Marc Taylor (40), Ryan Tappin (40) and Jon Barry (47) gave the home side a solid foundation but it was Albert Peters (62), batting at number eight, who entertained the crowd with seven fours and three sixes off 44 balls. Rudyard Hartman was Brazil's most successful bowler taking 4-57. Chasing a target of 305 was never going to be easy for Brazil and it was bowled out to 112 all out in the 33rd over. Greigor Caisley followed his tidy work behind the stumps with a useful 26 with the bat. The home side got a fine bowling performance from Narendra Ekanayake who took 3-44 in five overs.

The second day of the tournament will see Turks and Caicos play Suriname at the Haynes Oval, while Panama tackles Brazil at Windsor Park.

Next week's ICC annual get-together promises to have more than its fair share of politicking, posturing and controversy. But, unless there is a major about-turn, it should also be a watershed for the Associates and Affiliates.

In 2009, income from the ICC's six-year media deal with ESPN-Star, worth over US$1 billion, kicks in, and while the game's big boys will still keep the lion's share, the rest will see substantial increases in their incomes.

Although the ICC draws considerable flak on many fronts, it is quietly committed to promoting the game in as many countries as possible, and it does that by means of a myriad of competitions and initiatives. Most do not warrant much media attention, but they are there and they work.

Until now, the gripe of the smaller countries, and especially those bubbling just underneath the top flight, has been about the inequality of the way in which the game is financed. That was never more apparent than when it came to earnings from last year's World Cup.

Ireland got a flat fee of US$125,000 a year for four years for taking part, and on top of that they received another $50,000 for reaching the Super Eights. However, because of the extra costs involved in their progression, not least because their players are not professional cricketers and their absences from their full-time jobs had to be underwritten, Ireland's success actually left the board out of pocket.

Zimbabwe, on the other hand, turned up, tied with Ireland and never threatened to progress after being thumped by Pakistan and West Indies. For those three matches, Zimbabwe Cricket received US$11 million, their share of the pot as a Full Member.

The top six Associates receive no more than US$500,000 a year - some substantially less - to fund their entire operations. Out of that they have to pay all their cricketing and administration costs. Only those with a low cost of living, such as Kenya, can hope to maintain a professional squad on that kind of money.

The gulf between the haves and have-nots is further widened by the limited sums Associates can earn from sponsorship and media contracts. Zimbabwe can exploit home series against, say, India to carve out lucrative TV deals worth millions, and on the back of that, attract shirt- and other corporate sponsorship. As highlighted by Scotland's failure to secure any TV deal for their forthcoming ODI against England, the Associates struggle to get such income streams.

The new deals will provide a substantial increase for Associates, especially for the countries who are pressing for space at the top table. Until now the share has been roughly equal, rewarding Netherlands and Kenya on par with Thailand and Fiji. The new system will see more demarcation between the top Associates and the rest.

The leading ten could earn as much as US$1.5 million a year from 2009. There will then be an onus on them to professionalise their administrations, but several of them are already well down that route. They will also be more accountable - the ICC does not want a repeat of the mess that came following a spike in Kenya's funding earlier in the decade.

The second-string Associates will also get more - around US$160,000 as a base figure - but then again the demands on them are less. Even Affiliates will receive US$15,000, with the opportunity for more should they make a good enough case. There will also be more cash in the pot for participating and hosting competitions.

There have never been more opportunities for development outside the Full Member countries, but there remain some nagging worries.

The main one is how to bridge the gap between semi and full-blown professionalism. Almost all the Associates rely on dedicated amateurs, both on and off the field. As the number of ICC competitions has increased - and they have to be welcomed - the pressure has begun to tell. Scotland and Ireland particularly have already found players cannot meet all their commitments, and even the increased income will not allow them to employ a full-time squad.

"So much of putting players on full-time retainers depends on how many fixtures we can command," Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland's chief executive, said. "At the moment, all we can promise the squad in 2009 is a World Cup qualifying campaign, eight FP Trophy matches, an England game, and probably some Intercontinental Cup matches. Of course, we hope to have more, but can't be sure at the moment.

"Our top players are already plying their trade in county cricket, while others have full-time jobs which they may not wish to give up. The actual number of players that the coach will want to put on a full-time contract, or else the number that even want to have one, may not be that many."

The other quandary is how to get them fixtures. Kenya, widely regarded as the leading Associate, have found it almost impossible to get Full Member countries to visit or host them. As a result they invariably play other Associates. Good for the win-loss ratio, not so clever in providing the kind of experience that no amount of money can buy.

These issues will need to be addressed, but for now the future has never looked so promising beyond the Test world.

Rain interrupted play in Panama’s league during the month but it did not stop the juniors who used the time to get some valuable practice in to improve their skills. Panama hosted six teams from the USA with the much travelled Houston Cricket Club (also visiting Mexico) being the eventual winners of the tournament.

In local competition a new club – Alianza Cricket Club – has shown surprising strength winning their first three games. The club’s success was due to good bowling performances by Ibrajim Boda, Tariq Daya and Irfan Tarajia. Their major success was a victory over last year’s champion Dada Bhai Cricket Club.

Selection has begun for Panama’s national team to ICC Americas Division 2 tournament in Suriname next month.