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Conjuring victories out of nowhere is the hallmark of an outstanding cricket team and England is certainly one of those

Andrew McGlashan02-Jun-2011

Match Facts

June 3-7, Lord’s
Start time 11.00am (1000GMT)Kevin Pietersen’s form is about the only significant concern for England•Getty Images

The Big Picture

Conjuring victories out of nowhere is the hallmark of an outstanding cricket team and England is certainly one of those. Their thrilling effort to bowl out Sri Lanka for 82 in 24.4 overs on the final afternoon in Cardiff secured their fifth innings victory in seven Tests. Regardless of the frailties in Sri Lanka’s batting, it was a mind-boggling performance from Chris Tremlett, Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad.It has set them up perfectly for the season and they will enter the second Test at Lord’s with confidence soaring, especially as they started Cardiff with a hint of early-season rustiness to let Sri Lanka battle their way to 400. Then, though, things started slotting into place with a double-hundred from Jonathan Trott, another century for Alastair Cook and an effortless ton from Ian Bell.The challenge now will be to refocus their energies and start afresh, but with the leadership of Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower that shouldn’t be a problem. They see every success as just another stepping stone towards an ultimate goal. They will enjoy turning up at Lord’s, too, because it’s a ground where England have a strong recent record with three consecutive victories and no defeat since 2005.The pitch is also likely to suit them with more pace than Cardiff which will benefit their batsmen and their three-pronged pace attack, that’s set to be England’s tallest ever with Steven Finn favourite to replace the injured James Anderson. It all adds up to a monumental task facing Sri Lanka if they want to regain pride. They’ve never won at Lord’s, although on the last two visits have secured creditable draws, particularly in 2006 when they batted more than two days to save the game.Although it was their batting which crumbled on Monday, it’s the bowling that requires the most work because there will be no way back into the series if they can’t take 20 wickets. They didn’t even look like taking 10 in Cardiff and at 1-0 down there is no point being anything less than attacking in their mindset from here. That, though, is easier said than done when you’ve just been humbled for 82. The next five days will show us what this Sri Lankan team is really made of.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
England WWWLW
Sri Lanka LDDDL

Watch out for…

Kevin Pietersen made the headlines and filled reams of newsprint in the first Test and he only made 3. His dismissal, lbw to left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, meant his mindset and form were once again being dissected. The pre-series bravado will count for nothing unless he starts scoring big runs consistently. Everyone from the coach to the captain to his team-mates are fully behind him, yet at some point time will run out. He averages 62.71 in Tests at Lord’s, but Herath is already loosening up.Mahela Jayawardene has a terrific record at Lord’s with a hundred in each of his previous Test visits to the ground. Sri Lanka desperately need their senior middle-order batsman to fire and Jayawardene had a poor game in Cardiff with scores of 4 and 15, edging twice to first slip. However, he has the technique to withstand England’s tall pace attack, and the home side will know they have suffered many long hours in the field at his hands before.

Team news

The one decision for England to make is whether Finn or Jade Dernbach replaces Anderson. All the indications are that it will be Finn even though Dernbach’s fuller length and swing would complement the attack nicely. However, Lord’s is Finn’s home ground and in two Tests here he has 13 wickets.England (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Eoin Morgan, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Chris Tremlett, 11 Steven FinnIt was a positive move by Sri Lanka to promote Prasanna Jayawardene to No. 6, and it worked in the first innings at Cardiff when he made an excellent 112. But will they be spooked by how the match end? The temptation will be to play an extra batsman, but somehow they need to find wicket-taking bowlers. The return of Dilhara Fernando will be a bonus and Chanaka Welegedara, the left-arm seamer, should play to add variation.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), 2 Tharanga Paranavitana, 3 Kumar Sangakkara , 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), 7 Farveez Maharoof, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Dilhara Fernando, 11 Chanaka Welegedara

Pitch and conditions

The good news after the often dreary weather in Cardiff is that the forecast for London is excellent over the next four or five days. Temperatures are set to hit the mid-20s and no rain is forecast. Interestingly, the Lord’s pitch had a distinct tinge of green in the lead up to the game but most of that is expected to disappear by the first morning.

Stats and trivia

• In the 2006 meeting between these two teams at Lord’s, Sri Lanka batted for 199 overs to save the match and Andrew Flintoff bowled 51 of them.
• Jonathan Trott, who scored 203 in Cardiff, also likes batting at Lord’s. Last season he hit 226 and 36 not out against Bangladesh followed by 184 against Pakistan.
• In 1984, Duleep Mendis, currently the selector in tour with Sri Lanka, hit 111 and 94 in the country’s first Test at Lord’s.

For a full stats preview click here.

Quotes

“I don’t think any of us want to take our foot off the pedal now. We’ve got some early momentum in this series. We’ve got to push on and keep challenging ourselves to get better and better.”

World cricket is set for a serious political rift over the nomination of John Howard, the former Australian prime minister, as the president-designate of the ICC

Martin Williamson and Brydon Coverdale26-May-2010World cricket is set for a serious political rift over the nomination of John Howard, the former Australian prime minister, as the president-designate of the ICC. The cricket boards of South Africa and Zimbabwe are leading an initiative to block Howard’s nomination, while Australia and New Zealand, who jointly nominated him, stand behind their man. Four votes are needed to block Howard’s nomination and it is believed that, barring some dramatic late changes, his candidature will not be a formality.The BCCI’s position is expected to play crucial role in the issue. David Morgan, the president of the ICC, is scheduled on Thursday to meet Sharad Pawar, who takes over the presidency next month, and is expected to discuss the matter.Cricket South Africa has taken up the matter in the strongest of manners, accusing David Morgan, the ICC president, of ignoring the sentiments of an “overwhelming number of ICC directors” who were opposed to Howard’s candidature. Morgan has also been accused of making the matter a personal cause.The ICC follows a policy of regional rotation for its presidency and this year was the turn of Australia and New Zealand. Howard, a career politician and self-declared cricket tragic, beat off a strong challenge from New Zealand Cricket, which favoured John Anderson, a former chairman of the board and a long-time cricket administrator, to win the nomination for the term, which starts from 2012. He was due to serve as vice-president to Pawar for the next two years.As it turns out, though, a section of the ICC board has strong reservations about Howard. Zimbabwe Cricket has made no secret of its opposition to a man who was so critical of it when he was prime minister and is certain to vote against him if the matter reaches that point.Morgan has strongly defended his position in an email exchange with Mtutuzeli Nyoka, the CSA president. He is believed to made it clear that he had no personal agenda and that he had acted according to the ICC constitution. He is expected to vigorously defend Nyoka’s charge and is understood to have reminded his fellow directors that their job is to act in the best interests of ICC members, and not pursue personal agendas.Howard, it will be stressed, was selected by New Zealand and Cricket Australia as part of the ICC’s constitutional process, and therefore Morgan has not acted unconstitutionallyFor the record, the ICC is playing down the issue. “The board has not yet discussed the matter,” its chief executive, Haroon Lorgat, told Cricinfo.” What you might be hearing might have happened on the sidelines but it was not discussed at the board meeting. The process is that Australia and New Zealand nominate someone, followed by the board considering the nomination before putting it before the annual conference. It is a three-step process.”It [the opposition to Howard’s nomination] is speculative at this moment. We haven’t yet faced such a scenario; it has not been blocked as yet, nor even considered.”Asked what would happen if the nomination was rejected, Lorgat said: “We will probably go back and ask (the same region) for another nomination. But that has never happened and what you are saying is speculative.”Meanwhile, Cricket Australia stood firmly behind its man. “We remain rock solid in our support of the nomination,” Peter Young, the CA spokesperson, told Cricinfo. “CA and NZC undertook an exhaustive professional process and have come up with a joint nomination that we are convinced is the best possible nomination we could put forward. We will continue to be welded on in our joint support of that nomination. We have made that clear to the ICC in recent weeks.”Australia’s position received unqualified backing from New Zealand cricket. “We certainly haven’t heard any notification from ICC that there’s a problem with that. We’re certainly not contemplating any other scenarios than John Howard being our man,” Justin Vaughan, the NZC chief executive, said.”We believe we went through a very robust and thorough process. We believe ICC should accept that and accept the nomination.”The matter may come down to the neutrals and the ECB offered a non-committal comment on the situation. “It’s up to New Zealand Cricket and Cricket Australia to nominate a candidate and we as the ECB will await that nomination at the ICC annual conference,” an ECB spokesman said.The sense of what is at stake was summed up by Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman. “This is a very sensitive issue right now so I don’t want to discuss it,” Butt said. “I know John Howard personally and I know how much he loves the sport and the game.”

Allrounder takes three wickets, adds 43 in chase as hosts scramble home in tight finish

ECB Reporters Network30-May-2024Thunder 125 for 7 (Morris 43, Davis 2-19) beat Central Sparks 121 for 8 (Arlott 28, Graham 3-16, Morris 3-22) by three wicketsLancashire Thunder achieved one of their best results of the season when they overcame the previously undefeated Central Sparks by three wickets in their Charlotte Edwards Cup match at Emirates Old TraffordHaving won the toss and opted to bowl first, Thunder restricted Sparks to 121 for 8 in their 20 overs, with Phoebe Graham taking 3 for 16 and Fi Morris 3 for 22. Thunder chased down that target with one over to spare, Morris again catching the eye with 43, although Sparks made their opponents fight all the way for their spoils.Sparks’ innings got off to a woeful start when Tara Norris bowled Chloe Brewer and Davina Perrin with the second and third balls of the match and those setbacks rather set the tone for the visitors’ effort with the bat.Abbey Freeborn took the attack to the bowlers but was caught by Morris at midwicket for a 12-ball 15 when she tried to pull a short delivery from Graham. And Morris then took the next two wickets, trapping Courtney Webb lbw for 9 and having the Sparks skipper Eve Jones caught at backward point by Sophie Morris for 19 when trying to drive a wide full toss.The departure of the former Thunder batter left Sparks on 54 for 5 at the midpoint of their innings but it was followed three balls later by a shower which delayed play for 25 minutes.On the resumption, Katie George and Charis Paveley took 19 runs off the next three overs but Fi Morris ended their promising stand with another full toss, George driving the full bunger straight back to the bowler and departing for 17.However, a late boost to the Sparks effort was provided by Emily Arlott who put on 47 in 36 balls with Paveley, a stand which included a huge six over square leg in Norris’s final over. Graham ended this fun in her last set of six when she had Arlott caught by Hannah Jones for 28 when sweeping and Grace Potts taken at deep midwicket by Danni Collins off the final ball of the innings.Those dismissals left Sparks very moderately placed and in no respect did 121 for 8 resemble a par total, Paveley finished with a useful run-a-ball 27 not out.Despite facing an asking-rate only a scrap above six runs an over, Thunder’s pursuit was littered with errors. Emma Lamb was caught at short fine leg by Chloe Brewer off Paveley for 10 and when Georgia Davis dismissed Seren Smale and Ellie Threlkeld with successive deliveries, the home side were 42 for 3 in the sixth over.Fi Morris tried to restore some stability but she soon lost Danni Collins, who was bowled for 5 when hitting across the line in George’s first over. Ailsa Lister then helped Morris add a further 38 in 28 balls but the opener’s luck ran out on 43 when she attempted another pull off Hannah Baker and George took a fine catch at deep midwicket.When Lister skied Arlott to Freeborn and trooped off with 23 against her name, 24 were needed off five overs. Norris’s straight six off Baker aided the home side’s cause but she was bowled by Arlott for 10 in the penultimate over and it was left to Graham to all but seal the win with an edged four off her first ball.

The matter is set for wider discussion at the next ICC board meetings in March when the ICC’s working group on Afghanistan will provide an update on progress in the country

Osman Samiuddin and Tristan Lavalette06-Mar-2023Despite dim prospects for an Afghanistan women’s team being formed so long as the Taliban remain in power, Afghanistan’s status as an ICC Full Member is unlikely to be affected.The matter is set for wider discussion at the next ICC board meetings in Dubai in March, when the ICC’s working group on Afghanistan will provide an update on progress in the country. ESPNcricinfo understands that the group, headed by the ICC’s deputy chair Imran Khwaja, will push for not penalising Afghanistan’s status and shed greater light on the difficulties the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) faces in pushing to develop the women’s game.Khwaja has met with ACB officials and government representatives in Doha twice in recent months, to get a clearer handle on the broader situation for cricket since the Taliban took over, as well as how women can be helped to play cricket. Those meetings are believed to have been “productive”, according to one official who attended.Related

• Human rights question hangs over success story of Afghanistan's men

• ICC board meeting set to discuss India-Pakistan situation and the Afghanistan question

• Pakistan not withdrawing from series against Afghanistan

• CA withdraws from scheduled ODIs against Afghanistan in March

• Afghanistan Cricket Board urges patience with women's initiatives

At the second meeting, in February, the ACB assured the ICC’s working group that the board remains supportive of women’s cricket, but the political reality meant that an overt push for it could still prove dangerous for those involved.”Afghanistan is a delicate situation,” Ross McCollum, an ICC board member (Ireland) and member of the working group, told ESPNcricinfo. “The guys from ACB do want to see things happen with women’s cricket. But it’s not down to them, it’s down to the people in charge.”Forcing women to play cricket could lead to serious repercussions. We have to tread carefully, it will be a slow process.In December the Taliban banned secondary and higher education for females through the country, the latest manifestation of their repressive policies against women. The ICC working group was told, however, that there are differences in opinion within the Taliban about the role of women in society and that there exist exemptions which allow women to work in the medical sectors. That has not yet come through for any sports.Even before the Taliban takeover, little progress had been made on women’s cricket in the country. In October 2020, the ACB had held a national team trial camp and announced their intention to award 25 central contracts for women. Cultural sensitivities, officials pointed out at the time, were such that quicker, deeper progress was proving difficult and Afghanistan had been a Full Member for three years then.The working group has been told that the Taliban are not interfering otherwise in the running of the ACB. The government has apparently provided some funding to a board that had been hit hard after the Taliban took over, as international sanctions made it difficult to send money into the country.Changes to status for Full Members, in any case, are rare and none other than Zimbabwe have ever been suspended or had membership downgraded. But the fact that Afghanistan continues to be the only Full Member without a women’s team, or even a set-up in place – otherwise part of the ICC’s membership criteria – has been persistently highlighted in recent months.Australia cancelled an ODI series against Afghanistan in response to the education ban imposed on females•IDI via Getty Images

They were the only member to not have a presence at the pathbreaking U19 T20 Women’s World Cup in January and then at the T20 Women’s World Cup right after. That point was not lost on the ICC CEO, Geoff Allardice, who said ahead of the U19 tournament that it was concerning no progress had been made on the matter.FICA, the global players’ body, has also called the ban on women’s sport a “significant blow” and pointed out that Afghanistan is “in breach” of its Full Member requirements. But it did not call for a ban on Afghanistan, instead calling on the ICC to “embed its human rights responsibilities as a business in its governance and regulatory frameworks.”A number of Afghan women cricketers have also been very clear in calling for the ICC to play a more proactive role. According to ABC Radio’s , 22 of the 25 cricketers who were part of that original pool have left the country and resettled in Australia. Speaking on the show in January, several of the players asked why the ICC had not been in touch to offer support since they fled.”If we have the support of the ACB, the ICC, the people of Afghanistan and other countries that play cricket, then it is possible for us to keep playing,” one of the players, Firooza Afghan said on the show.”In Australia we have a lot of support – lots of equipment and facilities. But my question is, women have been playing cricket in Afghanistan since 2010 … why did the ICC not send anyone to check on us?”The players wrote to the ICC a couple of months ago, asking for ways in which the global body could help the women form a team. The ICC pointed out that constitutionally any such help would have to go through the member – the ACB – but intend to keep the dialogue open with the cricketers.And considerable thought has been given to the matter within ICC management as it stands, including the idea of funding a women’s team outside of Afghanistan, and one that runs outside of ACB approval. That only represents initial exploratory thinking on the subject and actioning it would require buy-in from the ICC board.On that platform, support and understanding for the ACB remains. At a recent Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting, members reiterated their support. Pakistan, in fact, have agreed to play a three-match T20I series with Afghanistan, to fill the hole left by Australia’s cancellation of an ODI series.Cricket Australia is the only board to have publicly acted in response to the Taliban’s policies. They first postponed a one-off Test they were to host Afghanistan in – the first the two countries would have played – and more recently cancelled the ODI series, in response to the education ban imposed on females.Most other ICC Full Members have remained silent on the matter so far, though the majority still see the rise of Afghanistan’s men’s team as a fairytale that should be allowed to continue and grow, rather than be curtailed.”It needs to be discussed seriously (at board level),” McCollum said. “Each Full Member will have their own interpretation. I don’t think it’s a straightforward decision because it’s complex and there are ramifications.”

Wicketkeeper-batter will form part of a strong Championship middle order

Matt Roller14-Jan-2022Ben Brown has signed a two-year contract at Hampshire after leaving Sussex at the end of last year following his removal from the club captaincy.Brown, 33, had two years left to run on his Sussex contract but was released from his deal in December following talks with the club. Brown had an excellent 2021 season with the bat, making 976 County Championship runs with four hundreds, but was axed as captain in mid-summer and requested a move.He has signed an all-formats contract with Hampshire but will be expected to perform in the Championship in particular, as part of a strong middle order already containing James Vince, Nick Gubbins and Liam Dawson. He will be competing with Lewis McManus and Tom Alsop for the wicketkeeping gloves.Related

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• Head to captain Sussex red-ball side for 2022

“Ben’s arrival is exciting news for the club and we are looking forward to welcoming him to the group next week,” Giles White, Hampshire’s director of cricket, said. “He brings many qualities and has a particularly impressive red-ball record; we are confident he’ll be a great addition to the squad.”Brown said: “I am extremely proud and humbled to sign for Hampshire. To be joining such a talented playing squad and to have the opportunity to work with the club’s impressive coaching staff is a privilege.”I’m looking forward to being able to call the Ageas Bowl my home ground and am hugely grateful to everyone at Hampshire for the opportunity to do so. I’m excited to be joining the group next week and to play my part in pushing for trophies and silverware over the coming years.”Brown’s departure made him the latest in a string of senior players to leave Sussex in recent years, and came two weeks after Ian Salisbury, their Championship and 50-over head coach, had insisted he would see out the rest of his contract at a fans’ forum.Sussex announced on Friday that Chris Adams and Tony Cottey have been added to their cricket committee, with Adams declaring that “it has been too long” since Sussex were regularly competing for trophies and that “many challenges lie ahead for the team and all the coaching staff”.

Australian cricket’s Indigenous leader says the focus can’t just be on those who play the game

Daniel Brettig23-Jul-2020Australian cricket’s Indigenous leader, Justin Mohamed, believes that Cricket Australia’s work to improve Aboriginal involvement in the game will not have lasting effects until representation extends to the management office and the boardroom as well as on the playing field.Speaking to ESPNcricinfo in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and its effect of raising public consciousness around the world, Mohamed was adamant that CA’s focus needed to be broader than just increasing elite representation in terms of state, W/BBL and international cricketers, or even at the junior and community levels beneath them.Instead, Mohamed pointed to areas of leadership including coaching, executive management and also the CA board, which is likely to have at least two vacancies this year with Jacquie Hey and Michael Kasprowicz set to exit the scene as directors.ALSO READ: The Indigenous hole at Australian cricket’s heart“It’d be great to have consistently more Aboriginal cricketers at the highest level, but that can’t be at the detriment of having the base strong, and when I say the base, not only players in local teams, but administrators, people on boards, CEOs and executives across cricket employment in states and territories and at CA,” Mohamed said. “That all has to be moving at the same pace, or it will be lopsided and there will be a gulf there and it won’t be able to be sustained.”You may have a whole lot of players that come through, and then you don’t see them again. I think that’s a challenge across many sporting codes, the AFL for instance would boast they’ve got the most Aboriginal players percentage-wise playing, close to the NRL, but if you look at the TV presenters and the coaches and the assistant coaches and board members and administrators, those percentages don’t equate across those other levels. That has to all be moving as part of where we’re going to go if we want to go as a nation.”We don’t want to put people up just because they’ve got sporting ability, and then once that goes they get pushed aside and we move on, because there’s more to a person than that. As we’ve seen with most people in CA, the Justin Langers and a whole range of people who played the game but have also been able to contribute to cricket in other areas beyond their playing days.”Mohamed’s own status as co-chair of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cricket Advisory Committee (NATSICAC) rather sums up how Indigenous voices are growing in influence but could still be more impactful, given the opportunity.The committee has historically been co-chaired by an Indigenous leader and a CA director, from the late John Bannon and then the current chairman Earl Eddings, to his successor Kasprowicz. However, CA is yet to take the step of placing the Indigenous co-chair on the CA board itself.Justin Mohamed with Michael Kasprowicz at the launch of Cricket Australia’s reconciliation action plan•Getty Images

CA’s board is currently subject to a nominations committee process involving Eddings, the New South Wales chairman John Knox and his Tasmanian counterpart Andrew Gaggin, while the Queensland chairman Chris Simpson will have a role in selecting Kasprowicz’s replacement.Mohamed, as a Gooreng Gooreng man from Bundaberg who has spent much of his professional life in Victoria, has links to two states, but said it was critical that the whole of cricket took on responsibility to broaden the game, rather than just palming it off to selected Indigenous leaders.”There would be a lot of Aboriginal people who would want to be more involved in the administration side of the game in CA and across the states and territories, and at the moment we know with the current board there’s some changes there,” Mohamed said. “I’d be more than honoured to be considered if that was the case, and if I was able to go through the process I’d be more than willing to give my best.”The important piece in having an Aboriginal person on the board, it is very clear they’re there for what they bring, who they are, their experience and expertise. Yes, they’re Aboriginal, but not all Aboriginal issues have to sit with them, because it is a whole organisation responsibility to move this forward.”In Australia there’s less than 3% of the population that are Aboriginal people, so really we need the other 97% to take responsibility and to move with us on this.You may have an Aboriginal senior executive, a board member, you might have a committee set up, you may have Aboriginal staff, but it’s going to take all of CA to move and to be a part of this, not just leave that to the Aboriginal committee or employee or a future board person.”Should that sort of outcome be reached, Mohamed enthused, then Australian cricket had the opportunity to grow far larger than its current level, given that it has the Indigenous story of the 1868 tour of England at its very beginning, and an international facet that the likes of the AFL and NRL can only dream about.”The thing that I love about cricket and what CA has in front of them, is the enormous untapped potential of what it can do for this nation,” he said. “It doesn’t have a whole heap of Aboriginal cricketers playing at the elite level, but we know we can, because we know Aboriginal cricketers both male and female have the ability to be at the top level.”We know there’s a number of Aboriginal people who can have such great influence in local clubs and bring such a rich culture to those areas and connection to where they’re playing the game.”

It will be the most capped T20 player’s first stint with the side, after turning out for Barbados Tridents and St Lucia Stars in the past

ESPNcricinfo staff08-May-2019Kieron Pollard will turn out for Trinbago Knight Riders, his “home side”, for the 2019 edition of the Caribbean Premier League.Pollard, one of West Indies’ premier short-format allrounders, has never played for the Trinidad and Tobago franchise in the CPL so far, neither in its earlier Red Steel avatar nor the revamped Knight Riders. He spent five seasons with Barbados Tridents and the last one with St Lucia Stars.This time, for the tournament running from September 4 to October 12, Pollard will be Knight Riders’ marquee player.”We are delighted to welcome Pollard back home and it’s great to continue our efforts to bring as many Trini boys home as possible,” Venky Mysore, the team director, said in a statement. “I can’t wait for the reaction of the fans when Pollard takes the field at our opening game on 4 September.”Pollard – who will turn 32 on May 12, the same day on which he will be in the mix for Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2019 final – will be hoping to then return home and try to help Trinbago Knight Riders add to the three CPL titles they have won to date, in 2015, 2017 and 2018. Pollard has, however, tasted glory at the CPL in the past, having led Tridents to the title in 2014.He is the most experienced T20 player in the world, having played 474 matches so far – 59 of them internationals and the rest in leagues around the world – scoring 9,275 runs and taking 261 wickets.The remainder of the squad will be selected at the players’ draft, to be held on May 22.

Despite stalling late in their innings, Zimbabwe put up a total that proved to be well out of Hong Kong’s reach

The Report by Liam Brickhill10-Mar-2018Getty Images

Zimbabwe recorded their third win on the trot with an 89-run victory over Hong Kong at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Zimbabwe’s was an innings of two distinct halves. The tournament hosts raced to 137 for 2 in the first 20 overs, but then, as the pitch slowed and Hong Kong’s lines tightened, they failed to hit a single boundary after the 32nd over and finally limped to 263 for 9 despite Hamilton Masakadza’s 84. Hong Kong’s response never really got going, and though Anshuman Rath recorded his second consecutive fifty in the tournament, they were bowled out in the 47th over.”We knew today was going to be tough,” Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer said after the win. “They’ve beaten Afghanistan, and we didn’t want to be in the same boat. So the guys came out firing. The guys really wanted it, I could see it out in the field.”Solomon Mire and Cephas Zhuwao got Zimbabwe’s innings off to a flying start after they were, somewhat surprisingly, put in to bat. Dispensing with the need for singles, Zhuwao favoured all out attack and slog-swept the second ball over the match to the square-leg boundary. By the end of the third over, he had added two huge sixes and another boundary to race into the 20s.More carnage was to come. Against Afghanistan, offspinner Ehsan Khan bowled with both economy and guile, but in different conditions at Queens, Zhuwao smashed his first four deliveries to the boundary. At the other end, Solomon Mire had just a single to his name while Zhuwao rushed into the 40s. But the fun was not to last; shortly after raising Zimbabwe’s fifty, Zhuwao slogged at one too many and was well caught by Waqas Barkat on the ropes at square leg for 45.”I think those [top-order] runs cost us the game,” Hong Kong’s captain Babar Hayat said. “Although, the way we bowled in the middle overs and in the last overs was brilliant.”Masakadza soon picked up where he left off, and with Mire striking the ball with fierce power at the other end, Zimbabwe ended the opening Powerplay in the healthy position of 81 for 1.”I think life is quite easy for me at the moment,” Masakadza, who was named Man of the Match for his innings, said. “Coming in behind those two – Cephas and Solomon – is quite easy, because they really put the bowlers under pressure. They’re getting us off to fast starts, so it’s a lot easier for me to come in and take my time and get myself in.After Mire fell victim to Nadeem Ahmed’s left-arm spin, Brendan Taylor joined Masakadza at the crease for the definitive partnership of the match. Together they put on 98 in just over 18 overs, setting what should have been a commanding platform for the tournament hosts.Masakadza brought up his fifty, from 64 deliveries, with a push down the ground in the 25th over. Masakadza’s celebrations often have a relevance, either personal or popular, and today, upon reaching fifty he gave the Wakanda salute from the movie .ICC

Taylor, meanwhile, had looked in particularly good touch through (or over) cover today, but an attacking offside shot eventually brought his dismissal. He drove hard at Nawaz and Ehsan Nawaz held a stinging catch inches from the turf at extra cover. The umpires conferred with the fielder to confirm that the catch was taken cleanly, and off Taylor went.Zimbabwe were 181 for 3 then, and Masakadza took them to the second drinks break in the relatively healthy position of 211 for 3. Just before the break, Masakadza had hit his one and only six, but that boundary – in the 32nd over – remarkably proved to be the last of Zimbabwe’s innings as Hong Kong’s bowlers staged a brave comeback. With Raza slicing a catch to the cover sweeper and Masakadza slashing a cut to short third man, Zimbabwe slipped to 216 for 5, and to their credit Hong Kong never let them back into the innings.”There was a period that I got a little ahead of myself, but I calmed down and I was looking to bat at least 45 overs,” Masakadza said. “So that [not batting through] was the most disappointing thing for me. It definitely did [slow up] and I got a little frustrated.”Wickets tumbled with some regularity as Zimbabwe tried to hit their way out of trouble, and when Craig Ervine pulled Nawaz to Nizakat Khan on the midwicket boundary, the bowler had his fourth wicket and Zimbabwe were nine down. Just 40 runs had come from the last 10 overs, with four wickets lost.”It might have had to do with the ball,” Cremer said. “Once it got a bit softer, it started sticking in the wicket. Even our guys that were in found it a bit harder to rotate the strike. But the wicket did slow up. When the ball was new, it would skid on and you could just hit through the line of the ball.”Hong Kong must have fancied their chances of pulling off a second upset in as many matches, but Zimbabwe’s new-ball bowlers immediately put them on the back foot. Jarvis and Chatara picked up a wicket apiece in their opening spells, and when Hayat failed to read a Cremer wrong ‘un, Hong Kong were 35 for 3.The response from Rath and Scott McKechnie was to cut out all risk from their batting, and they cobbled together a partnership that extended beyond 50 and was composed mainly of ones and twos. But once again it was Sikandar Raza’s golden arm that brought the breakthrough. Tired of nudging and pushing, McKechnie aimed an expansive sweep at a full delivery and was bowled for 18.”We did know it was going to spin a bit in the afternoon, and get a bit slower,” Cremer said. With Zimbabwe’s spinners constricting Hong Kong’s scoring options, their resolve seemed to evaporate. Sean Williams, returning from a broken spinning finger, showed there was no permanent damage with two quick wickets, and Hong Kong were 101 for 6. Raza struck again, spinning one past Barkat to pin him in front of his stumps and reduce them to 107 for 7; it seemed the match would finish in a hurry.Rath had other ideas. Just as he had done against Afghanistan two days earlier, he slowly built momentum in his own innings. Initially accumulating with correct, upright batting, he slowly came out of his shell and reached his fifty in the 35th over. But there was little support from the other end, and in an unwinnable position Rath eventually fell playing one shot too many.”The way we bowled, to restrict them to under 300, we knew that if we stayed in we could chase this target,” Hayat said. “But with the way they bowled, they didn’t give us any chance to get back in the game.”The victory left Zimbabwe assured of a Super-Six berth, though the result of their final match will determine how many points they take through to that stage (only points scored against the other teams that progress are carried through). Hong Kong are also still very much in with a chance of progressing, provided they can beat Nepal at Bulawayo Athletic Club on Monday.

On the eve of Hashim Amla’s 100 Test, captain Faf du Plessis said there may not be another South African to reach that landmark in the format

Firdose Moonda in Johannesburg11-Jan-2017Hashim Amla is unique in many ways – his backlift, his beard, his batting records – and he could soon find himself the holder of another individual milestone. Test captain Faf du Plessis said there is a chance no other South African will follow in Amla’s footsteps and play in 100 Tests.”I am going to make a big call and say Hash (Amla) is probably going to be the last guy that plays 100 Tests for South Africa because of the way that the game is changing,” du Plessis said. “Quinnie (de Kock) and KG (Rabada) are possibly looking at that as youngsters but it’s a long way into the future.”Du Plessis is not being overly dramatic in that assessment. The average age of South Africa’s 13-man squad is 27.85, including two 24-year-olds who are yet to play a Test: Theunis de Bruyn and Duanne Olivier. Take them out and the average age of the expected playing XI at the Wanderers, with Wayne Parnell being swapped for Kyle Abbott, is 28.54.Of those, five players: du Plessis, Amla, Stephen Cook, JP Duminy and Vernon Philander are over 30. Dean Elgar is 29. De Kock and Rabada, who are 23 and 21 respectively, are expected to have lengthy careers but du Plessis said that does not necessarily mean a large collection of Test caps.”It’s a massive call to make. Test cricket these days, the game has evolved so much. If you look at Hashim and AB (de Villiers) and Jacques (Kallis) and Graeme (Smith) and all those guys, it was a period of a lot of Test cricket that was played over a long period of time. Now, there’s lots of T20s, so I think the game is changing a little bit, that you won’t play for as long because there is so much more cricket,” du Plessis said. “What I mean by that, is that its really special for Hash to do something like that. I’m not going to get to 100. The guys in the team that are playing now, JP, all those guys, its something we will never get to.”South Africa depend on Hashim Amla’s calming demeanour on and off the field•Getty Images

Du Plessis had forgotten the one man closest to Amla, Dale Steyn. He has 85 Test caps but is not expected to return to action until June as he recovers form a shoulder injury. Steyn told ESPNcricinfo he thinks it could take him as long as three years to reach 100 Tests but after watching tribute videos to Amla on television in the lead-up to the Wanderers Test, he is motivated to get there. Perhaps any player would be, because as du Plessis said it is an “amazing, amazing effort”.It’s also a time to celebrate what a player has done over a sustained period of time and although Amla has stayed out of the limelight, attention has found him. His team-mates have heaped praise on him, with du Plessis the latest to join the chorus.For du Plessis, Amla has been an example of consistency, not just in runs but in attitude. “He has been the rock of our batting. He has been the most consistent player I reckon with Jacques Kallis that South Africa have ever had,” he said. “Of course he is not scoring as much runs now but what he brings off the field still offers a lot. Hashim when he is scoring runs or when he is not scoring runs is exactly the same person and that brings a calmness to the dressing room. Even when he is not scoring runs, he is offering a lot of value and for me as a player, I’ve learned a lot from that. You need to look at success and failure in exactly the same way.”Du Plessis said he’d like to see the rest of the South African batsmen learn how to bat big and long, like Amla•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Although Amla is no longer captain, he continues to offer leadership which is of particular importance to du Plessis, who has just taken over. “As a leader he’s a huge asset to me – I rely on his knowledge a lot. Take away the runs, the demeanour and person he is in the dressing room is very calm. Even if he goes to the wicket and doesn’t score runs it feels like he relaxes the batting unit – he’s just got that personality,” du Plessis said.Du Plessis would like the rest of the line-up to learn how to bat big, like Amla. Not only is Amla the holder of South Africa’s highest individual Test score but he also has the second-most number of double hundreds behind Smith, and his conversion rate is something du Plessis wants the team to try and emulate.”Hash’s concentration – that’s his biggest thing and his biggest asset. It’s something that I admire and it’s something that I challenge myself and the other batters with,” du Plessis said. “It’s happening too often these days that you don’t get enough guys to anchor big and score big runs. To score hundreds is great – we want to score hundreds – but to push ourselves to get even better to get to 150s and 200s. Hash is normally a guy that leads that.”While Amla will be celebrated at the Wanderers, there will be also be questions about his future. After 100 Tests and at his age, 33, there are people wondering whether Amla will retire in the near future. Du Plessis brought news that for now, they can shelve that thought.”I’ve spoken to him and he’s still very keen to push it as long as that great body of his will let him go. But he’s not even thinking about retirement.”

Sri Lanka Cricket will refuse no-objection certificates to at least 16 centrally-contracted players seeking to take part in this year’s Bangladesh Premier League, an SLC official has said

Andrew Fidel Fernando and Mohammad Isam10-Nov-2015Sri Lanka Cricket will refuse no-objection certificates to at least 16 centrally-contracted players seeking to take part in this year’s Bangladesh Premier League, an SLC official has said. The board will instead insist that its cricketers take part in the upcoming Premier Limited Overs (List A) tournament at home. Some of the players who have been bought by BPL franchises may also be required for Sri Lanka’s Test tour of New Zealand, which begins in early December. The BPL runs from November 22 to December 15.

List of Sri Lankan players affected by the NOCs

Shehan Jayasuriya
Isuru Udana
Dilruwan Perera
Dhammika Prasad
Milinda Siriwardana
Binura Fernando
Ajantha Mendis
Lahiru Thirimanne
Kithuruwan Vithanage
Niroshan Dickwella
Prasanna Jayawardene
Ashan Priyanjan
Sachith Pathirana
Sachithra Senanayake
Seekkuge Prasanna
Upul Tharanga
Jeevan Mendis*

“The centrally-contracted players will not be given permission, because there is a tour of New Zealand for which the players leave on November 27,” SLC cricket operations manager Carlton Bernadus said. “The board has also taken a decision that all the centrally-contracted players who won’t be on that tour should stay back and play in the domestic tournament, which begins on November 20th.”The move is aimed to protect the quality of the Premier Limited Overs tournament, and to help ensure Sri Lanka’s clubs have their best players available to them throughout the season.BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury however said that they are confident the SLC will give the NOCs. “We are confident that SLC will give the NOCs in the next few days,” he told ESPNcricinfo on Monday evening.The BPL has requested no-objection certificates for 25 Sri Lankan players, but out of those, 17 – including the likes of Lahiru Thirimanne and Sachithra Senanayake – have central contracts.”Where there are no contracts, players can get permission from their clubs,” Bernardus said.  “For example, Dilshan Munaweera is not a contracted player, and the Bloomfield CC president has given him permission – that is fine.”SLC has focused on raising the quality of its domestic cricket this year, and has increased match fees for domestic games in an attempt to make cricket a more stable source of income for players. With a zonal tournament also in the works for the upcoming season, domestic cricketers’ earning potential has been significantly improved.”The board has invested in the players,” Bernardus said. “They have enhanced the fees to 7000 rupees per match day. If our domestic cricket is not played properly, where are we going?”Jeevan Mendis has received special permission from Tamil Union Cricket Club to play in the BPL, but the national selectors, acting on behalf of the board, may still deny him the no-objection certificate, Bernardus said. Mendis is among the 17 centrally-contracted players.