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The ideal captain is a man who can compartmentalise and focus on his own game when necessary, but keep the big picture in the back of his mind. In that respect, Michael Clarke has been the perfect leader in the first ten Tests of his captaincy career

Brydon Coverdale in Perth12-Jan-2012Being handed the Test captaincy can weigh on the mind of a batsman when he’s at the crease. Was it a mistake to bat first? Should I rein in my game to set an example? What happens if I fail a few times? What will our bowlers do on this pitch? When should I declare? The ideal captain is a man who can compartmentalise and focus on his own game when necessary, but keep the big picture in the back of his mind.In that respect, Michael Clarke has been the perfect leader in the first ten Tests of his captaincy career. His unbeaten 329 at the SCG last week was a fine example: a well-paced innings full of determination that ended with a declaration that was designed only to give his team the best possible chance of victory. Personal milestones were ignored.It was also his fourth hundred in ten Tests as captain. As leader, he has averaged 59.18. Ricky Ponting didn’t manage a Test hundred as skipper until his tenth match in charge. Brian Lara took even longer. Sachin Tendulkar averaged 34.61 from his first ten Tests as captain. Not since Allan Border has Australia had a leader whose own game has thrived so much in the initial stages at the helm.Clarke brushes off the idea that he has lifted his batting as leader. The stats suggest he is being overly modest. But what he doesn’t deny is that it has been pleasing to prove that the captaincy has not been a burden on his own batting.”It’s nice to be getting some results now and it’s even more special being captain,” Clarke said. “There’s always that stigma that the extra responsibility can affect your batting, so I’m pleased that it hasn’t. But I don’t feel any different, to be honest.”I feel I’m doing the hard work and it’s nice to see some results but I know things change quickly. I could be sitting here in a couple of games time under pressure that I haven’t scored any runs. It’s about making sure that my work ethic off the field is my No.1 priority.”I think my game is continuing to improve. I hope it is. I think results have probably shown me that it is. I don’t feel I’ve changed much since becoming captain. I feel I’m still able to do the work [on my batting] that I need to do in the nets, to prepare and improve on my weaknesses. That’s what I’ve tried to do over the last two years.”After an innings of such strength and control as his tripled-hundred in Sydney, Clarke appears to be in the best form of his career. That it follows a captain’s century in trying conditions in Cape Town in November and another ton against New Zealand in Brisbane in the first Test of the summer, only adds to the idea. But Clarke himself is not convinced.”If I go and get a pair in this Test match, I’m then talking about my spot in the team, as I was two weeks ago,” he said. “One innings … it’s fantastic, don’t get me wrong, it’s great to have made some runs in Sydney to contribute to the success we’ve had in this series so far … but it’s irrelevant right now. It’s gone. It’s a completely different wicket, we’re in completely different conditions, and I’m on zero when I walk out to bat.”And that different pitch is very different indeed. Australia and India were greeted in the few days before the Test, which starts on Friday, by a WACA surface with plenty of grass on it. The curator, Cameron Sutherland, expects pace and bounce just like last summer, when Australia used the conditions to complete their only win of the Ashes campaign. Clarke is looking forward to playing on the Perth pitch.”I prefer the pace,” he said. “I think I’ve had my most success in Australia on wickets like the Gabba and here in Perth. I like the ball coming on. For smaller guys like myself, it means you don’t have to try and hit the ball too hard, you can use the pace to your advantage. And they’re probably the best conditions to face spin on, because the ball bounces a lot more and you can hit through the line.”But on wickets like this that do have pace and bounce it’s really hard to start your innings. You’ll see a lot of players through this Test match who will nick, it’ll find the edges of their bat. But I think once you get in, generally the faster, bouncier wickets are as good to bat on as anywhere in the world.”That won’t necessarily mean that he chooses to bat if he wins the toss. Nor will he second-guess his own decision once it is made. And when he’s at the crease, don’t expect anything but the battle between bat and ball to weigh on his mind.

A round-up of action from the World Cricket League Division Three tournament in Hong Kong

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2011Papua New Guinea maintained their unbeaten record in the tournament with a comprehensive nine-wicket win over Denmark at the Kowloon Cricket Club. Denmark won the toss and batted, but were in strife right from the start as each of their top six batsmen failed to get into double figures. Loa Nou, Hitolo Areni and Chris Amini shared two wickets apiece as the Denmark batsmen failed to cope with their seam bowling and were reeling at 33 for 6. Denmark’s lower order showed some fight: Martin Pedersen made 17, and Bobby Chawla and Aftab Ahmed added 55 runs for the ninth wicket to take Denmark past 100. Ahmed was unbeaten on 39 as Denmark were bowled out for a paltry 112 in just under 42 overs.That score was never going to be enough to challenge PNG and though they lost Asad Vala in the first over, Tony Ura and Amini put on a solid unbeaten 114-run partnership to carry PNG home. Ura was unbeaten on 64 while Amini was 43 not out.Half-centuries from Waqas Barkat and Najeeb Amar carried Hong Kong to a thrilling one-wicket win over Italy at the Mission Road Ground. Italy elected to bat but started poorly, losing openers Andy Northcote and Damian Fernando with just 26 runs on the board. Italy captain Alessandro Bonora and Peter Petricola then put on 110 runs for the third wicket to set the base for a big total. Bonora was run out for 40 but Petricola remained solid as he added a further 42 with Damian Crowley. However, Italy frittered away the advantage as they lost five wickets for 50 runs to slide from 178 for 3 to 228 for 8. Petricola was unbeaten on 104 as Italy reached 235 for 8 at the end of their 50 overs.Italy looked set to defend that total as Gayashan Munasinghe struck with his medium-pace to pick up three quick wickets to leave Hong Kong struggling at 25 for 4. Hussain Butt and Nizakat Khan revived the Hong Kong innings with a 43-run fifth-wicket partnership but it was the 97-run seventh wicket partnership between captain Najeeb Amar and Waqas Barkat that got Hong Kong’s chase back on track. Both batsmen looked set to carry their team across the line before Amar fell for 52 in the 44th over with the score on 184. Hong Kong seemed to lose the momentum with Amar’s dismissal as Munir Dar and Nadeem Ahmed fell in quick succession. They needed 26 off the last 12 balls with just one wicket in hand but No. 11 Aizaz Khan played a blinder, swatting three sixes in an eight-ball 24 to take Hong Kong home with two balls to spare.United States of America overcame an early batting collapse to post a two-wicket win in a low-scoring encounter against Oman at the Hong Kong Cricket Club. Oman, who were sent in to bat, started strongly, with openers Hemin Desai (28) and Deep Trivedi (11) putting on 42 runs in just under 7 overs before Desai was bowled by Kevin Darlington. His dismissal triggered a collapse as Oman slumped from 42 for 1 to 110 all out in just under 38 overs. Only Sultan Ahmed, with his 30, offered some resistance as Usman Shuja, Orlando Baker and Asif Khan picked up seven wickets between them.USA’s chase started disastrously as medium-pacer Rajesh Kumar picked up three key wickets and ran out Sushil Nadkarni to leave USA reeling at 16 for 6 in the eighth over. However, No. 9 Usman Shuja (43) and No. 10 Asif Khan (31) held firm to carry USA home. The duo added an unbeaten 71 runs for the ninth wicket to anchor USA to victory with 16 overs remaining.

Pakistan A shocked their England counterparts with a six-wicket win off the penultimate ball in their Twenty20 match in Abu Dubai

Cricinfo staff16-Feb-2010

ScorecardPakistan A gained some revenge over their England counterparts with a six-wicket win off the penultimate ball in their Twenty20 match in Abu Dubai. Led by a 47-ball 49 from Umair Khan, Pakistan A chased down’ 147 with a ball to spare to consign the Lions to their first defeat since arriving in UAE.With six still needed off the final over from Sajid Mahmood, Naeem Anjum was run out from the first delivery to set up a tense finish. Tanvir Ahmed then found a crucial boundary to ease the pressure on Pakistan A as he and Kashif Siddiq scampered home with one ball remaining.It is a frustrating result for the Lions after they responded well to Mohammad Hafeez’s invitation to bat first, reaching 58 without loss inside the first six overs. Craig Kieswetter and Steven Davies looked well set, with Kieswetter in particular in good order. He is pushing for a berth in the senior side having qualified for England on Tuesday and earned special mention from Andy Flower on Monday.After Davies departed for 17, Kieswetter clubbed his way to his second half-century of the tour, hitting five fours and three sixes, including one which sailed over midwicket, on his way to 50 from 31 balls. His dismissal in the 10th over, stumped running down the wicket at former Test left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman, robbed his side of a chance to post a really imposing total. While Ian Bell and Michael Lumb played tidily it was only Peter Trego that attempted anything expansive. He hit 14 from nine balls to help lift the total to 146.Pakistan A were reduced to 18 for 2 inside the first three overs of their reply, with the openers falling to each of the opening bowlers. Asad Shafiq then set about reviving Pakistan A’s hopes in a 61-run stand with Umair, carrying the total to 79 before he was out in the 12th over.At that stage the game was evenly poised and Pakistan A did well to work the ball around and calmly lay the foundations for the victory. Umair was bowled one short of a deserved 50 by Steve Kirby but England Lions couldn’t quite take decisive control of the game. Aamer Sajjad picked off two boundaries and ran well between the wickets to take his side within nine runs of the target with nine balls to go. In the end they had just enough to take them over the line.

This was the 12th instance of a batter retiring out in a men’s T20I, and the first in a match featuring two Full Member teams

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Aug-2025Roston Chase became the first batter to retire out during a men’s T20I featuring two Full Member teams when he went off during West Indies’ chase of 190 in the deciding game against Pakistan in Lauderhill on Sunday.West Indies had gotten off to a good start, with Alick Athanaze scoring a 40-ball 60 opening the innings, but they slowed down once he was dismissed to leave the scoreboard reading 110 for 3 at the end of the 13th over. The requirement then was 80 runs from 42 balls.While Sherfane Rutherford, the No. 4, got going immediately, Chase struggled to go big, hitting just two fours in a 12-ball 15 before he was called back to the dugout – 41 runs were needed off 18 balls after that, and West Indies only managed 27 to concede the series 2-1.There has been only one previous instance of a batter retiring out in a men’s T20I featuring a Full Member team: in the 2024 T20 World Cup, Namibia’s opening batter Nikolaas Davin retired out after scoring 18 from 16 balls in a chase of 126 in ten overs against England in North Sound. The other ten such dismissals have all been recorded in matches involving two Associate teams.Chase, incidentally, had been retired out once before in a T20, at the ILT20 earlier this year. His team Abu Dhabi Knight Riders batted first in that game against MI Emirates, and Chase, batting at No. 6, had failed to get a move on after walking out in the 12th over, scoring 20 from 13 at the end of the 18th over, when he was retired out.

Kusal Perera and Dhananjaya de Silva, who were left out of the ODI series, are also part of the squad

Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Jan-2024Angelo Mathews is in line to play his first T20I in nearly three years after being named in Sri Lanka’s T20I squad for the series against Zimbabwe. Also in the squad are batters Kusal Perera and Dhananjaya de Silva, who are not in the squad for the ongoing ODIs, as well as spinner Akila Dananjaya, round-arm seam bowler Nuwan Thushara, and batting allrounder Kamindu Mendis.This will be Wanindu Hasaranga’s first series as captain. There is still a spot in the squad for previous captain Dasun Shanaka.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Among the omissions from this squad are of opener Avishka Fernando and top order batters Nuwanidu Fernando and Janith Liyanage, who was Player of the Match in the second ODI against Zimbabwe. Also not in the squad are allrounder Dunith Wellalage, seamer Pramod Madushan, and legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay. Pathum Nissanka has been named subject to fitness, after he was admitted to hospital last week with suspected dengue.These three T20Is will mark Sri Lanka’s earnest preparation for the T20 World Cup to be held later this year. Sri Lanka only played seven T20Is in 2023.Related

• Mendis appointed ODI captain; Hasaranga to lead in T20Is

• Fernando, Dananjaya, Vandersay back in ODI squad

• Dhananjaya replaces Karunaratne as Test captain

All three T20Is will be played at Kettarama, on January 14, 16 and 18.Sri Lanka squad: Wanindu Hasaranga (capt), Charith Asalanka, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kusal Perera, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kamindu Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwan Thushara, Akila Dananjaya.

Kellapotha, 31, played 20 first-class matches in Sri Lanka but has lived in Melbourne since 2013 and has signed as an overseas replacement player after dominating club cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-2022Melbourne Renegades have made a shock signing by adding uncapped Melbourne-based Sri Lanka legspinner Ruwantha Kellapotha to their BBL squad as an overseas replacement player for the upcoming season.Kellapotha, 31, played 20 first-class matches and 12 List A matches in Sri Lanka between 2010 and 2013 before moving to Australia to live. He played eight seasons in the lower-tier Dandenong District Cricket Association in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs representing four different clubs before playing premier cricket for Casey-South Melbourne last season where he took 46 wickets across 50-over and T20 cricket to finish the competition’s leading wicket-taker and help Casey South-Melbourne reach the final.Related

• BBL and WBBL to finally have DRS; Bash Boost and X-Factor scrapped

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He also was selected to play in two second XI games for Victoria late in the season playing alongside Will Pucovski in one of them. Kellapotha recently travelled with the Renegades Academy squad to play in the Top End T20 Series in Darwin and bowled superbly. That has moved Renegades General Manager James Rosengarten and coach David Saker to sign him as a replacement overseas after the Renegades drafted Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman and West Indies left-arm orthodox Akeal Hosein in August’s BBL overseas draft despite both men signing with the UAE ILT20.”We were impressed by what we saw from Ruwantha up in Darwin as part of the Renegades Academy and his performances in Premier Cricket last year showed he can match it with Victoria’s best,” Rosengarten, said.”He’s had a unique cricketing journey to get to this level. We’re confident he can come in and have an impact for us this season.”Kellapotha said he was really excited to get an opportunity with the Renegades.”My journey to here has been a bit different,” Kellapotha said. “I played first-class cricket back in Sri Lanka, came to Melbourne in 2013 to play local cricket and then last year went to Premier Cricket.”I’d achieved what I wanted to achieve in local cricket, so I wanted to see what I could do in Premier Cricket. Now I want to see what I can do at the highest level.”I really appreciate this opportunity the Renegades have given me to be involved this year. It is a huge privilege and something I do not take lightly.”This is going to be a great experience for me, playing with and against some of the best players in the world. I want to be a team player and whatever my team needs, I’ll give it 100 per cent.”Melbourne Renegades BBL squad: Nic Maddinson (c), Zak Evans, Aaron Finch, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sam Harper, Mackenzie Harvey, Akeal Hosein (West Indies), Ruwantha Kellapotha (Sri Lanka), Liam Livingstone (England), Shaun Marsh, Jack Prestwidge, Kane Richardson, Tom Rogers, Will Sutherland, Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan), Jon Wells

Teenager strikes with his first ball in Player of the Match display

David Hopps12-Jun-2021Sussex 155 for 1 (Salt 72*, Bopara 56*) beat Hampshire 154 for 7 (Vince 36, Lenham 3-14) by nine wicketsOver at Edgbaston, English cricket had descended into its periodic bout of unremitting gloom. But 170 miles away on the south coast the world was a bountiful place as Archie Lenham, a 16-year-old Sussex legspinner, provided a salutary reminder that the optimism and ambition of a talented youngster can lift the spirits in an instance.Lenham is the first player to have make his debut in the T20 Blast who was born after it started. If his debut against Gloucestershire at Hove on Friday night was historic, as the second-youngest player in Blast history, his follow-up against Hampshire was so heartwarming and inspirational that Hove was bathed in smiles and laughter for most of the night. And, after the last year or so, those smiles felt broader than ever.It was a wonderful occasion for all those who witnessed it and even Hampshire’s players, once the professional hurt at a nine-wicket defeat has softened, once age has begun to do it work, will tell the tale of how they fell prey to a slight, but ever so sprightly kid with a spring in his step and a world ahead of him.Legspinners always have an emotional hold over cricket watchers. Sixteen-year-old leggies even more so. Sixteen-year-old leggies who drop the simplest of catches then before the blush has faded take a wicket, and then follow up with a wicket in each of their next two overs to finish with 3 for 14 – well that was a story to match any in the Blast’s 18-year-history.Lenham watched Sussex hit the winning runs – emphatic half-centuries by Phil Salt and Ravi Bopara sealing victory with 22 balls unused – sandwiched between two players who have enjoyed distinguished England careers, Luke Wright and Chris Jordan, and both marked the moment with warm congratulations and a ruffle of the head: county cricket’s values there for all to see.The dropped catch would have embarrassed him, and could sympathetically be put down in part to the presence of the Sky TV cameras. Joe Weatherley, Hampshire’s No. 4, reverse-swept the first ball he faced from Sussex’s senior legspinner, Will Beer, (there was a time when you could suggest that reverse sweep was a surprise, but batters have been doing that for Lenham’s entire life) and he dived gently towards it and put it down. Only 16 remember – but he looked 12 as he dwelt upon his error.Jordan, a stand-in skipper who captained him kindly and faithfully all night, stuck to the plan and threw him the ball for the next over. Lenham was bowling down the Hove slope, which reduced the risk of the straight hit. Tom Alsop immediately sought to assert himself with a slog-sweep and, a foot in from the midwicket boundary, Aaron Thomason caught the ball above his head, hopped on his left leg four times, initially fearing that he might overbalance and ultimately turning it into a victory dance.In his second over, Lenham removed Lewis McManus, who spliced him to deep midwicket. But it was his third over, when he had Weatherley stumped, that said much about his night. He had bowled throughout with an energy and a length which made him hard to get down the pitch to, a youngster with a natural affinity for T20. With overs running out, Jordan wisely did not bring him back for a fourth over, a stick rather than twist.”It was pretty surreal,” he said (and for once this most over-used of sporting descriptions was appropriate). “I wasn’t feeling great after my dropped catch. It was a good thing I got straight into my bowling and started to redeem myself. It helped my nerves and everything.”Lenham is son of Neil, a former Sussex opening batsman, and grandson of Les, a renowned cricket coach who was still coaching Sussex part-time deep into his 70s. It’s fair to say that young Archie has never been short of guidance. He was the youngest Eastbourne 1st XI player at 14 when he made his Sussex Premier League debut, family to the fore.Hampshire’s T20 cricket is on the decline. From 2010 to 2017 when they reached seven out of eight Finals Days, and won twice, no county won more matches. Since then, no county has won fewer.They now have two defeats in three (Sussex have won both their opening matches) and their opening partnership is their stand-out feature. Bearing that in mind, and factoring in an excellent batting surface and a beautiful night, and 3 for 1 after three overs was not exactly what they had in mind.D’Arcy Short is an Australia opening batsman of great destruction, his reputation built at Hobart Hurricanes and maker of 483 runs for Durham in 2019. James Vince could be mentioned as an England candidate again – although it has taken months of abysmal England Test batting to make it happen.They were met by an electrifying start by Sussex’s left-arm pace pair, George Garton and Tymal Mills, both of them fast and aggressive. Vince survived Mills’ appeal for a catch at the wicket, but Garton silenced Short, who edged to the keeper attempting a foot-fast leg-side flick to one that bounced a little. A paltry 35 for 1 in the Powerplay represented a recovery of sorts, but it set up Lenham for the night of his life.Hampshire’s 154 for 7 was well below par, even if they had successfully defended 155 against Essex the previous night. It soon became apparent that this would be a Sussex party night, Travis Head the only batsman to fall, Salt, overlooked by England, registering his second successive 70-something and Bopara, who first played T20 before Lenham was conceived, never mind born, made his first half-century for Sussex, rounding things off with some wondrous inside-out blows over extra cover that must have made him imagine that he, too, was young again.