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A round-up of the penultimate round of matches in Tier A of Sri Lanka’s Premier League Tournament

Sa'adi Thawfeeq23-Dec-2009

Tier B

Lankan Cricket Club were crowned Premier League Tournament Tier B champions after their nearest rivals Seeduwa Raddoluwa Cricket Club failed to obtain the necessary batting points against Singha Sports Club at the Ananda College Ground to displace Lankan CC from the top spot.Having completed their matches for the season Lankan CC ended No. 1 on the points table with 102.18 points, awaiting the result of the Seeduwa Raddoluwa-Singha SC clash. Seeduwa Raddoluwa though, had to be content with the runners-up spot despite beating Singha SC by 111 runs. They finished a fraction of a point (0.485) behind Lankan CC.An excellent bowling effort from Umesh Karunaratne handed Seeduwa Raddoluwa the win, with the young offspinner taking a career-best innings haul of 7 for 146. He finshed with 13 wickets in the match and bowled well in tandem with another former Under-19 World Cup spinner Ranil Dammika, who ended with five wickets in the match.Lankan CC captain Suranjith Silva said the only time they were worried was during Seeduwa Raddoluwa’s second innings, when they looked like reaching a total of over 400 which would have given them the extra batting point.”At 204 for 2 we were a bit anxious that they could reach the required total and displace us in the table,” said Silva. “But thankfully they could manage only 300 in their second innings and we started to breath easy.”It was the second time under Silva’s leadership that Lankan CC had won a title, having led them in 2007-08 to the Premier League Tournament Tier A crown.Lankan CC coach Geethaka Warnakula, who has been in charge for the past five years, said winning the title was a tremendous achievement for a club that does not have a club house, a ground and gym. “We practice on the side wickets at Colombo Colts Cricket Club and when it rains we go indoors,” Warnakula said. “The lack of gym facilities has resulted in the players doing gym work individually.”The club has to depend largely on the funds given by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and funding from the club president (provincial council minister Sarath Sumanasekera) and members. We get Rs 29 lakh from SLC, but our expenses for a season run up to Rs 32 lakh. It is because the club does not have a sponsor. We have not contracted a single of the 17 players in the squad but give them an enhanced figure of Rs 4500 per day for each match.”With the 25-year-old club assured of a promotion to Tier A next season, Warnakula is hopeful that with a bigger share of the funds they can recruit some top cricketers to the side. “It won’t be easy playing in a higher tier,” he said. “We need to strengthen our team. Our aim is to finish fifth or sixth in our first season in Tier A before going onto plan for bigger achievements.”

Tier A

Nondescripts Cricket Club kept their slim chances of winning the Tier A title alive by recording their fifth win of the season, ending their season with an impressive six-wicket win over Saracens Sports Club on home turf at Maitland Place.The victory gave Nondescripts a seven-point lead over title favourites Chilaw Marians, who play their final match against bottom-placed Moors SC on Friday. Chilaw Marians require only first-innings points to clinch their maiden title.Nondescripts though, were behind the eight ball throughout the match. They only managed a lead of 23 after being strongly placed at one stage on 216 for 4, replying to Saracens’ first-innings total of 247. In their second essay, Saracens also blew away a chance of setting Nondescripts a target of more than 208 when they collapsed from a promising 176 for 4 to 230 all out. Nondescripts eventually won, thanks to a well-paced 92 from opener Susantha Pradeep.”We are happy with the situation,” said Nondescripts coach Hemantha Devapriya. “Everything depends on the result of this week’s match between Chilaw Marians and Moors Sports Club which is beyond our control.”We had a young side and whatever we have achieved so far with them is something that we can be proud of. Our aim was to finish the season on a high. We have done that and winning the championship would be a bonus. Even if we don’t, a fitting tribute must be paid to the players for their effort.”Former champions Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) made the most of a drawn match against Badureliya Sports Club at the SCC, amassing a combined total of 862 runs in both innings to move to third in the table. It was SSC’s final match of the season and their final position will depend on how fifth-placed Colts Cricket Club fare against Badureliya this week. SSC’s Shalika Karunanayake (172) and Navin Perera (153 not out) hit career-best scores while Lasith Fernando and Hans Fernando also contributed to the run-spree with hundreds. Dimuth Karunaratne was not so lucky, missing out on a hundred in each innings – dismissed for 90 and 83.Badureliya replied strongly to SSC’s first innings of 506, but fell short by a big margin after spinner Sachitra Senanayake captured six wickets to become the fifth bowler to take 50 wickets for the season.Colombo Cricket Club (CCC), who were facing relegation at one stage, recorded their second win on the trot, defeating Sri Lanka Army Sports Club by 136 runs at Panagoda. CCC’s victory was scripted by left-arm spinner Sohan Boralessa, whose match haul of eight wickets took his tally to 62 wickets from 11 matches, making him the leading wicket-taker for the season.After a promising start to the season Bloomfield Cricket & Athletic Club lost more ground as they conceded first-innings points to Tamil Union Cricket & Athletic Club at Reid Avenue. They made a great effort to pull off a win in their final game, but fell short by two wickets.

Cricketer of the Week: Suranjith SilvaAt 34, Suranjith Silva knows he is past an age where he can make a strong claim for a place in the national side as a legspinner. The nearest he came to gaining national recognition was when he toured with the national Under-24 team to South Africa in 1998, subsequently leading to a call-up to the A team and a place in the national pool.Having missed out on opportunities to win a national cap, Silva’s next best achievement was to captain his club Lankan CC to honours. He has achieved this feat twice – leading them to the Premier Limited Overs title in 2007-08, and after missing the 2007-08 season because of his commitment to Springvale South Cricket Club in the Melbourne district, he returned for the current season to lead Lankan CC to the Tier B crown.Silva attributes the victory to the presence of seven experienced cricketers in the side, who have played a combined total of over 100 first-class matches, as well as the high team spirit which they were able to maintain right throughout the season. Lankan CC finished the season unbeaten with four wins (and five draws). If there was a match they came close to losing, it was against Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club, whom they eventually beat by 101 runs.”Having secured a narrow 12-run first innings lead, we lost six wickets for 88 in our second innings and we were in danger of defeat,” said Silva. “But the late order showed great character and fight to take us to 226 from where we were able to turn the match around in our favour.”Silva, who is also an ECB Level II qualified coach, divides his time playing six months of domestic cricket and six months in the English leagues. Last year he appeared for Old Whitgiftians CC in the Surrey League.

The allrounder will make a landmark outing against India in Mumbai on Sunday

AAP06-Jan-2024Ellyse Perry is keeping an open mind about the rest of her outstanding international cricket career, saying playing 400 matches could be feasible.The allrounder will become the first Australian woman to make 300 international appearances when India host the second match in the teams’ T20I series in Mumbai on Sunday.Perry is an all-time great of Australian sport and key to the ongoing success of the national women’s team. Asked whether reaching 400 games is a goal, Perry said she had set no ceiling on her playing career.Related

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“I don’t know what’s in store …but if it’s meant to be down the track and I’m still around playing …I’m really open to what happens,” she said from India. “I don’t have a set time frame on it. Either way it doesn’t really matter, it’s just another number.”For as long as I can contribute to the team and it’s something I find really motivating and enjoyable, I’d love to be here.”Perry was left out of Australia’s T20I team early in 2022, but reshaped her game to return as an integral player.The 33-year-old has also bowled less since a serious hamstring injury during the 2020 World Cup. The key for Perry individually, and for the all-powerful Australia team, is to keep evolving.India have beaten Australia in a Test for the first time on this tour and the home side also won their opening T20I clash, while the tourists swept the one-day series in between.”It’s a great time for us, of evolution. You’ve seen a lot of that in the way that Phoebe Litchfield has performed in those one-day matches; Annabel Sutherland, her last 12 months,” Perry said.”That’s something we’re incredibly conscious of – [to] maintain the success we’ve had, but equally evolve that, to look a little bit different in the way the team plays. The game is moving at such a rapid pace. There’s a new environment. In a lot of ways the sky’s the limit in terms of where it can go.”Perry paid tribute to her family, saying she relishes still having net sessions with her dad Mark.”Every time, he bowls me. In general terms, Dad will always have my measure,” she said.Perry has been a key figure in the rapid rise of women’s cricket, which attracted 86,000 fans to the MCG to watch Australia win the 2020 World Cup final.”My first game in Darwin, there were probably about 30 people,” she said, recalling her 2007 debut. “It continues to blow my socks off when stuff like that happens, which has been a true privilege.”

Interim coach plays down importance of four-match spell in charge of T20 team, but earmarks long-term role

George Dobell at Edgbaston26-Jun-2018Paul Farbrace has confirmed he would like to be considered for the role of England coach when Trevor Bayliss’s contract expires in just over a year.Farbrace, the England assistant coach, has taken charge of the England side on an interim basis for the four IT20 matches against Australia and India over the next couple of weeks. And while he played down the suggestion the games provide an opportunity for him to demonstrate his value, or gain any further experience in the role, he answered “of course” when asked whether he would be interested in succeeding Bayliss after September 2019.”If, next September, Andrew Strauss said ‘we want to offer you the job as coach’ it would be so difficult to say no to that, it really would,” Farbrace said. “Even if I was lucky enough to be considered for the role, then that would be a great position to be in.”I count myself very fortunate even to be in this position, as an assistant coach to the England team. I wasn’t good enough to get anywhere near it as a player, so to be involved as a coach is fantastic.”Having spent much of the last decade living out of a suitcase – Farbrace has been with the England side since 2014 and before that had two spells with Sri Lanka – he is sympathetic to the idea of splitting the coaching role into two. Or, as he sees it, perhaps even three.”Maybe, the way the game is going, it does make sense to go the way of split coaching,” Farbrace said. “Trevor did five months solid in the winter – that’s a lot to ask of anyone – and I enjoyed the little break I had.”It may be that, when we get to September 2019, having one coach – me or somebody else – they may want to keep the job together if possible. Even the idea of two assistants, and keeping the energy that way, that may be another way to go. That’s not my call. Whatever it was I’d be excited to be in with a chance.”I don’t have a preference for the Test or limited-overs role. To be honest, I’d take anything. The Test team obviously would be an exciting challenge because there’s more work to do than with the one-day side. But a lot will depend on who’s in the frame. It may be that there is a strong candidate that is happy to do everything. That’s for Straussy to decide and others to worry about.”Farbrace has been in demand for a variety of coaching jobs in recent times. As well as having been linked with a couple of international roles – notably Bangladesh – several of England’s first-class counties have made approaches for him. It does now seem, however, that the England head coach role would be his preferred option.”I don’t think the next 10 days are necessarily about me at all really,” Farbrace continued. “I’ve been fortunate enough to be an acting head coach a couple of times before, thoroughly enjoyed it, and my goal is to make sure that nothing really changes.”I genuinely mean it that I’m thrilled to be asked to look after the squad. Same as in the West Indies and same as after Peter Moores left and before Trevor came. It’s just great to do.”As a coach you are continually learning and trying to get better. I’ve made some horrendous mistakes in the past. In the two years I was head coach at Kent I had a disaster. And that’s the only thing you can do as a coach, keep learning and improving.”I’m not saying this to make it easier if I don’t get the job. If come next September, I have a chance that would be fantastic and if I ended up being offered the position that would be great.”

Bangladesh’s new High Performance coach, Simon Helmot, has said that he wants to enrich the talent pool for the senior side, with tournaments like next year’s Champions Trophy and the 2019 World Cup in mind

Mohammad Isam13-Jun-2016Bangladesh’s new High Performance coach Simon Helmot has said that he wants to enrich the talent pool for the senior side, with tournaments like next year’s Champions Trophy and the 2019 World Cup in mind. Helmot, who recently served as Sunrisers Hyderabad’s assistant coach, will head a training programme that begins at the end of this month and ends in October, ahead of the 2016-17 season.”We are about developing Bangladesh cricket so we can be a force in all formats around the world,” Helmot said. “There are many competitions coming up, like the Champions Trophy. In a few years’ time, there is the World Cup, and there are lots of series to be played. But if we can develop the youth and even some of the experienced players to have better depth and a greater talent pool to pick in the national side, then we are going to be in a good place for not only now but for years to come.”The focus this time, according to BCB’s national game development manager Nazmul Abedin, will be on providing what the senior team requires and to reduce the gap between players in the HP squad those in the senior side. Helmot will start with a focus on the technical side of the game, and then move on to how to apply that in match situations. BCB are also looking to hire specialist foreign coaches for the programme, as well as organising at least one tour in September to give the players a taste of conditions away from home.Helmot, who has previously worked with Shakib Al Hasan at Melbourne Renegades and Mustafizur Rahman at Sunrisers Hyderabad, said that age would not be a factor when picking talent.”The HP programme should make sure there is development, and give players ownership and responsibility and discipline,” Helmot said. “Age doesn’t matter; people’s gifts and their ability can rise at different times. Most importantly, we have to set up a programme which is going to be open to those people we believe have the potential to play for their country.”

On a day when neither team owned bragging rights in Bangalore there was heavy emphasis on the need for patience

Arun Venugopal in Bangalore15-Oct-2015

Badrinath to take call on knee

Vidarbha captain S Badrinath, who had hurt himself in the afternoon after landing heavily on his knee in an attempt to take a catch offered by Manish Pandey, said the injury was nothing more than a “bruise and contusion”. However, he said, he will wait till Friday morning to decide on whether he continues to field. “Hopefully, I will take the field tomorrow. I will take a call tomorrow morning.”

On a day when neither team owned bragging rights – though Vidarbha might believe they have a slight edge – there was heavy emphasis on the need for patience from players on both sides. Patience, on a surface which neither side has completely worked out yet.While CM Gautam, the unbeaten Karnataka batsman from today, repeatedly spoke about its sluggish nature, Vidarbha’s left-arm seamer Ravikumar Thakur, who removed Manish Pandey and Karun Nair late in the day, admitted to misreading the surface.”It looked green, so that must have prompted the captain to field,” Thakur said, explaining the rationale behind bowling first. “We thought there was grass on the wicket and we could get two or three early wickets in the first session. But you can’t predict the wicket.”Gautam, too, suggested that despite the early movement there wasn’t any pace on the track. “The wicket is a bit on the slower side, spongy bounce,” he said. “Because there was a bit of movement early on and the wicket was on slower side, we thought till lunch we will just play out without losing any wickets, but we lost two wickets.”Gautam said the approach of Pandey and Nair was ideal in such conditions. “I think they batted beautifully. They took their own time. They got used to the wicket. Initially they were playing little slow.”The wicket is on slower side, so stroke-play is not that easy, that’s the reason Manish and Karun, who are stroke-players, took their own time to get used to the wicket and the bowlers. “Gautam said a score in the range of 450 to 500 will be good, and it was “unfortunate” his team lost three wickets in roughly the last ten overs. Karnataka slipped first from 266 to 3 to 267 for 5, and then lost Shreyas Gopal in the last over to end the day on 298 for 6.”It was unfortunate losing three wickets in the last 10 overs. At the same time cricket is played like that. Suddenly you lose two or three wickets. It’s all about how you recover in the morning tomorrow,” he said.Thakur said Vidarbha’s game plan was centred around patience, but he rued the fact that they weren’t economical enough.”The plan was to bowl a good line and length, area [bowl in the right areas] and focus on ourselves because the wicket didn’t act like a green top,” he said. “We wanted to remain patient and wait for the wickets to fall. In that process our bowlers did leak a few runs – we conceded 30 more than we wanted to.”

Eoin Morgan has said the two T20 internationals with India will provide a young squad with the chance to begin building towards the 2014 World Twenty20

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Dec-2012Eoin Morgan, England’s stand-in T20 captain, has said the two T20 internationals with India before Christmas will provide a young squad with the chance to begin formulating their plans for the 2014 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.England, the 2010 World T20 champions, were knocked out of this year’s tournament in Sri Lanka at the Super Eights stage, a performance Morgan said didn’t meet the team’s own expectations. With T20 captain Stuart Broad injured, Morgan will step up to lead the side in Pune on Thursday and he hoped that a very different set of players could replicate England’s historic Test success.”As we’ve seen in the past, when the Test side has done well, it’s had a knock-on effect with the other two teams – and certainly we’ll be looking to win these two games and take confidence and momentum from the Test side and keep the winning habit up,” Morgan said.”Sri Lanka was a bit of a disappointment – we certainly didn’t achieve any of our expectations or perform in crucial games when we really needed to. There were a number of areas we looked at and identified, and we hope we’ll produce the performances which will catch up the learning curve we’re going through at the moment.”It’s in preparation for Bangladesh, and the young guys coming through have fantastic potential. I hope they’ll perform over the next four or five days.”Morgan has led England in a single ODI in the past, against Ireland in 2011, but is one of the senior members of the T20I squad. Of the Test touring party, only Morgan, Tim Bresnan, Samit Patel, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root have remained in India for the T20I leg. Graeme Swann, Steven Finn and Kevin Pietersen are among those rested, while Broad is recuperating from a heel problem and Craig Kieswetter and Ravi Bopara have been dropped.England struggled in their World T20 defence and only managed to beat Afghanistan and New Zealand. Their heavy group-stage defeat to India underlined concerns about playing spin and, although they appear to have worked out a method in Test cricket, the scoring rate required to be competitive in T20 cricket could cloud minds once again.Morgan was himself injured for England’s only previous T20I assignment in India, which they won by six wickets, but he was upbeat about leading a new-look side. “It’s a great opportunity for me in these two games against one of the best sides in the world in their backyard,” he said. “It’s certainly going to be a challenge I’m looking forward to.”Although Morgan has not had many opportunities to play so far in India, his two innings on tour have produced scores of 76 against Mumbai A and 47 in the England Performance Programme’s win over the Dr DY Patil Academy. After being given further responsibility by Broad’s absence, Morgan said he was ready to make the leap from reserve to captain.”Being vice-captain of the Twenty20 side in the first place, you’re always going to be thrust into a situation where the captain might get injured,” Morgan said. “It’s something not that I’ve prepared for it, but mentally you think if something happens to Broady then you might get the chance. Really, I’m quite happy to take the reins.”

At the Chinnaswamy Stadium, it was a morning that belonged to Haryana’s unheralded 21-year-old medium pacer Harshal Patel

Nikita Bastian at the Chinnaswamy Stadium02-Jan-2012At the Chinnaswamy Stadium, it was a day that belonged to Haryana’s unheralded 21-year-old Harshal Patel. An outswing bowler, Harshal took a bold decision to remain in India to play cricket when his parents moved to New Jersey a few years ago, and today that decision looked to have paid rich dividends. Taking the new ball in Haryana’s quarter-final against Karnataka, he rolled the hosts out for 151, bowling with testing outswing and dogged discipline. He finished the day with 8 for 40 – the best figures so far in the 2011-12 Ranji Elite season.Harshal kept the ball on and around the off stump all through, repeatedly testing the batsmen’s technique and patience. He bowled from wide of the crease and got some deliveries to move a tad away, while others held their line, leaving the batsmen in quite a quandary.His first three wickets were caught by the keeper, Nitin Saini. That early burst was aided by the surface. “The wicket had something in it early on,” Harshal said after the day’s play. “There was a little movement off the seam, the ball was also stopping a little, it was a bit two-paced. But it was not damp, we [Haryana] would have batted too.”He backed up an incisive opening spell with one that cleaned up Karnataka’s tail after lunch. This time he tried something a little different to take 3 for 9 in 4.5 overs. “Bowling over the wicket to the tail, they were leaving the ball. The wicket too had slowed down a bit. So I tried bowling around the wicket against them and it worked.” In between he got rid of Amit Verma and Stuart Binny. The in-form Binny had let one of Harshal’s deliveries go and it whizzed away, dangerously close to off stump. He shouldered arms to the next ball too, but this time it pitched on off and held its line to rattle the stumps.Harshal, who played Under-19 cricket for India, made the move from Gujarat to Haryana before the start of the 2011-2012 season, and it was all a natural progression for him. “The year my parents left [India], I had had a very good time in Under-17 cricket – I had taken 32 wickets in five games. So I told my dad to give me some time to keep working on my cricket here in India. He told me he’d give me two years, during which I was to work only on my cricket and see where it took me. Now I’m here.”I was not getting a chance in first-class cricket in Gujarat. Anirudh Chaudhary, the Haryana Cricket Association head, was our [India Under-19] manager at the Under-19 World Cup [in New Zealand in January 2010]. He later called me and told me I could play for Haryana if I wanted to. Several of their seamers had had to have surgery, so I got an offer.”Harshal’s tally puts him behind only Kapil Dev and Joginder Sharma for the best figures in first-class cricket for Haryana. But Harshal seems to know that this is no reason to get carried away. “Whatever format I play, I look to take wickets. There are still flaws in my bowling action that I need to work on. For example, my front knee bends when I deliver and my [body] alignment is a bit on the cross. I’m working on these things.”He has the assistance of former Essex fast bowler Ian Pont to iron out the flaws. Pont, who has a four-year contract working with Haryana, has worked with Harshal since Haryana’s preparations for the 2011-12 season began. Pont, now back in England, is constantly in touch with Harshal and the other Harayana seamers. “Harshal’s got a good head. I first met him at a training camp in May, he was the bowler who really stood out in that camp,” Pont told ESPNcricinfo. “He is very aware of his bowling action. It’s important to know what you need to correct in the first place.”I’ve left him with a few drills for this, simple ones that you could do in the bedroom even and don’t need cricket nets for, and he works on them and gets back to me with updates.”Pont is also working on Harshal’s pace. “He swings it, swings it away, which makes him dangerous. He’s not express, but I think he can bowl much quicker,” he said. “It’s something we are working on, to give him more pace and control.” And it helps that Harshal, like his team-mates, is a willing learner. “Every Indian bowler [that I’ve worked with] is very attentive and they tend to listen to what you say. In addition to that, Harshal is very smart. He takes what he thinks will work for him and goes and works on it. His mental approach is very strong.”This performance, Pont said, could be just the trigger Harshal needed to go on to bigger things. “It’s tremendous for the young man to be put in the same category, in some way, as Kapil Dev. It’s a launching pad.”Young bowlers need confidence; I’ve noticed that Ranji cricket tends to favour the batsmen and you get quite a few huge totals. So for a young outswing bowler like Harshal, this is a great confidence boost.”

New Zealand’s captain Daniel Vettori knows he will need to play a key role on the slow, low Caribbean pitches for his side to break its habit of falling just short of success in major tournaments

Cricinfo staff27-Apr-2010New Zealand’s captain Daniel Vettori knows he will need to play a key role on the slow, low Caribbean pitches for his side to break its habit of falling just short of success in major tournaments. Spin is expected to be an important weapon at most of the venues for the ICC World Twenty20 and New Zealand have chosen a squad with several slow-bowling options.Vettori will lead the attack for the two pool games against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in Guyana, while Nathan McCullum is expected to be his major backup in the spin department. The allrounder Rob Nicol is another slow-bowling option for New Zealand, who will rely on Shane Bond to spearhead a pace group that also includes the allrounder Jacob Oram.”We’re very confident,” Vettori said. “You throw in Kyle Mills, who’s come back and has been a very successful bowler for us, Tim Southee has done a good job, Ian Butler has come back from injury as well and at times has done a good job for us, so between the five of them from the seam bowling department I think they’ll be very adequate.”But I think spin bowling is going to play a big part, particularly on the slower grounds in the Caribbean. We’re expecting myself and Nathan McCullum to play a big role.”New Zealand have been regular semi-finalists in major tournaments over the past few years, reaching the final four at the 2007 World Twenty20 in South Africa, the World Cup in the West Indies earlier that year, and the 2006 Champions Trophy. They went one better by reaching the decider of last year’s Champions Trophy but the batsman Scott Styris said nothing short of securing silverware will satisfy the squad this time.”We keep making it to the semi-finals and not going any further, although the Champions Trophy we did make the final,” Styris said. “What it shows is that we do play well in these big tournaments. We have a history of doing pretty well right back for the last ten years or so.”If we play well we’re a chance, and we’re not just looking for a semi-final spot or a Super Eights, it’s a real chance to win. We go in to this tournament with the view that we have to win this tournament. We’re good enough to win it, and if we don’t win it then it has to be disappointing.”Although an attack fronted by Vettori and Bond is threatening, their chances of success will rest heavily on how the top order performs. Brendon McCullum is fresh from blasting the second century in Twenty20 international history, against Australia, while Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor are also potential match-winners.The squad features several allrounders, with Southee and Bond the only real tailenders in the touring party, and the long batting line-up is an added bonus. New Zealand will look to Oram, who is returning from a torn patella tendon, as the big-hitter in the lower middle order and he is confident the group features enough strikepower to challenge any attack.”I think we’ve got a very explosive top order,” Oram said. “Our batting line-up to me is very, very strong and right down to No. 8, 9 and even 10 sometimes, we’ve got guys who can come in and hit the ball a long way. I think that’s our main strength.”New Zealand have two warm-up games, against Ireland on Tuesday and West Indies on Wednesday, to fine-tune their side before the real competition begins. Vettori’s men walk out for the series opener against Sri Lanka at Providence Stadium on Friday.

The inquiry committee looking into Pakistan’s disastrous tour to Australia has recommended a string of harsh punishments against a number of Pakistan’s senior-most players, ranging from heavy fines to bans

Osman Samiuddin08-Mar-2010The inquiry committee looking into Pakistan’s disastrous tour to Australia has recommended a string of harsh punishments against a number of Pakistan’s senior-most players, ranging from heavy fines to bans.The recommendations have still to be approved by the board chairman – and they could yet be turned down – but Cricinfo has learnt that the committee has called for the Akmal brothers and Shahid Afridi to be fined for various misdemeanours and for Shoaib Malik and Naved-ul-Hasan to be banned for up to a year from international cricket.If implemented the measures are likely to represent some of the harshest punishments taken against Pakistan players and will further throw the composition of Pakistan’s squad for the World Twenty20 into considerable disarray. None of the players, it is believed, are certain to make the 15-man squad for the tournament at this moment.The six-man committee completed its report last week and sent it to Ijaz Butt. The chairman held a meeting with the selection committee on Monday in which he briefed them on the contents of the inquiry committee’s report. He warned the selectors – now headed by Mohsin Khan – that he had “shocking news” for them and proceeded to inform them of the details of the report.Pakistan’s winless tour to Australia began promisingly, but swiftly deteriorated after the second Test in Sydney, where the tourists suffered a shocking defeat. Thereafter the touring squad unraveled; first the Akmal brothers seemed to openly challenge the touring management, Kamran insisting he would play in the final Test in Hobart despite the board having released a statement saying he would be dropped.Younger brother Umar was at the centre of a brief storm, in which it was alleged that he had feigned an injury and refused to play in Hobart if his brother was dropped. The report recommends fining the brothers between Rs 2-3 million and that they be put on a probationary period for their behaviour after the Sydney Test.The tour ended with Afridi being banned by the ICC for two games after he was caught biting the ball in a bid to tamper it in the last ODI in Perth. The report calls for a similar fine and that he also be put on a probationary period during which he not be considered for the captaincy. Afridi was Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain but that status now is in doubt.The situation for Naved and Malik is altogether more serious; both have been accused of significant breaches of discipline. Though the specifics are unclear, it is thought that the pair had problems with Mohammad Yousuf, who was captain for the Tests and ODIs. Yousuf and Malik have long been at odds with each other and the pair engaged in another slanging match soon after returning to Pakistan. Malik has consistently been at the centre of accusations of intrigue and factionalism within the team since he was removed as leader last year.Sources told Cricinfo that Butt is incensed with the players and is willing to go through with all the recommendations. At the meeting with the selectors he told them to prepare a squad for the World Twenty20 but to keep question marks over this group of players and to keep their options open. The squad was due to be announced on Monday but will be delayed, at the very least, to next week; the selection committee has filtered down the probables to 21 for now.Butt has urged the selectors to look for fresher faces, telling them that he intends “to give a lesson to these players and convey to them the message that nobody is indispensable.”The trickiest decision may well be over the captain of the squad. Malik and Afridi seem to be out of the picture now; Younis Khan and Yousuf do not play the format and are not in the probables. Amazingly that could leave Misbah-ul-Haq, should he be picked, as a candidate and though some TV reports said his name had been put forward by the selectors, attendees at the meeting said no names had yet been discussed.

Top-order collapses before Hughes, Ibrahim come together in fourth-wicket stand

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay31-Jul-2025Sussex 222 (Lamb 48, Coles 47, White 3-25) and 115 for 3 (Hughes 56*, Ibrahim 50*) trail Yorkshire 545 for 9 dec (Revis 152*, Lyth 115, Wharton 85) by 208 runsAll-rounder Matthew Revis continued his sparkling run-scoring form in the Rothesay County Championship, posting his third hundred in as many matches to help Yorkshire press for a crucial victory over Sussex at Scarborough.Dating back to late June, in Yorkshire’s last four Division One fixtures, Revis – 23-years-old – has posted scores of 93 not out, 150, 110 not out and a career best 152 not out.He hit the 150 in a victory over Essex at York, 110 not out in last week’s draw here against champions Surrey and now this 188-ball effort with 14 fours and two pulled sixes against spin.Yorkshire declared on 545 for nine midway through the afternoon, leading by 323 with 44 overs remaining in the day, and then restricted Sussex to 115 for three at close. Opener Daniel Hughes gave the visitors something to cheer with an impressive rearguard 56 not out from 131 balls.It would now be a significant surprise if Revis is not selected to tour Australia with the England Lions this winter. Another man who could be on that tour is George Hill, with whom Revis shared an entertaining seventh-wicket partnership of 140 either side of lunch.Fellow all-rounder Hill contributed a season’s best 75 off 93 balls. He has already had Lions exposure this summer, courtesy of his near 40-wicket campaign with the ball.For Sussex, off-spinner Jack Carson plugged away with three for 150 from 43 overs. But he was swimming against the tide.Revis, who started the day on 22, drove handsomely down the ground before pulling a couple of sixes off Carson just before Yorkshire declared minutes before 3pm.Before lunch, Hill lofted Carson over long-on for six and out of the ground at the Trafalgar Square End.Revis reached his fifty off 77 balls and his fifth career first-class century off 137, the latter on the stroke of lunch. Sandwiched in between, Hill’s fifty came up in 65 balls.Sussex started the day nicely by removing Harry Duke and Will Sutherland, leaving Yorkshire 320 for six in the 97th over, the day’s seventh.Duke was caught behind for 21 against an out-swinger from Fynn Hudson-Prentice – Sussex having taken the new ball immediately at the start of play – before Sutherland was bowled by his fellow Australian Gurinder Sandhu for two.Sutherland is playing his last match of the season for Yorkshire this week and had been surfing in the North Sea at the end of day two.Revis and Hill advanced Yorkshire’s cause in entertaining fashion. The aforementioned Hill six off Carson even landed in the back yard of the Air BnB which the county’s live streaming team are using this week.Revis became the first Yorkshire player to score three hundreds in successive first-class matches since Gary Ballance did it back in 2019 and the first non-capped White Rose player to achieve that same feat in 80 years.Unfortunately for Sussex, further trouble was around the corner at the start of their second innings.They faced 12 overs before tea, where they reached at 29 for three.New-ball pair Jack White and Matt Milnes struck once apiece added to the run out of Tom Alsop courtesy of a direct hit from Imam-Ul-Haq at the striker’s end from cover.White had Tom Haines caught and bowled off a lead edge and Milnes got James Coles caught at fourth slip for a golden duck the ball after Alsop had fallen in the sixth over.But just when all seemed lost, left-handed Australian Hughes stood firm with the help of fourth-wicket partner Danial Ibrahim.Hughes was understandably watchful but drove, cut, pulled and deflected 10 boundaries en-route to a 114-ball fifty. The pair have shared an unbroken 95, with Ibrahim 50 not out.Ibrahim reached 50 off 111 balls with the day’s final delivery. But the pair have plenty more work to do on a pitch which is showing increasing signs of turn.