Sangakkara guides solid Sri Lanka

There are few things Kumar Sangakkara has failed to achieve in Test cricket. As he walked off the SSC ground on the second afternoon of his 100th Test, he knew that one of those unfulfilled goals – playing in a win over Australia – was one step closer

The Report by Brydon Coverdale17-Sep-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMichael Hussey made his fourth Test hundred against Sri Lanka•AFP

Smart stats

  • Michael Hussey’s 118 is his fourth century in the subcontinent and brings him level third on the list of Australia batsmen with the most centuries in Asia. However, Hussey’s average of 61.38 is the highest among Australia batsmen with 1000-plus runs in the subcontinent.

  • Hussey became the 17th Australia batsman to score over 5000 runs in Tests. His average of 52.84 is fourth on the list of Australia batsmen with 5000-plus runs.

  • Hussey now has four centuries against Sri Lanka, the highest for an Australia batsman. His average of 111.50 is the highest among batsmen with 500-plus runs against Sri Lanka.

  • Shaminda Eranga’s 4 for 65 is the fifth-best bowling performance by a Sri Lanka bowler on debut. Upul Chandana’s six-wicket haul against Pakistan in 1999 remains the best debut bowling performance by a Sri Lanka.

  • Kumar Sangakkara is 39 runs away from becoming the seventh batsman to score a century in his 100th Test. No Sri Lanka player has achieved this feat so far.

  • Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene average 123.61 runs per partnership at the SSC, with five century stands in 14 innings, including their record stand of 624 against South Africa in 2006.

There are few things Kumar Sangakkara has failed to achieve in Test cricket. As he walked off the SSC ground on the second afternoon of his 100th Test, he would have felt that one of those unfulfilled goals – playing in a win over Australia – was one step closer. Sangakkara has tasted victory against every other Test nation, and while plenty of work remains in this match, it could be his best chance to complete the set.On a day that started with Michael Hussey’s 15th Test century and a four-wicket haul from the debutant Shaminda Eranga, Sri Lanka finished at a comfortable 166 for 2. They still trailed Australia by 150 runs, but with Sangakkara looking composed on 61 and Mahela Jayawardene on 31, Sri Lanka could certainly dream of building a first-innings lead.The pair had put on 68, but on a surface offering little for the bowlers, there was no reason that figure couldn’t expand significantly on the third day. Sangakkara brought up his half-century from his 86th delivery, with a slashing cut to the boundary off Mitchell Johnson, one ball after he sent a similarly short and wide ball to the rope.He and Jayawardene had come together after the loss of Tharanga Paranavitana, who on 46 drove Johnson off the meat of the bat, only to see Ricky Ponting at short cover take a terrific catch. Paranavitana had already survived one of the closest lbw reviews seen under the DRS, when on 14 he was given not out by Aleem Dar.Australia wanted the decision checked, and while Trent Copeland’s delivery had pitched in line and was striking off stump, a fraction less than half the ball was hitting the middle of the stump, saving the batsman. The only early breakthrough came when Peter Siddle, playing his first Test of the tour, sneaked through the defence of Lahiru Thirimanne.On 28, Thirimanne was beaten by a good fullish delivery that straightened off the pitch and rattled the stumps. It was a reward for consistently good bowling from Siddle, although the visitors had missed the injured Ryan Harris with the new ball.Australia wanted early wickets after they reached a competitive but far from imposing total of 316 in the first session, when Hussey continued his remarkable series by bringing up his second hundred of the series. Sri Lanka’s new fast bowler Eranga removed Hussey shortly before lunch to finish with four wickets on debut.Australia added 81 to their overnight score for the loss of their final five wickets, as Eranga and Chanaka Welegedara bowled well and found some swing. But the star of the session was Hussey, who at 36 is in the kind of form he displayed at the start of his Test career. The Man of the Match in the first two Tests, he also gave himself a strong chance of complete a clean-sweep.Hussey brought up his hundred with a single clipped off his pads off Rangana Herath from his 157th delivery, and it continued an incredible streak against Sri Lanka. In the five Tests he has played against the Sri Lankans, the only match in which Hussey has failed to post a century was the first Test of this series in Galle, where he made 95.He also became the fifth-fastest Australian to reach 5000 Test runs, getting there in his 107th innings, slower only than Don Bradman, Matthew Hayden, Neil Harvey and Greg Chappell. He reached that milestone with a pair of boundaries cut through point off Welegedara, but for a while it looked like Hussey was in danger of being stranded on 99.While Hussey waited for his hundred, he watched on as Johnson pushed tamely to point off Welegedara and Siddle edged to slip from the next ball. Fortunately for Hussey, Copeland survived the hat-trick ball and provided adequate support, at least, until Welegedara’s next over, when he was taken at slip by Mahela Jayawardene.But by then, Hussey had reached his century, and the goal was simply to push the total as high as possible with the final partnership with Nathan Lyon. Hussey lofted a six over long-on off Herath, before on 118 he was tricked by a slower ball and played on, completing a fine debut performance from Eranga, who finished with 4 for 65.Eranga had picked up the first wicket of the day when a very good outswinger was adjudged to have caught the edge of Brad Haddin’s bat when he was on 35. Haddin looked surprised by the decision and asked for a review, but there was a slight noise as the ball passed the bat and there was certainly no evidence to reprieve him.Haddin had struck six boundaries in his innings, but mixed in several plays and misses with his successes. In the end, he was simply outclassed by a fine delivery from Eranga. And if Australia’s bowlers are outclassed by Sangakkara and Jayawardene, a drawn series is a distinct possibility.

Unapologetic Ijaz Butt arrives in London

Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, has refused to apologise for suggestions he made that England fixed a match in the recent one-day series

Osman Samiuddin27-Sep-2010Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, has refused to apologise for suggestions he made that England fixed a match in the recent one-day series. Speaking on his arrival at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday, he said he thought the matter would be settled in days.Butt and the PCB’s legal advisor are expected to hold meetings with the lawyers of the three players at the centre of the spot-fixing scandal. Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, is also headed to London, but ESPNcricinfo understands his is a pre-planned visit.Butt and Taffazul Rizvi are expected to be in the UK for four to five days on a trip that was finalised only last week. The meetings with Elizabeth Robertson, the Addleshaw Goddard lawyer representing Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir in the spot-fixing case, were confirmed to ESPNcricinfo by a PCB official.The board expects there to be some movement from the Crown Prosecution Service on the fate of the case against the trio within the next week or so. Scotland Yard passed on their file of evidence on claims that Pakistan cricketers were involved in spot-fixing to the CPS on September 17.It is not known whether there will be meetings between Butt and the ECB while the PCB chairman is in London. The English board have demanded a full, public apology from Butt for claiming England players took “enormous amounts” of money to lose the third one-day international at The Oval earlier this month.That claim came in the wake of another spot-fixing story, this time in , which had sparked an investigation by the ICC over scoring rates during the match at The Oval. Following Butt’s outburst England came close to withdrawing from the fourth game at Lord’s but late-night meetings between Andrew Strauss and the ECB ended with the decision to continue with the series.However, both Strauss and the board came out with strongly-worded statements and have said they will pursue legal action if Butt doesn’t apologise. “We would like to express our surprise, dismay and outrage at the comments made by Mr Butt,” Strauss said at the time. “We are deeply concerned and disappointed that our integrity as cricketers has been brought into question. We refute these allegations completely and will be working closely with the ECB to explore all legal options open to us.”

Marcus Trescothick defends quality of English white-ball cricket after crushing defeat

Interim head coach says it’s up to the new faces to find the right tempo for 50-over cricket

Cameron Ponsonby01-Nov-2024Interim head coach Marcus Trescothick has defended his young ODI squad after their crushing eight-wicket defeat to the West Indies, saying the result is not reflective of English white-ball cricket.England’s loss to the West Indies was a twelfth ODI defeat in 18 matches since the start of the 2023 World Cup and gave a brutal reality check to a new-look eleven that included four debutants.On a tacky surface, England were bowled out for 209, before putting on an encouraging, but ultimately fruitless display with the ball as Windies opener Evin Lewis let loose for 94 off 69 balls.”I think it’s certainly not where England cricket is at,” Trescothick said after the game. “Because for a long period of time now you’ve not had our main team in white-ball games. You don’t really know where white-ball cricket is.”I think with the system that we’ve had and the volume of cricket that we’ve been trying to play and still look after the players, I think you could put a team together tomorrow for a World Cup, and it would probably look different to what you had this series and some of the series that we played against Australia.”So I don’t think you can judge it to say, look where white-ball cricket is at the moment. It’s been a tough period of time, there’s no doubt about it, but that’s been challenges from numerous different things.”The current series is missing several players due to the tour being sandwiched by England’s Test tours of Pakistan and New Zealand. But the squad picked for the Australia series was close to full strength, with Joe Root and Gus Atkinson rested but other absences such as Jos Buttler and Mark Wood missing through injury. The same could be said of the previous group to tour the Caribbean last year, when the squad picked was meant to signal a new age, while the World Cup squad was certainly first string. All this alongside uncertainty over Ben Stokes’ white-ball future.The nature of the defeat has called into question England’s absolute policy on prioritising youth, with Jordan Cox, in just his fifth List A match, walking out on debut for England at No.3, with the 21-year-old Jacob Bethell at No.4. Of the top six, only Phil Salt and Will Jacks had batted in those positions for England more than once in their careersJohn Turner, Jordan Cox, Dan Mousley and Jamie Overton made their ODI debuts in Antigua•Getty Images

“It’s probably a better question for the selectors more than anything else. It’s not my decision who comes in,” Trescothick said.”But I think you can see from the plan of the England team in the last year, probably, and maybe a little bit further back, how much we want to invest in the next generation.”Playing people who have played before would probably be going against the mantra of what we’re trying to do at the moment.”England’s innings saw five of the top six caught in the 30-yard-circle, as the balance between defence and attack eluded them to be bowled out in 45.1 overs.”We’ve got to try and bat 50 overs first and foremost,” said Trescothick. “The real skill in white-ball cricket in particular is the tempo and the balance between aggression and batting for long periods of time.”We will always be a team that is going to try and be aggressive, the pitch made it quite tricky to do that.”This is Trescothick’s last tour at the helm of the white-ball team before Brendon McCullum takes over the job in January. Placed in charge of an exceptionally inexperienced group, one of the biggest challenges, according to Trescothick, has been finding the balance between emphasising the opportunity is a ‘free hit’ to England’s youngsters, while also instilling a win-first mentality.”I am trying to get the priority right at the moment. I want to win every game and we dictate that in the dressing room. But we also want to see a few players in the environment before the structure changes and Brendon takes over. So, why not give them the opportunity to thrive in this environment?”That’s very much how we’re framing it. The opportunities are there for the guys to come in. We’ve seen four debutants in this match, we’ve got a couple other young guys in the squad who may make their debut across the next two weeks. [With the opportunity] you’re going to be further up the ladder than you were six days ago. So go out there and show what you can do.”Trescothick’s own role in the white-ball set up beyond January is undecided.”I don’t know just yet,” he said. “We’ve got a bit of a plan behind the scenes, but nothing has been confirmed as such.”I am not going to say which way it’s all going to sit, because it would probably give it away too much, but obviously Brendon’s going to come in and take control of the full show and then he will dictate what and where we are going to be and how that’s going to look.”

Chris Dent century the highlight in inevitable Cheltenham draw

High-scoring first innings allied to rain made for a low-key finish to Div Two clash

ECB Reporters NetworkChris Dent’s 21st first-class century proved the highlight of a low-key final day as the LV= Insurance County Championship match between Gloucestershire and Glamorgan at Cheltenham ended in an inevitable draw.With so much time having been lost to rain, including a third-day washout, there were only bonus points to play for as Gloucestershire advanced their first innings from an overnight 134 for one to 402 for six before declaring.Experienced opener Dent led the way with an assured 113, off 206 balls, with 15 fours, while Ollie Price contributed 84, Miles Hammond 57 and James Bracey 60 not out. Leg-spinner Mitch Swepson claimed three of the wickets, but at a cost of 142 runs from his 37 overs.By the time the players shook hands at 4.50pm, Glamorgan had made 62 without loss in their second innings. They took 12 points from the game, while Gloucestershire had to settle for 11 and remain without a win in the Championship this season.Dent was unbeaten on 61 overnight, with Price on 49. The pair extended their second-wicket stand to the century mark before a Price boundary to third-man off Timm van der Gugten took him to fifty off 123 balls, with seven fours.Soon both batters were capitalising on the true pitch, Price producing an exquisite on-drive for four off James Harris and Dent matching it with a sweetly-timed cover drive to the boundary off van der Gugten.The partnership had been extended to 171 when Price was caught behind trying to force a delivery from Swepson through the off side. He stood crestfallen at the error, having hit 16 fours, knowing a great chance of a hundred had slipped away.Dent brought up his first ton of the season with a two to square leg off Harris, having faced 190 deliveries, and added a further 13 to his score before miscuing a drive off Zain ul-Hussain to Harris at mid-on.By then Hammond had signalled his intention to up the scoring rate with 4 fours in moving to 17. He was joined by debutant Joe Phillips and together they took the score to 261 for three at lunch.Cornishman Phillips had reached 17 in his maiden first class innings when falling victim to the second new ball, bowled looking to pull a delivery from Andy Gorvin. He had faced 42 balls and hit 3 fours.Bracey brought the 300 up by getting off the mark with a square driven boundary off Gorvin before Hammond moved to fifty off 78 balls, with eight boundaries. It was 337 for five when he top-edged an attempted pull off Harris and Colin Ingram pouched a simple catch at mid-off.Tom Price made only 16 before being pinned lbw on the back-foot by Swepson, but Bracey progressed serenely to the eighth half-century of the match, having faced 62 balls and cracked 8 fours.There was some strange cricket as tea approached, Zafar Gohar leaving the last ball before the interval with Gloucestershire needing just two runs for a fourth batting point. They had to face three more balls after the break before Bracey brought up the 400 and declared immediately, which meant another ten-minute interruption to play.The home side then set about avoiding a penalty for a slow over-rate, which was plus four at the end of the Glamorgan first innings. Spinners Gohar and Price were given the new ball and fielders scampered between overs, playing catch-up.Gloucestershire rattled through 16 overs in 39 minutes to make sure they claimed their full entitlement of points and it seemed almost incidental that Glamorgan openers ul Hussan and David Lloyd produced an array of attacking shots in the late afternoon sunshine.Lloyd was unbeaten on 38 and ul Hassan 24 when the second declaration of the day ended a game ruined by the wet weather.

Nottinghamshire set up final-day run chase after Derbyshire's lower-order resistance

Notts need 162 fourth-day runs with 10 wickets in hand after Paterson, Pattinson strike

ECB Reporters Network21-May-2022Derbyshire defied Nottinghamshire’s push for a three-day victory with a final0session fightback in the LV= Insurance County Championship match at Trent Bridge.Trailing by 98 on first innings, Derbyshire slipped to 161 for 7, putting the home side within sight of the fourth win of the season that would take them back to the top of the Division Two table before attention turns to the Vitality Blast next week.But Alex Hughes, a late call-up to the Derbyshire XI after Anuj Dal was injured on Thursday morning, led a show of post-tea resistance, sharing an eighth-wicket stand of 90 – the highest of the match from either side – with fast bowler Liam Hurt before Derbyshire were all out for 262, leaving Nottinghamshire still with work to do on the final day chasing 165 to win.Hurt, making his Derbyshire debut on loan from Lancashire, posted a career-best 49 before he was caught behind off former Australian Test bowler James Pattinson. He hit six boundaries – four of them off England’s Stuart Broad. Hughes also missed out by one on a half-century when he was bowled by Pattinson, who took 3 for 59 with Dane Paterson finishing with 3 for 35.Nottinghamshire, who were three without loss after facing two overs at the close, are still clear favourites to win but Derbyshire – unbeaten so far – can at least take credit for putting up a fight.Related

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Earlier, 19-year-old seamer Nick Potts, in only his third first-class match, took 4 for 50, his best return so far, and 23-year-old Sam Conners 4 for 93 as Nottinghamshire were bowled out for 358 in their first innings.Potts struck in the first full over of the morning as Liam Patterson-White was leg before trying to work one, falling on 39. Broad was bowled by Conners making room for himself before Pattinson, having sent the previous delivery soaring over deep backward square for six, was caught at deep midwicket as he tried to clear the ropes again, giving Potts his fourth wicket.Nottinghamshire’s first-innings lead looked still better when Broad then pinned Shan Masood in front for a third-ball duck, bringing an abrupt end to the Pakistan opener’s outside hope of completing 1,000 first-class runs in May. He remains on 844.Brooke Guest was leg-before to a ball from Paterson that kept low, after which Billy Godleman’s third-wicket partnership with Wayne Madsen was beginning to look durable when Godleman, whose 27 had taken him past 10,000 all-format runs for Derbyshire, fell into a trap set by Paterson and was caught on the hook.Madsen cut Steven Mullaney for three boundaries as Derbyshire wiped out the first-innings arrears yet two wickets in the space of seven deliveries saw them suddenly five down and only 26 in front.Du Plooy looked unlucky, given out leg before as Lyndon James celebrated his first wicket in four matches, but there were no doubts over the demise of Luis Reece – carrying a groin injury and belatedly joined by a runner – who was caught behind off a snorter from Pattinson.Madsen moved past fifty for the sixth time this season but then wafted at a ball from James to be caught behind, plunging Derbyshire into seemingly terminal decline at tea, effectively 40 for 6.Patterson-White had Alex Thomson lbw on the back foot as Derbyshire slipped into more trouble but, one low chance to Moores on 23 apart, Hurt stuck with Hughes impressively and their efforts kept Derbyshire in the game against the odds.

Australia set to tour Bangladesh later this year for T20Is, not Tests

Australia are set to go nearly 10 months without a Test match between the two summers

Daniel Brettig10-Feb-2021Australia are set to make a belated trip to Bangladesh later this year for their first tour since 2017. Not for the Tests originally scheduled as part of the World Test Championship, but instead for T20Is intended as warm-ups for the T20 World Cup meant to be hosted by India soon afterwards.ESPNcricinfo has confirmed discussions around the brief tour, which are the result of India hosting the global T20I event in 2021 while the 2020 edition, originally to have been hosted by Australia last year, was pushed out to 2022. According to the Future Tours Program, Bangladesh are also to host England for white-ball games ahead of the T20 World Cup, meaning the matches may well be arrayed as a triangular series.However, it has also been established that any prospect of last year’s postponed Test tour of Bangladesh, one of the first scheduled assignments delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has been effectively washed away by the fact it could not be rescheduled during the remaining window for WTC series before the table is finalised in April. Australia are duly set to go nearly 10 months without a Test match between the India series this summer and a rescheduled home Test against Afghanistan next summer, ahead of the Ashes.Related

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Cricket Australia and the BCB have continued lengthy talks ever since the postponement of the series last April, but neither board was able to commit to a window for a Test match tour. CA’s protracted and ultimately fruitless negotiations with Cricket South Africa over their scheduled WTC series in March broke down irreparably last week, ironically leaving a 33-day gap in between the end of Bangladesh’s current home series against West Indies on February 15, and the start of their white-ball tour of New Zealand on March 20 where neither country will play at all.Australia’s Test team have lost control of their WTC destiny due to the decision not to tour South Africa, but could have regained it by playing and winning a Test series with Bangladesh at any stage between last June, when the tour was originally meant to be played, and the April cut-off point for the championship table. This was the case even after the ICC retabulated the WTC table to be ranked according to points won over matches played, accounting for the imbalances deepened by tour cancellations due to Covid-19.The deterioration of relations between CA and CSA around tour talks and biosecurity protocols has led to the South African board writing to the ICC by way of opening a conversation about financial recompense for countries who have their home series cancelled by touring teams unwilling to make the trip.Cricket’s global governing body is understood to be encouraging further, peacemaking dialogue between CA and CSA, while at the same time being wary of the possibility of a formal dispute resolution mechanism being triggered between the two boards.CA has fervently denied allegations of bad faith negotiating from CSA, arguing that the two boards had irreconcilably different attitudes to Covid-19 that made it impossible to find the common ground required for the tour to go ahead. The governing body has also argued that CA’s efforts to reschedule series is proven by the current tour of New Zealand, a makeup for last summer’s cancelled series, and the shift of the Afghanistan Test. A CA spokesman declined to comment on the Bangladesh tour plans.

Barinder Sran switches to Chandigarh after Punjab snub

All the transfer and pre-season buzz from the Indian domestic season

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Aug-2019PunjabFast bowler Barinder Sran has finalised his transfer to Chandigarh after being left out of his home state Punjab’s Vijay Hazare Trophy squad. He obtained a no-objection certificate from Punjab on Thursday, saying he was not informed by the Punjab selectors why he was left out, and that he did not want to “waste the entire season” by not playing.”They didn’t even give me a valid reason [for dropping me],” Sran told the . “At least I deserved to know the reason why I was dropped. The selectors stopped taking my phone calls. I had no other option. I can’t waste my entire season. So, I decided to make a move and have no regrets.”The 26-year old, who has played six ODIs and two T20Is for India, made his debut for Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy in 2011. “I want to play for India again, but for that, I need to play. I am being let down by the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA). But it is a thing of the past. I am fit now and it’s time to look ahead.”In the Vijay Hazare Trophy last year, he bagged three wickets in as many games for Punjab despite going wicketless in two of them. He played in two Ranji Trophy before that, finishing with two wickets across three innings, and in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy that followed, he got just three wickets in five matches, going wicketless in four of those games.This season, Punjab, led by Mandeep Singh, also have Shubman Gill in the squad. Being named in the India Test squad that will be taking on South Africa from October 2, Gill is unlikely to play more than three matches in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy.Punjab are placed in Group B, alongside eight other teams, and will play their first match against Himachal Pradesh on September 25.Squad: Mandeep Singh (Captain), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Shubman Gill, Anmolpreet Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma, Mayank Markande, Karan Kaila, Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Akul Pandove, Anmol Malhotra, Abhijeet GargDelhiRishabh Pant and Navdeep Saini have been named in the 16-member Delhi squad, led by Dhruv Shorey, for the first four games of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, starting on September 24. Shikhar Dhawan has opted out of the squad for now due to personal reasons, according to .Pant is a part of the Indian team that will be assembling in Visakhapatnam for the opening Test against South Africa on October 2.
“Pant is expected to play at least first two to three games for Delhi as he will then report for the national team. Rishabh himself said that he wanted to play,” Delhi senior team’s chairman of selectors Atul Wassan told .”Shikhar needs to go back to Australia to attend to some family matters. He has said that he will join the squad at a later date.”
Former India Under-19 India captain Anuj Rawat has been named Pant’s back-up in the squad. Delhi will be starting their campaign against Vidarbha on the opening day of the tournament.Squad: Dhruv Shorey (captain), Nitish Rana, Rishabh Pant, Himmat Singh, Hiten Dalal, Kunal Chandela, Lalit Yadav, Pawan Negi, Navdeep Saini, Subodh Bhati, Kulwant Khejrolia, Manan Sharma, Kunwar Bhiduri, Vikas Tokas, Tejas Baroka, Anuj Rawat.Mumbai Left-arm spinner Atharva Ankolekar, who played a key role in India’s Under-19 Asia Cup win, has been named in the 17-member Mumbai squad, led by Shreyas Iyer, for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy. Sarfaraz Khan, who was on a one-year cooling off period following his return to Mumbai last year after three seasons with Uttar Pradesh, has also been named in the squad.Ankolekar took a match-winning five-for on Saturday against Bangladesh U-19s in a low-scoring thriller and helped India defend their Asia Cup title. Ankolekar’s team-mate Yashasvi Jaiswal, who made his Mumbai debut in Ranji Trophy last year, has also been named in this squad.Ajinkya Rahane, who captained the team last year, will not be available this year due to international commitments. Prithvi Shaw, who is currently serving his suspension for a doping violation, also misses out.Defending champions Mumbai are in Group A and will be playing all their matches in Bengaluru.Squad: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Surya Kumar Yadav (vice captain), Jay Bista, Aditya Tare , Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Shubham Ranjane, Eknath Kerkar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Tushar Deshpande, Shams Mulani, Atharva Ankolekar, Shardul Thakur, Siddhesh Lad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kruthik Hanagawadi, Shashank AttardeVidarbhaWasim Jaffer has been appointed Vidarbha’s interim captain for this season’s Vijay Hazare Trophy after Faiz Fazal sustained a hand injury. It is understood that Fazal is likely to return during the course of the tournament and also retain his captaincy.The 15-member squad also includes India fast bowler Umesh Yadav.Fazal, one of Vidarbha’s batting mainstays in their consecutive Ranji Trophy wins in 2017-18 and 2018-19, suffered the injury while representing India Green in the recently-concluded Duleep Trophy.”Faiz is still undergoing treatment for the injury,” VCA president Anand Jaiswal told . “We are still looking into it. Once he is cleared, he will join the side. As of today, since he hasn’t recovered, we have announced Wasim as the captain. But the injury is a minor one, not very serious.”Vidarbha are in Elite Group B of the Vijay Hazare Trophy draw, alongside Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha, Baroda, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh, and will begin their campaign against Delhi on September 24.Vidarbha Squad: Wasim Jaffer (captain), R. Sanjay, Atharva Taide, Ganesh Satish, Rushabh Rathod, Apoorva Wankhede, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Akshay Wadkar (wicketkeeper), Akshay Wakhare, Akshay Karnewar, Aditya Sarvate, Umesh Yadav, Yash Thakur, Darshan Nalkande, Shrikant Wagh.Tamil NaduOpening batsman C Hari Nishanth and left-arm spinner M Siddharth have been named in Tamil Nadu’s Vijay Hazare Trophy squad, which will be led by Dinesh Karthik. While R Ashwin, who was named in the probables squad, has been ruled out due to international commitments, M Vijay, who is currently playing in the county championships for Somerset, will join the team after the first two matches.Allrounder Vijay Shankar, who is recovering from a finger injury, has been included in the 16-member squad but a call on his selection will only be taken before the side’s opening game against Rajasthan on September 24. M Shahrukh Khan has been named M Vijay’s replacement for the first two matches.Hari Nishanth made his T20 debut for Tamil Nadu in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy earlier this year, and has represented the Dindigul Dragons in the Tamil Nadu Premier League. He finished among the top run scorers in the tournament this year with 322 runs in 10 matches. Siddharth played for champions Chennai Super Gillies this season, where he picked five wickets in eight games.Squad: Dinesh Karthik (capt), Vijay Shankar (vice-capt), Abhinav Mukund, M Vijay, Baba Aparajith, M Ashwin, Washington Sundar, R Sai Kishore, N Jagadeesan, T Natarajan, K Vignesh, M Mohammed, M Siddharth, Abhishek Tanwar, C Hari Nishaanth, J Kousik. Reserve: M Shahrukh KhanArunachal PradeshFormer India pace bowler Sanjeev Sharma has been appointed coach of the Arunachal Pradesh team for the upcoming domestic season. Sanjeev had been coach of the Sikkim team last season and has coached Delhi in the past.According to , the Arunachal Pradesh Cricket Association had initially decided to give an extension to Gursharan Singh, who coached them last season. However, Gursharan was recently named coach of Uttarakhand.”We apprised the BCCI about the issue and sought its help in getting a replacement. There is not much time in hand and we are glad to welcome Sharma on board,” ACA secretary, Kabak Geda, told .Arunachal will be hoping to improve on their performance from the debut season. They were winless in the Ranji Trophy, won two games in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and one in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament.Under Sanjeev’s tenure, Sikkim went winless in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy but performed better in the Ranji Trophy, securing four wins in eight matches in the plate group.Uttar Pradesh
Former India spinner Sunil Joshi has been appointed coach of the Uttar Pradesh Ranji Trophy team for one year, according to . He is set to join the training camp on September 20 before the Vijay Hazare Trophy, which is scheduled to begin on September 24Joshi, who served as Bangladesh’s spin-bowling coach till the World Cup, had applied for the position of India’s bowling coach but was not shortlisted.”We have appointed Sunil Joshi as coach of our team for one year. He will join the camp before the Vijay Hazare Trophy,” Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association secretary Yudhvir Singh told .Former Karnataka fast bowler Mansur Ali Khan had coached the side last season. UP won their maiden, and only, Ranji Trophy title in 2005-06 and have been runners-up five times. They made the quarter-finals last season where they were beaten by Saurashtra.UttarakhandGursharan Singh has been named the coach of Uttarakhand for the upcoming domestic season, replacing KP Bhaskar, who has returned to take charge of the Delhi team.Gursharan, 56, who turned out for Delhi and Punjab in domestic cricket and played one Test and one ODI in 1990, is a prominent coach in Delhi, and has been involved with various state teams since 2007, when he coached Punjab. He has since worked with Assam and, more recently, Arunachal Pradesh.”I am excited to take my new job,” he was quoted as saying by the . “I know Uttarakhand has a lot of young talent and the team did well last year under Bhaskar’s guidance. The team has a wonderful captain in Unmukt [Chand, who shifted this year]. He has a good cricket brain and I am looking forward to work with him.”Last season, their maiden one in the domestic circuit, Uttarakhand topped the Plate Group of the Ranji Trophy, but then lost by an innings and 115 runs to Vidarbha, the eventual champions, in the quarter-finals. They had some decent results in the Vijay Hazare (one-day) Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali (T20) Trophy too. In the 50-over tournament, they came second in the Plate Group with seven wins and a loss, while in the T20s, they had four wins in seven matches.Delhi
The Delhi and Districts Cricket Association has re-signed former Delhi batsman KP Bhaskar as head coach of the senior team for the 2019-20 season. Bhaskar, a veteran of 95 first-class matches, helmed debutants Uttarakhand to the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals last season. Rajkumar Sharma, meanwhile, has been named the bowling coach. Sharma, an offspinning allrounder, played nine first-class matches for Delhi but is famously remembered for being Virat Kohli’s childhood coach.Bhaskar had left Delhi in controversial circumstances in 2018 after then captain Gautam Gambhir criticised him for “creating an atmosphere of uncertainty” in the dressing room. Incidentally, it was a season where they finished runners-up to Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy.With just one win in eight games, Delhi finished bottom of Group B in 2018-19 Ranji Trophy under Mithun Mahnas. They, however, finished runners-up to Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the 50-overs competition. Atul Wassan, the former India bowler, has been named the selection committee chief of the senior team.ALSO READ: ‘Exceptional work ethic’ sets new Bengal captain Easwaran apartMumbai
Earlier in the week, after months of speculation, Mumbai named Vinayak Samant, the former wicketkeeper, as head coach under controversial circumstances after Sulakshan Kulkarni alleged he wasn’t given a fair contract. Under the initial agreement, the Mumbai Cricket Association was to pay Kulkarni a fee of INR 24 lakh for the season. This was later whittled to INR 14 lakh, which Kulkarni rejected.Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu have appointed former allrounder D Vasu as their head coach, with former captain R Prasanna as his assistant. Dinesh Karthik, meanwhile, has been appointed captain for the upcoming 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy.Vasu replaced Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the former India allrounder who has moved on to a coaching role at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. Vasu scored 3001 runs and picked up 240 wickets during the course of his 15-year first-class career.ALSO READ: New Kerala captain Robin Uthappa wants to give players ‘more security’Puducherry
Former Karnataka captain R Vinay Kumar has ended his 15-year career with his home state and will instead turn out for Puducherry in a player-cum-mentor role in the 2019-20 season. Vinay will link up with his old friend J Arunkumar at Puducherry.Vinay and Arunkumar formed Karnataka’s leadership group when they won successive Ranji titles in 2013-14 and 2014-15. They also led Karnataka to the Vijay Hazare and Irani titles, establishing the side as a domestic powerhouse.Having reportedly turned down an offer from his home state Tamil Nadu and moved from Kerala, wicketkeeper-batsman Arun Karthik will join Vinay at Puducherry.Former India Under-19 captain Unmukt Chand has parted ways with Delhi after making his first-class debut for them in November 2010. Chand has now signed with Uttarakhand and will captain them in the upcoming domestic season. Meanwhile, offspin-bowling allrounder Malolan Rangarajan, who helped Uttarakhand to the knockouts in the previous season, is set to move back to his home state Tamil Nadu.Assam
Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Ajay Ratra has been appointed Assam’s coach for the 2019-20 domestic season. Ratra has had coaching stints with Punjab, Assam Under-19s and NCA in the past.Ratra, who made his international debut in 2002, played six Tests and 12 ODIs for India. His maiden Test century against West Indies in Trinidad – an unbeaten 115 – made him the fifth-youngest Indian player and the youngest wicketkeeper to score a Test hundred. He played 99 first-class matches, scoring 4029 runs at an average of 30.29, which included eight hundreds and a double-century.Other movements
Allrounder Stuart Binny and wicketkeeper-batsman CM Gautam, who were part of Karnataka’s core along with Vinay when they secured the double-treble, have also opted to move out of their home state this season. Binny will join his former Karnataka team-mate Rongsen Jonathan at Nagaland, while Gautam has switched to Goa.Among prominent coaches, Sairaj Bahutule has ended his stint with Bengal, and will coach Gujarat, while Sanath Kumar moved from Meghalaya to Baroda.

Mashrafe Mortaza likely to miss Bangladesh's ODI series in the West Indies

He is likely to remain at home to tend to his wife’s illness, which means Shakib Al Hasan will take over captaincy duties

Mohammad Isam11-Jul-2018Mashrafe Mortaza is unlikely to travel to the West Indies for the ODI series that begins on July 22, since his wife is ill. Bangladesh’s selectors, however, will wait until Friday, the day before the ODI specialists’ departure from Dhaka, to name his replacement.”Mashrafe’s involvement in the ODI series is in doubt,” chief selector Minhajul Abedin told ESPNcricinfo. “I spoke to him last night. His wife is really sick. I don’t think he will be able to go to the West Indies.”If her condition improves, however, Mashrafe could fly out, especially given the length of time remaining before the series-opener. If he stays at home, Shakib Al Hasan will take over the ODI captaincy.Shafiul Islam, meanwhile, suffered an ankle injury during Tuesday’s training session. The injury is likely to rule him out of the second Test, which begins on Thursday in Jamaica. Bangladesh’s squad only contains four fast bowlers in all, which means they will be unable to make any changes to the pace attack that featured in the innings defeat in Antigua, should they stick with three quicks.

Rudolph to retire at the end of English season

The 36-year old former South Africa opener has relinquished captaincy of Glamorgan in four-day cricket, but will continue to lead them in T20s until his retirement

Firdose Moonda24-May-2017Former South African Test opener Jacques Rudolph will retire from all forms of cricket at the end of the 2017 English season. The 36-year old has stepped down as four-day captain for Glamorgan with immediate effect, but will continue leading the T20 side until his retirement.”The time feels right to call an end to my playing career,” Rudolph said. “I have been incredibly fortunate to have enjoyed playing the game I love for the last 20 years. But at the end of this summer it will be time to focus on a new venture away from cricket and spend more time with my young family.”Rudolph, a product of the famed Afrikaans Hoer Seunskool, made his first-class debut twenty seasons ago in the 1997-98 summer. He played 48 Tests in two stints – the first 35 came between 2003 and 2006 and the remaining 13 between 2011 and 2012 – because he had signed a Kolpak deal with Yorkshire in 2007.By scoring 1000 runs or more in his first four seasons with the county, Rudolph found his way back into the South African team. But his second coming yielded only one Test century and he was dropped in November 2012. Rudolph then turned his attention to playing franchise cricket for the Titans and eventually called time on his South Africa career after the 2015-16 season.Rudolph has been with Glamorgan since 2014 and has captained them for the last two seasons. In 2017, he scored 319 runs in five first-class matches at 35.44 and 305 runs in eight one-day matches at 38.12. The T20 competition he will lead Glamorgan in begins on July 7. While Rudolph has not detailed what life after cricket holds, he has interest in a game farm with fellow South African batsman Boeta Dippenaar.With Rudolph standing down, Glamorgan have given the Championship captaincy to their 35-year-old Australian seamer Michael Hogan until the end of the season.

'Whole world had come down on me' – Stokes

Ben Stokes has spoken about the “complete devastation” he felt after the last over of the World T20 final

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Apr-2016Allrounder Ben Stokes has spoken about the “complete devastation” he felt after the last over of the World T20 final when Carlos Brathwaite had taken him for four consecutive sixes to snatch the title away from England.In the immediate aftermath of the conclusion to the final, Stokes admitted trying to block out the emotions and he said it is only since returning home that he has really reflected on what took place.The final over began with West Indies needing 19 to win and England favourites despite having struggled to 155 for 9 with the bat. But then Brathwaite swung Stokes’ first delivery over deep square leg, then connected sweetly against two full deliveries to suddenly level the scores and leave a distraught Stokes with his head in his hands.”I thought, ‘I’ve just lost the World Cup’. I couldn’t believe it,” he told the . “I didn’t know what to do. It took me so long to get back on my feet. I didn’t want to get back up. It was like the whole world had come down on me. There weren’t any good things going through my mind. It was just complete devastation.””It is probably only now really that all the emotions have started to come out about it. I couldn’t reflect on it at the time. There was just shock.”Stokes had developed his reputation as a death bowler during the tournament with important spells against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. He said he did not panic after the first ball of the last over had cleared the boundary and was still backing himself to defend 7 off 4 before being crushed by the third six.”It was not until they needed one off three that I knew the game was gone. When they needed seven I was still backing myself to get us over the line but I just couldn’t. It was amazing hitting. I just did not execute what I wanted to do.”A host of current and former players – not just from England – have come out in support of Stokes, praising his desire to be the man under pressure at the end, and he said he would not have a second thought about putting himself back in that position.”A hundred per cent. Definitely. It is something I work at a lot. Some days they go well. Some days they don’t. That was a bad day but I won’t be shying away from it. You almost want it to happen because if you nail it everyone forgets.”Stokes was at the centre of another spat with Marlon Samuels during the final – Samuels was fined 30% of his match fee for foul language – and Samuels was far from glowing about Stokes during his post-match press conference. Stokes has no issue with how events transpired and acknowledged Samuels played “a brilliant” innings.He also revealed that Brathwaite, who was fulsome in his praise of Stokes, had asked for a signed shirt.”We did not have a beer with them afterwards but Brathwaite came up to me and asked for a shirt. He is a brilliant lad. I wanted to make sure I spoke to them and say well done because I did not want people to think I was bitter. I wished them all the best. It is about respect to the opposition.”Stokes will return to action for Durham on April 24 in their County Championship match against Middlesex.