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Aggressive approach inspired by senior team helps fuel tense final day in Brisbane

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2023England U19 314 (Singh 67, Hurst 55) and 254 (McKinney 70, Foreman 58*) beat Australia U19 268 (Singh 64, Anderson 53, Foreman 4-66) and 276 (Blackford 106, Kelly 5-69) by 24 runsBen McKinney, the England men’s Under-19s opener, said that his team had taken inspiration from Ben Stokes’ seniors after securing a first Youth Test victory in Australia since 2003.England’s 24-run victory came on a tense final day in Brisbane, as Australia – 142 for 4 overnight, chasing 301 – were bowled out for 276 with the Hampshire seamer, Dominic Kelly, claiming figures of 5 for 69.Kelly’s wickets included the crucial dismissal of Australia’s top-scorer Liam Blackford, who had reduced the deficit to 34 before he was ninth man out for 106, with McKinney himself claiming the catch that exposed the tail.”We got ahead of the game and took a good initiative, which is how we want to play in every game,” McKinney said after the match. “We took a few risks, but we always felt we could bowl them out. We were pretty confident, and then we had a great finish on the final day.”Despite the final-day tension, England had held the upper hand for much of the match. They secured a useful first-innings lead of 46, thanks to half-centuries from Harry Singh and Matthew Hurst and a four-wicket haul for Bertie Foreman, then pressed along at five runs an over in setting Australia’s target of 301.McKinney, England’s white-ball captain, set the tempo from the top of the order with 70 from 45 balls, while Foreman’s unbeaten 58 from 59 balls at No.10 helped lift the total from a dicey 172 for 8 to 254 all out.”It was quite tough early on, but the boys did well in the middle and worked hard for a good score,” McKinney said. “That first innings was the only score above 300 all match. Then we bowled them out in less than a day, which really helped us get some control. The way we went about it was pretty aggressive. We had good fields and our approach was different to what they wanted to try to do.”We’re going to follow suit from the England Men’s senior team,” he added. “We’ve got the skill level already, but this approach also helps your skills to progress because you’re not worried too much: you’re just focused on your strengths. That’s the best way to play. The last time the men’s U19s won in Australia was 2003, and maybe this approach is the difference. I think our aggressive intent definitely helped us win this Test.”England and Australia meet again in Brisbane next week for the second Test, before three ODIs and a T20I, and McKinney said the experience of the trip was already proving invaluable, ahead of a 2023 home summer in which he hopes to break into Durham’s first team.”It’s been so good,” he said. “Obviously, the main goal was to win every single game, the next match is the next big test.”It’s my first time in Australia and it’s a great place to be. But the tour is about winning. Our reaction when the last wicket fell showed that. But when we’re playing this way, it’s also helping us to socialise and get together as a team.”The main thing I’ve learned to face is the length of time you’re away from home,” he added. “I’ve never been away for 35 days before. That’s the toughest part. You’ve got to learn when to switch on and when to switch off. While you’ve got to concentrate on your game, you’ve also got to know how and when to step away. It’s about keeping your confidence level high, and all the boys are doing that so far.”England’s last Youth Test victory over Australia featured a team boasting five future international players – Ravi Bopara, Samit Patel, Luke Wright, Liam Plunkett and Tim Bresnan – who defeated their Under-19 counterparts by 14 runs in Adelaide.

His comments come in response to testimony given by ex-selector Hussein Manack on the lead-up to the Wanderers Test against England in 2015-16

Firdose Moonda05-Aug-2021AB de Villiers has denied asking for Kagiso Rabada to be dropped from the Test team at the start of Rabada’s career and said he only made inputs into selection in “the best interests of the team”. Responding to testimony given by former national selector Hussein Manack at Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) hearings, de Villiers distanced himself from decisions that Manack alleged were made along racial lines.Manack spent the bulk of his testimony discussing the well-known case of Khaya Zondo on the 2015 tour of India, where Zondo didn’t play a single game, and the role de Villiers’ played in that episode. But the Rabada case, centred around the Wanderers Test against England in 2015-16, has not been publicly aired before.”I had been to the practice the day before and a decision had to be made between playing Kyle Abbott and Hardus Viljoen,” said Manack, who was selector then. “A discussion at practice took place and they [the team management] said we must drop KG [Rabada].”I asked on what basis. Rabada was 20 years old and he hadn’t established himself as a great player but having seen him at the Lions, where he was coming through, I had seen a lot of him. He had a good enough reputation. There was a cricketing explanation that maybe the ball wasn’t coming out of his hand right. I took it back to [bowling coach] Charl Langeveldt and … Charl’s view was that he was comfortable and everybody on the selection panel was unanimous that Rabada had to play. I said our decision is that Rabada has to play. There was one more spot that had to be filled. We said between Abbott and Viljoen, you decide who you want. We don’t have a strong view either way. In the end, they went for Viljoen and they weren’t happy with the fact that we had stood our ground.”Rabada claimed his first five-for in that match, and a career-best 13 for 144 in the next Test. Viljoen did not play for South Africa again.de Villiers told ESPNcricinfo that he had not wanted Rabada dropped. “I have never wanted KG dropped from any team at any time,” he said. “The idea is ridiculous. He is one of the finest bowlers in world cricket.”Related

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Manack spoke at length about the Zondo story, which led to black players raising selection concerns in a letter to CSA at the time. “On the 2015 tour of India, David Miller was battling for form. Throughout the second and third ODI we had discussions that maybe we need to get Khaya in and do a swap. At one stage, David even opened the batting and I was surprised at that move. Maybe it was tactical but in my mind, I was suspicious of that move. In my mind, they were trying to protect David,” Manack said. “David was struggling with spin. So what they did, instead of dropping him and bringing Khaya in, moved him to the top of the order, where he would play the new ball.”Miller was short of runs in the first two ODIs and ended up with only 74 runs in five games, struggling against spinners, but he was averaging 54 and striking at 113 in ODIs for the year until that series. Zondo had scored 288 runs in 10 matches in the previous season’s domestic one-day cup, where he averaged 41.14 and was taken on tour as the back-up batter.In the final ODI of the series, tied 2-2, Manack said he was unhappy that Miller was in the XI. “I felt David Miller needed to be dropped and if Khaya was the back-up batter, we needed to play him. The coach and captain were not happy with me. We had a discussion and I got back to the selectors and said do we play Khaya or not? There was some disagreement but the majority of the decision was that we said Khaya should play.The well-known case of Khaya Zondo came up extensively in Hussein Manack’s testimony•PTI

“The captain [de Villiers] was not happy. An hour or two later I got a call from the CEO and he said he just received a call from the captain who said he is not happy with the team. I went to the CEOs room and I got the distinct impression that the captain was very unhappy to the extent that, reading between the lines, I thought there was going to be some sort of fall out if he didn’t get his team. Before that there was the incident with Vernon Philander and Abbott at the World Cup and that time the captain didn’t get his team. I got the distinct impression that the captain wanted his team. I thought he was going to pull out of the team and threaten not to play. The words were not said but that’s the impression I got.”Asked by the ombudsman, Dumisa Ntsebeza, if he thought Zondo’s exclusion was racially motivated, Manack was equivocal. “I sat with AB in the evening and I gave in. He did have some cricketing reasons, which did make sense. Some of the reasons were that we were effectively playing in a final. Do we want to play a young cricketer in a final against one of the noisiest crowds in the world?”But maybe it was racially motivated. It’s difficult to escape that view. If one were to give the captain the benefit of the doubt, maybe he has a fair argument. If I look back at the last 15 or 20 years, very often captains protect their friends and buddies. They look after one another. That does happen.”de Villiers did not deny that leaving Zondo out was his call but said he felt it was for the benefit of the team. “It is obviously difficult to pick apart selection discussions many years later, and recollections will vary. However, I can unequivocally state that my input to such discussions was always motivated only by what I considered to be best for the team, and nothing else.”CSA did conduct an inquiry into Zondo’s exclusion and found that it was “unfair because it did not conform to the CSA policy”, Norman Arendse, a former board president, told the SJN. But CSA did not go as far as to say that Zondo was excluded on the basis of race.”There were the allegations of racial discrimination but from the information that was provided to the task team, we found that there were cricketing reasons given for his inclusion and cricketing reasons given for his exclusion. It reflects on CSA too that we didn’t go the step further to find his exclusion was race-based. The task team didn’t find it necessary to make such a finding because we did find that it was unfair. As a lawyer, I was confined to the four corners of my brief, and on that we couldn’t make a finding that he was excluded because of the colour of his skin. We had a reasonable suspicion that that may well have been the case but a clear finding would not have been justified on the evidence placed before us.”In hindsight, Manack said he felt responsible for Zondo’s exclusion. “I should have stood firm. I feel I let Khaya down. If you look at it, it was the same captain who was involved in the Rabada incident. There is a bit of a pattern that has developed over the years and you will find some names have come up over and over again. In this instance, I should have stood my ground. I want to acknowledge my part in what happened to Khaya. I take responsibility for it. I regret it.Zondo went on to debut against India at Centurion three years later, and to date has played five ODIs for South Africa.

Arun Dhumal, the BCCI treasurer, indicated that everything possible will be done to resume cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff08-May-20200:54

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A senior BCCI official has said that India would be willing to undertake a two-week quarantine period in Australia later this year if it meant the tour could proceed.India are due to play four Tests and three ODIs in December and January, a visit that could cost Cricket Australia A$300 million (USD196 million approx.) if it doesn’t go ahead due to the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.However, talks are already underway between CA and the federal government about the protocols that would need to be in place to allow India to visit, and travel exemptions should borders remain restricted. Earlier this week sports minister Richard Colbeck sounded a positive note on the chances of international sport later in the year.One possible scenario is that the Indian players would be required to lock themselves down for two weeks before matches could start.”There is no choice – everyone will have to do that. You would want to resume the cricket,” Arun Singh Dhumal, the BCCI treasurer, told the Sydney Morning Herald. “Two weeks is not that long a lockdown. That would be ideal for any sportsman because when you are in quarantine for such a long period, then going to another country and having a two-week lockdown it would be a good thing to do. We’ll have to see what the norms are post this lockdown.”There has also been a suggestion that the series could be extended to five Tests, something which was already being discussed for the next cycle of the Future Tours Programme but may yet be brought forward if India are able to get to Australia. However, Dhumal indicated that extra limited-overs matches could be staged instead because of the revenue they generate.”That discussion [on five Tests] took place before the lockdown,” he said. “If there is a window available it would be up to the boards to decide whether they wanted to go for a Test match or maybe two ODIs or maybe two T20s. Given the revenue loss they will have on account of lockdown, post-lockdown they will want to have revenue and revenue most likely will come from ODIs or T20s much more than a Test match.”For any board for that matter, there has been a lot of revenue loss on account of this lockdown and Covid-19, so they would need to think about that.”Professional sport in Australia is set to resume at the end of May with the NRL and includes the Warriors team from New Zealand which has been allowed to travel across the Tasman.The first indication of how international cricket will function under Covid-19 protocols could come with the English season which the ECB hopes can start in July with plans to host six Tests against West Indies and Pakistan at a small number of bio-secure grounds.

The hosts have won all seven ODIs at the Wanderers since they started wearing pink for this fixture, and will wrap up a series win if they make it eight in a row

The Preview by Liam Brickhill26-Jan-2019

Big Picture

A see-sawing series turns celebratory as Pakistan and South Africa return to Johannesburg for the annual PinkDay ODI event at the Wanderers. This will be the eighth edition of the popular fixture, which has helped to raise nearly R 5 million (USD 370,000 approx) for various breast-cancer-awareness organisations over the past six years.and a crowd of 24,000 is expected with tickets sold out.There’s a special mood at these pink games, and the fixture has created some singular memories over the years, such as when bees (perhaps attracted to the hot pink) stopped play halfway through Sri Lanka’s innings in 2017, with all 13 players, as well as two umpires, lying facedown on the grass. Last year, the PinkDay ODI was the only one out of six in which South Africa managed to beat India, and three years ago Imran Tahir hit the winning runs in a one-wicket win over England. Most notably, of course, the PinkDay was also the occasion of AB de Villiers’ defining innings, when he smashed 16 sixes – and the record for the fastest ODI ton – during his 44-ball 149 against West Indies in 2015.Their misadventures with insect infestations at the Wanderers during this tour notwithstanding, Pakistan have all the ingredients to play their part in what should be another engaging encounter to add to the storied narrative of South Africa’s PinkDay games. The visitors have held their own during the three ODIs so far, even as controversy threatened to derail their tour after the second match.Chasing has been key to success in the series so far, with Pakistan winning the first match by five wickets before South Africa reversed the result to draw level and then pulled ahead at a soggy Centurion. The quick turnaround leaves no time for what-ifs and navel-gazing from Pakistan, but the momentum is with South Africa and given the history of the occasion, the hosts will be very hard to beat.

Form guide

South Africa WWLWL (completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan LLWWL

In the spotlight

Sarfraz Ahmed has barely left the spotlight since the second ODI, though the extra attention had more to do with his mouth than his gloves or bat. While there has been no announcement from the ICC about an official sanction for Safraz’ comments to Andile Phehlukwayo, his words have cast a shadow over the tour and on the field Sarfraz has pushed himself down the order as low as no. 8 with middling results. His actions will continue to be scrutinised, as will his returns as captain.The no. 7 position in South Africa’s XI is one of the few places in the side without a settled incumbent. Andile Phehlukwayo staked a bold claim for the position with his career-best performance in Durban, but then leaked 71 runs at Centurion. It’s a position Dwaine Pretorius might also look to fill, and behind him Chris Morris and Wiaan Mulder – both included in South Africa’s T20 squad – will also have designs on it. Another strong all-round showing from Phehlukwayo would go some way towards holding off the competition.Fakhar Zaman swivels into a pull•Getty Images

Team news

Left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks should get another chance on what has become his home ground with the Lions franchise, and if the track looks flat and hard South Africa may look to bolster their seam attack and lower order with allrounder Dwaine Pretorius, who also plays his domestic cricket here. If not, South Africa may look to swap Tabraiz Shamsi for Imran Tahir, who has a decent record at this ground with 7 wickets at 22.57, after Shamsi put in an inconsistent performance at Centurion.South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Reeza Hendricks, 4 Faf du Plessis (capt), 5 Rassie van der Dussen, 6 David Miller, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Beuran Hendricks, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi/Imran TahirSarfraz Ahmed has apologised in person to Andile Phehlukwayo for his racially-charged on-field taunt, but is yet to face any official sanction for the incident from the ICC. That issue aside, Pakistan’s selections, like South Africa’s, will be influenced by conditions. While the top order
is fairly stable, Faheem Ashraf’s seamers could put him ahead of Imad Wasim, though Imad’s handy lower-order runs at Centurion will be hard to ignore. Fakhar Zaman’s poor returns in the series could see him make way to set up Shan Masood’s ODI debut, Masood having looked in decent nick during the Tests.Pakistan: 1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Fakhar Zaman/Shan Masood, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Imad Wasim/Faheem Ashraf, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi

Pitch and conditions

Limited-overs pitches at the Wanderers tend to provide some of the best batting conditions anywhere in the country, and 400 has been breached three times in ODIs here (including twice, famously, in the same game). The last time South Africa and Pakistan met in an ODI here, South Africa racked up 343 for 5 to win by 34 runs and anything other than a belter would be something of a surprise. Don’t be surprised, though, if there’s a little rain around in the afternoon, as there often is at this time of the year on the Highveld.

Stats and trivia

• South Africa have never lost a Pink ODI.
• During the course of the third ODI, Imam ul Haq became the second-fastest player to 1000 runs in ODIs.
• Hashim Amla needs to score 89 to reach 500 runs at the Wanderers, entering the top five of the list of ODI runscorers at a ground where he is also just four runs shy of the record for most Test runs.

Quotes

“PinkDay will once again demonstrate the remarkable power of how sport can mobilise support for a cause that affects millions of people around the world.”

The current trio of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood have a more outstanding collection of fast-bowling attributes than the pace trio of 2013, according to Ryan Harris

Daniel Brettig07-Nov-2017Ryan Harris rates Australia’s Ashes pace battery of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins as superior to the trio he formed with Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle to inflict a 5-0 sweep on England in 2013-14, but believes both teams face potential trouble in the form of unsettled batting line-ups.In a judgement some may find surprising, given the older group combined for a total of 627 Test wickets, including 75 in that Ashes series alone, Harris said that this summer’s combination boasted a more outstanding collection of fast-bowling attributes than the one he was a part of, starting with Hazlewood’s greater height.”I think so. Hazlewood’s probably doing the job that I did and he’s quicker than me, and he gets more bounce,” Harris said in Adelaide when asked if the current attack was better than his own. “And you’ve got Starc who can definitely do a Johnson role, and you’ve got Cummins so you’ve probably got an extra bit of pace.”Cummins on his day, he’s fast as well. Obviously we did a good job last time but the key is going to be working as a team, as a bowling unit. That’s what we did well last time and obviously got the results.”Australia and England each enter the series with doubt swirling around their batting line-ups – for the visitors at the top of the order and the hosts in the middle order. Then there is the uncertainty around the possible participation of Ben Stokes – pending a police investigation and an ECB internal investigation – after his involvement in a fight outside a Bristol nightclub during the northern season. Harris said these issues raised the potential for a closer series than four years ago.”I think both squads are a bit unsettled, more on their batting line-ups, which I think brings them closer together,” Harris said. “I think Australia have got a pretty good idea of who they want to pick but having unsettled feelings going into that first Test – the bowling line-ups are fine – but I think they’re on even par with their batting line-ups.””[Stokes missing] it’s huge. He’s the one that if England lose wickets at the top he is the one that comes out and steadies or counter-attacks. It’s a big hole for England to be honest. I’m sure Australia will be happy he’s not here but they’d also want him here because you want to play against and win against the best. I guess time will tell whether he comes but I think it’s a big hole for them.”Joe Root’s tourists are in Adelaide preparing for a four-day floodlit fixture that will give them a first look at the conditions in which the inaugural day-night Ashes Test will be staged in early December. Harris is coaching a Cricket Australia XI that lacks bowlers of the sort of velocity expected from Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood, but he still expected the adjustment to be a challenging one for England.”The ball will probably swing early around start time, it may stop swinging in that sort of 30-45 overs and then when it gets to dusk the grass seems to stand up and it zips around,” he said. “We saw in the Shield game the other week that Starc got it to talk a bit around that time when the sun goes down.”Talking to a couple of boys they find it tough to bat around that time so that’s where we’ll try to make it as hard as we can for them. Hopefully we’re not batting around that time, that’s my plan. But they’ll have to get used to that real hard seeing time, and we’ve got some good bowlers here. We haven’t got the pace of Starc or Cummins or Hazlewood, but they’ll have to get used to it.”As for the possibility that the moving pink ball would provide an advantage for England, Harris said he saw bowling attacks as the strong suit of each team. “The bowling line-ups are world class and I think they’re going to have a big say on each Test match,” he said. “With the ball moving around, it’s been well documented that we’ve had trouble with that, but we’re in our own conditions.”But Anderson and Broad – I’m not sure about England’s third quick, probably Woakes – but those two blokes can destroy games and destroy line-ups and they’re proven good bowlers over here. Anderson’s gotten better in these conditions, it’s pacey and Broad likes
the pace.”Having met with the national coach Darren Lehmann before venturing to Adelaide, Harris said the invitational side was not planning to “bat for four days” but would endeavour to make life difficult for the tourists, while also keeping a close eye out for any information that might be useful once the Test matches start.

Moeen Ali has said that England’s batting approach in the second ODI against Bangladesh was similar to how they played before their surge in limited-overs cricket

Mohammad Isam11-Oct-2016Moeen Ali has said that England’s batting approach in the second ODI against Bangladesh was similar to how the team played before their surge over the last 18 months in limited-overs cricket. He said that the team would rather lose while playing with their new-found, aggressive method than take a step back.On Sunday, in the second ODI, their innings run rate was 4.56 per over, their third-lowest in a completed innings over the last 18 months. They also struck only 17 fours and single six, while they have had at least seven matches during this time when they struck at least 10 sixes. But a disciplined bowling effort from Bangladesh and a sluggish pitch slowed them down in the 44.4 overs.”I think the most disappointing thing was that we batted a little bit like the old England for the first time in a couple of years,” Moeen said on the eve of the series-decider in Chittagong. “That’s more disappointing, the way we lost. We would rather lose the game playing the way we played in the last two years. So hopefully tomorrow [Wednesday] we can play the way we have been batting and not just throw our wickets away. It was a decent pitch to bat on.”Since their early exit in the 2015 World Cup, England have won four of the six bilateral ODI series. Fourteen of their 48 300-plus scores have come in the 32 matches during this period. Twice they have gone past 400 runs, a score they never touched earlier, and their overall run-rate in this period, 6.27 runs per over, is the highest among all teams.Eight of their batsmen have 100-plus strike-rates, making this one of the most aggressive England limited-overs line-ups in history. Another major indicator of their batting improvement is the increase in their historic run-rate, from 4.71 to 4.78, in these 18 months.Moeen said that they were not too concerned by the sudden downturn in their batting aggression, but admitted the team needed a quick turnaround.”We just took a small step back, it wasn’t as bad as probably the way Bangladesh batted in the first game. But these things can happen when you are chasing. We didn’t play the way we can play,” he said. “We played like we played almost back in the day.”England’s practice session was also affected by the heavy rain in Chittagong. The visitors could only finish their warm-ups in the morning session on Tuesday, and most of their net session was held at the indoor facilities.”We are used to this weather. Some of the guys had a hit, some guys have gone indoors,” Moeen said. “It is more of a mental preparation. Some guys batted well last game so preparation-wise, we are fine.”Moeen said that Bangladesh probably took their foot off the pedal towards the end of the first game, which allowed the visitors a dramatic win, but he felt England had not yet played their best game in the series.”We are a different side now than we were before. I know the last game we didn’t bat well,” he said. “Bangladesh are good at home anyway, any ground at home. It just eggs us on to score big runs and win.”It’s going to be a tough game for us we know that, they should have probably won the first game they let us off a little bit. We still have our best to come.”

Left-arm spinner Rahil Shah ended with match figures of 9 for 81, helping Tamil Nadu seal a thrilling seven-run win against Baroda in Chennai

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu in Chennai03-Oct-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Rahil Shah ended with match figures of 9 for 81•Sivaraman Kitta

With the ball ripping and spitting from a length on a Chennai minefield, any target in the fourth innings was going to be a difficult task. Baroda’s left-arm spinner Bharghav Bhatt’s match haul of 10 wickets had helped his team edge ahead at stumps on the second day, but it was Rahil Shah’s nine wickets which tipped a see-sawing thriller Tamil Nadu’s way. Seconds after the No.11 Sagar Mangalorkar was snaffled by Rahil, the spinner was mobbed by his team-mates in a raucous celebration.

Tamil Nadu captain Abhinav Mukund on…

The rank turner and the last-gasp finish
“It wasn’t an easy wicket to bat. Even though there was a partnership of 10-13 runs, we knew it would be hard for a new batsman. We always knew it was a matter of just one wicket. We got a lucky strike, hitting the gloves of Dinesh and carrying to Bharath [slip]. Pinal Shah – that was an important wicket. The bowlers kept believing.”
The key moment of the match
“Yusuf Pathan’s wicket was the turning point. His 41 in the first innings gave them momentum and he also started rotating the strike, which was more dangerous on wickets like this. There was a big plan. It was important we learned from the mistakes in the first innings. We put our best fielders there [deep midwicket and long-on]. Instinctively, I thought the batsman would predetermine his shot to mid-wicket. I wanted to prevent that as that was his only option. I removed silly point and it worked.”
Playing his 100th first-class game
“Not a memorable [milestone] for me personally as I got a pair, but an excellent one for the team and I’m happy. I thought we bowled brilliantly and fielded really well”

While Rahil punched the early holes and wrapped up the innings, Malolan Rangarajan and DT Chandrasekar took care of the middle order. Baroda had more than a whiff of a chance when Deepak Hooda and Hardik Pandya took the attack to the hosts in a 33-run partnership, but Tamil Nadu held their nerve to open their Ranji campaign with a victory.Rahil opened the bowling and found success in his second over of the day when he dismissed Hitesh Solanki for 7. Two balls later, he roared again after having Aditya Waghmode caught at slip for nought but it was nipped in the bud, with replays showing that Rahil’s foot was on the line. Waghmode added only six before he was snapped up smartly by Baba Aparajith, who gave the Baroda captain a mini send-off.Malolan followed that strike with the wickets of Kedar Devdhar and Yusuf Pathan, as Baroda were reduced to 50 for 4 in 17.2 overs. There were only about 10 people in the stands at the start of the second session, after the first was washed out by a persistent drizzle, but once Malolan zipped away, the crowd started slowly building up.Tamil Nadu’s captain Abhinav Mukund identified Yusuf’s wicket as the crucial one after the match and also admitted that it was a plan to place a fielder at deep midwicket. Yusuf had slugged two sixes off Malolan in the first innings and had consistently targeted the leg-side gaps. In the second dig, Yusuf swiped at a ball that was not full enough, and holed out to deep midwicket for 5.Deepak Hooda, who had walked in with his side still 72 runs away from the target, began positively with back-to-back fours. The fourth ball he faced was laced inside out over the covers but it was the powerful reverse-sweep over backward point that stood out. He continued to be positive with his score at various points reading: 14 off 4, 24 off 9, and 30 off 14.Hardik Pandya then fed off Hooda’s approach and pinged Chandrasekar for a six down the ground. Chandrasekar, however, held one back in the next over and had Pandya nicking behind for a run-a-ball 17. Four overs later, Chandrasekar, wary of Hooda tripping down the wicket, shortened his length and hoodwinked the batsman.With a close finish looming, Tamil Nadu remained calm, but they also enjoyed some good fortune. Pinal Shah, who was sharp behind the stumps, edged one behind, and the ball ricocheted off Dinesh Karthik’s gloves and settled into the hands of Bharath Shankar. Murtuja Vahora was then given out leg before despite signs of an inside snick.The close-in catchers also showed good composure, as Rahil wiped off the tail with four wickets in two overs, which culminated in a seven-run win.

Sinhalese Sports Club and Tamil Union remained atop the Group B table after round four of the Premier League, while Moors Sports Club leapt to the top of Group A with a big win over Burgher Recreation club

Andrew Fidel Fernando26-Feb-2013Sinhalese Sports Club and Tamil Union remained atop the Group B table after round four of the Premier League, while Moors Sports Club leapt to the top of Group A with a big win over Burgher Recreation club. Round four yielded nine outright results and four innings victories across the ten matches.Thilan Samaraweera was named in Sri Lanka’s Test squad as a replacement for the injured Mahela Jayawardene, but he suffered an injury himself during SSC’s innings and 42-run victory over Navy Sports Club at SSC. Samaraweera had earnt his place in the national side after an emphatic start to the first-class season, and his form brought him a third ton in four matches, as he helped SSC to a 338-run first-innings lead. He twisted his knee while at the crease however, and was forced to retire hurt on 118. The injury is not expected to rule him out for the first Test in Galle, and the selectors are not expected to name a replacement for him in the squad. Wicketkeeper-batsman Kaushal Silva also made a hundred in SSC’s only innings, after Sachithra Senanayake had collected his second five-wicket haul of the season, to reduce navy to 163 all out.Badureliya Sports Club surprised a top club for the second time in the season when they secured a sizeable first-innings lead over Tamil Union at the P Sara Oval, but faded dramatically in the second innings to allow the hosts a reprieve, and a comfortable victory. Badureliya’s first innings 310 was built around 19-year-old opener Pabasara Waduge’s second hundred in his rookie first-class season, which he made against the best pace attack in the competition, on what is traditionally the most pace-friendly pitch in the league. He moved to fourth on the league’s run-scorer’s list after the innings, having made 389 runs at 55.57.Tamil Union were kept to 250, after Badureliya made 310 in the first innings, with fresh Test call-ups Kithuruwan Vithanage and Jeevan Mendis making fifties, alongside TM Sampath, but struck quickly through their pacemen to reduce the visitors to 55 for 5 in the second innings, and eventually 153 all out. Mendis picked up eight wickets in the match, raising his chances of a Test debut after already impressing with the bat, and Mahela Udawatte’s fourth innings 124 ensured Tamil Union suffered no more hiccups, as they chased down 214 to win.A big first-innings ton from Angelo Mathews set up a 236-run lead for Colts Cricket Club over Army Sports Club, who were group leaders before this match, but despite enforcing the follow-on, Colts were unable to secure victory. Mathews’ 210-ball 155 is a welcome boost for the new Sri Lanka Test captain, who has often struggled to put big scores together at Test level. Army were skittled for 151 in the first innings, but dug in after being asked to bat again, primarily through Rishan Kavinga and Asela Gunaratne, who both made hundreds. Army’s 469 all out in the third innings ate up 114 overs, and made a result impossible for Colts.Shehan Jayasuriya and Chaturanga de Silva tuned up for their match for the Emerging XI against visiting Bangladesh next weekend with two hundreds for Moors Sports Club, who brushed aside Burgher Recreation Club by an innings and 233 runs. Jayasuriya made 123 from 160, and de Silva hit 113 from 125, before left-arm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara took 12 wickets for 94 to complete the rout.Nondescripts Cricket Club’s young stars shone again as they claimed their third victory of the season, over Ports Authority Cricket Club, to retain their place at third on the Group B table. Tharindu Kaushal took another five-wicket haul, as he too prepares to play against Bangladesh in Matara, while Dinesh Chandimal made 47 and 73 in his two innings. Chamara Kapugedara also made a 79 in the 101-run win.Prasanna Jayawardene has not yet begun keeping full time for Panadura Cricket Club, but contributed a 79 to an innings win over Saracens Sports Club that was also notable for Malith Chathuranga’s 123 from No. 8. Elsewhere, Michael Vandort’s 251 – the highest score in the season so far – and a six-wicket, first-innings haul for Malinga Bandara, resulted in Ragama Cricket Club defeating Air Force Sports Club by an innings and 27 runs.Slow-bowling allrounder Sachith Pathirana took 11 wickets for 206 and made a 32-ball 62 for Chilaw Marians, in their match against Colombo Cricket Club, but still could not prevent his team from slipping to their third defeat in the season, and Suraj Randiv’s 6 for 69 in the second innings helped Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club dismiss Lankan Cricket Club 93 runs short of their target, as he attempts to hold off Kaushal and both Ajantha and Jeevan Mendis for the second spinner’s position in the national side.

Shaun Marsh has reflected on a horrific Test summer, admitting that by the time of the final match in Adelaide he was “almost a walking wicket”

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Feb-2012Shaun Marsh has reflected on a horrific Test summer as he begins his batting rehabilitation in the Sheffield Shield, admitting that by the time of the final match in Adelaide he was “almost a walking wicket”.Marsh is taking the field for Western Australia against Queensland at the Gabba this week, intent on regaining the form and confidence that drained so completely from his batting against India. He has acknowledged that the selectors’ call to send him back to his state, far from the madding crowd, was the right one.”I would love to be playing for Australia but it is going to be good for me to get out of the spotlight and train hard for WA,” Marsh told Brisbane’s . “I am not going to go hiding in this period. You can go two ways. You can take the easy option and go hide behind a brick wall or you can go about your business and go and get some runs again.”I am at the bottom of the barrel right now but other people have been in this position and come back and had nice careers for Australia. I know if I keep doing the right things it will change.”Having begun his Test career with so much poise in Sri Lanka and South Africa, Marsh battled to overcome a back complaint and was hurried back into the team for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, where he commenced a series that would reap a meagre 17 runs in six innings.Things were never worse than the first morning in Adelaide, when he missed a straight ball from R Ashwin to be bowled. Of that moment, Marsh said: “By the time of that dismissal I was just so tentative in the middle. I was almost like a walking wicket.”So much had changed from the first innings of the Cape Town Test against South Africa in November, when Marsh held his own against Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander on a treacherous pitch in the company of his captain Michael Clarke.”I was having the time of my life,” Marsh said. “I was just starting to feel at home in Test cricket. It was fantastic. It was tough but I was loving every minute of facing two of the best bowlers in the world in [Morne] Morkel and [Dale] Steyn on a very difficult wicket.”However a blow to the groin unbalanced Marsh, and soon after he began to feel growing pain and immobility in his back, losing his wicket soon after. He made a lame duck in the second innings, and has been unable to relocate his Test match touch since.”Two balls before lunch I got hit in the groin area,” Marsh said. “I felt myself seizing up in the lunch break. Just after lunch I felt a pop in my back. It got worse and worse and I got out shortly afterwards ([or 44].”

The rescheduling of the one-day international series against the West Indies from December to late January has resulted in a loss of US$125,000 to Sri Lanka Cricket

Sa'adi Thawfeeq28-Jan-2011The rescheduling of the one-day international series against the West Indies from December to late January has resulted in a loss of US$125,000 to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). The series had to be postponed due to persistent bad weather across the island, and the number of matches was also curtailed from five to three.Ajith Jayasekera, the SLC acting CEO, stated that the board had incurred a loss of approximately US$25,000 on each of the five matches that was to be televised by their broadcast partner Ten Sports. “We couldn’t play the five matches and we didn’t get the fee per match,” Jayasekara said.”The three-match series which is due to begin on January 31 is not a planned tour according to the agreement signed with the television broadcasting company. We have obtained legal advice and they say it should be considered a separate tour. It is not in the tour program according to the contract.”Ten Sports had not planned for the postponement of the tour which occurred due to unforeseen circumstances and they were unable to meet those conditions. They also had no obligations for the current series.”In the absence of the regular broadcaster, the matches will be shown by Sri Lanka’s national television station Rupavahini but will not be broadcast to the international audience.The venues for the matches have also undergone changes with all three of them scheduled to be played at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. The first match is to be played on January 31 followed by the second and third on February 3 and 6.Originally the matches were to be played at two World Cup venues, the first at Hambantota and the second and third at the R Premadasa Stadium. “At this point of time, there is no point in us being concerned about being unable to play at the World Cup venues,” Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka captain, said.”Our mental approach has to be regardless of getting experience on the wickets, there is a World Cup to be played, and played well. So our preparation is going to be the same. We are strong enough and we have the character to deal with whatever comes our way.”The series will be played in aid of the flood victims who lost their homes, belongings and loved ones during the recent floods in the country. Proceeds of all ticket sales will go to the flood victims, according to SLC.