Essex’s gaze now turns to Taunton where Lancashire must beat Somerset to take the Division One title race into the penultimate week

ECB Reporters Network14-Sep-20171:31

County Championship Round-up: Essex on the brink of glory

Essex virtually sealed their seventh Specsavers County Championship title by completing an innings-and-56-runs victory over relegation-bound Warwickshire at Edgbaston.Trailing by 168 on first innings, the home side was bowled out for 112 to suffer their second thumping of the season at the hands of Essex who hammered them by an innings and 164 runs at Chelmsford in June.With second-placed Lancashire on the back foot against Somerset at Taunton, the title is all but Essex’s after they totalled outplayed Warwickshire. The post-match mood in the two dressing-rooms at Edgbaston could not have been contrasting – while Essex will begin the 2018 season as defending champions, Warwickshire will be in Division Two, their nine-year stay in the top flight having come to a bruising end.Warwickshire resumed on third morning on nine without loss and any hopes harboured by their supporters of seeing some rediscovered resilience from their team evaporated in minutes. Within ten overs, the Bears lurched to 25 for four.Jamie Porter removed openers Dominic Sibley, caught at first slip, and Sam Hain, lbw, in the space of nine balls. Former England pair Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell were uprooted by Sam Cook, who induced the former to play on and had the latter caught behind, inside-edging a superb delivery.Chris Woakes diverted spinner Simon Harmer’s tenth ball to leg slip and the arrival of rain just before and during the lunch interval merely delayed the procession.From 55 for 5 at lunch, Warwickshire lost another wicket before acquiring another run as Alex Mellor edged to slip off Harmer to provide the spinner’s 20th championship wicket against Warwickshire this season. Porter then meted out a pair to Keith Barker when the left-hander edged to wicketkeeper James Foster.Sam Cook celebrates one of three Essex wickets•Getty Images

Edgbaston academy product Matt Lamb showed his ability with some solid resistance for the second time in the game but, on 35 (66 balls, four fours), lofted Harmer to Dan Lawrence on the midwicket boundary.Lawrence took another fine catch, running round from gully, to remove Jeetan Patel off Cook, leaving last pair Henry Brookes and Ryan Sidebottom with 63 to find to make Essex bat again. They managed seven of them before Brookes edged Harmer to slip.

He has bowled 334.5 overs across formats in 2017, playing all four of Australia’s most recent Tests and acting head coach David Saker was not averse to the possibility of rotating him out of the XI during the limited-overs series in India

Daniel Brettig14-Sep-2017In 2013, Australia played India in an ODI series before a home Ashes encounter – same again in 2017. In 2013, Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann skipped the tour in order to prepare for the England challenge – same again in 2017. In 2013, Mitchell Johnson played a key role as the ODI spearhead before flying home early to prepare for England – Pat Cummins is in that boat in 2017.Further strengthening the case for Cummins to be spared from full duty in India is the fact that both Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc are currently recovering from injury in the hope that they will be fit to take part in a trio of Sheffield Shield matches that prelude the Ashes. Given his high pace and steep bounce, Cummins stands some chance of having the sort of impact Johnson did four years ago, provided he is well looked after. He has bowled 334.5 overs across formats in 2017, playing all four of Australia’s most recent Tests, and the IPL as well.David Saker, the assistant coach responsible for the pacemen who is deputising for Lehmann in India, did not shy away from the prospect of Cummins being rested at some point during the limited-overs series due to begin on September 17.”At this stage we’re planning for him to play all the games,” Saker said. “We’ll look at [resting him], it’s obviously been brought up between all of us. We know that his workloads are up there, but we know it’s an important series. It’s Australia v India, you don’t get any bigger than that. He’s really determined to play well over here. It’ll be game-by-game basis, we’ll play it by ear.”In discussing Hazlewood and Starc, Saker revealed there was uncertainty about exactly when the pair would be ready to play for New South Wales, with the former recuperating from a side strain while the latter is in the final stages of his own recovery from a foot problem that reared its head during the India Tests earlier this year.”We’re hoping they’ll be ready before the first Shield game or second Shield game and that will give them good preparation,” Saker said. “We’ve probably got a bit of a blessing that we’ve got three Shield games before the first Test of the Ashes and it’s probably as good a build-up as you’d want for an Ashes.”So in that sense as long as they’re ready to go by the first Test in Brisbane [on November 23] and ready to play and perform, I’ll be really happy. This time last year, we were in South Africa and it was the same thing, Hazlewood and Starc were rested for that tour. And they got through a really heavy workload in the summer, got through all the Tests. It’s not such a bad thing that they’re not here, as long as they’re ready to go for that first Test in Brisbane.”The bowlers subbing in during the ODI series in India are Nathan Coulter-Nile – himself an unused Ashes squad member in 2013-14 – and Kane Richardson. Other pace bowling options are provided by the allrounders James Faulkner and Marcus Stoinis, who are among the players in contention to occupy the No. 6 spot in the batting order during the Ashes.

Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma hit 80 apiece, putting on the highest opening partnership for India in T20Is, to carry the hosts to 202, a score they defended by 53 runs to register their first T20I win against New Zealand

The Report by Nikhil Kalro01-Nov-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:56

Dasgupta: Latham, Williamson shouldn’t have batted together

In American football, a fumble – when a player doesn’t catch or control the ball cleanly – results in loss of possession and significant momentum. A team on the charge then has to guard the opponent’s offense. Cricket’s equivalent is a drop catch. New Zealand spilled three catches of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Each of them then went on the offense to carry India to 202, a total they defended by 53 runs to register their first T20I win against New Zealand. The loss took away the No. 1 ranking from Kane Williamson and his men with Pakistan rising to occupy the top spot.Dhawan was dropped by Mitchell Santner at cover point for 8 in the second over, and Rohit by Tim Southee at long-off on 16. Both batsmen found their hitting rhythm right after their reprieves, and finished with 80 apiece. Together they added 158, the highest opening partnership for India in T20Is.Dhawan and Rohit not only have the left and right-hand combination in their favour, but also the advantage of preferring different lengths. When New Zealand’s seamers dropped short, Dhawan slashed and slapped merrily on either side of the wicket. New Zealand’s natural instinct was therefore to bowl fuller, which Rohit was waiting for with his lofted drives. It was, therefore, unsurprising that Rohit hit six fours and four sixes, and Dhawan 10 fours and two sixes.New Zealand would have had much more than 203 to chase if not for Ish Sodhi. He used his variations, the googly and the flipper, in addition to a ripping legbreak to keep with the recent trend of wristspin dominating the world. Bowling the 17th over, he fired a googly wide outside off after seeing Dhawan advancing, and had him caught behind. Two balls later, he had Hardik Pandya caught behind with a turning legbreak.New Zealand then had to contend with a wet ball and Kohli in sensational form, hitting through the line to almost any length. Southee and Trent Boult hit back of a length, but Kohli met the ball early, and let his immense bottom-hand power take the ball over midwicket. His 11-ball 26 was the kind of cameo that substantially increases margins in T20s but it could have come to an end on 8 had Martin Guptill taken the catch Kohli offered at deep midwicket.With Rohit on 80, he was given out caught behind to a wide yorker, but the third umpire was asked to check if the catch was clean. Bizarrely, Anil Chaudhary reversed the on-field call and soft signal of out, adjudicating that “bat hit the ground” without sufficient evidence. New Zealand reviewed the decision, and had it overturned. Confused expressions abounded all around the Feroz Shah Kotla.New Zealand’s confusion turned to helplessness in their reply. In the second over, Yuzvendra Chahal had a wide long-off because the ball spinning away tends to go squarer off the outside half of the bat. Guptill, though, managed to hit Chahal straight back over his head. Hardik Pandya ran around to his right, but as he realised he wasn’t going to get there, he put in a full-length dive, both feet off the air, and plucked a two-handed stunner that is every wide receiver’s dream in American football.In the fourth over, Bhuvneshwar Kumar executed a terrific yorker, quick and straight, and Munro’s inside edge could only find middle stump. When Williamson and Tom Latham decided to rebuild, instead of counter-attacking, the game was done. They fell well behind the asking rate against a potent attack.Williamson was caught behind off an attempted cut for 28. Tom Bruce and Colin de Grandhomme were both caught in the deep midwicket region off Axar Patel. Latham top-scored with 39, but it was a laboured effort before he was stumped off Chahal.Ashish Nehra’s farewell game wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t bad either. He had two tough catches dropped off his bowling, by Pandya running back from cover in the third over, and by Kohli, who couldn’t hold on to a sharp one-handed overhead catch at mid-off. He finished with 0 for 29, and a lap of honour around his home ground to culminate an 18-year career. Shreyas Iyer did not get to bat on his international debut.

A man drove into the Palam ground and tried to deliberately swerve in towards the pitch forcing the match officials to temporarily halt the game between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh

Varun Shetty in New Delhi03-Nov-2017A major security breach at the Air Force Sports Complex in Palam allowed a man, who identified himself as Girish Sharma, to drive his car onto the field of play and into the pitch during the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh Ranji game at Palam ‘A’ ground in New Delhi on Friday.The man claimed he didn’t see any security and was merely lost, despite what looked like deliberate swerves to drive over the pitch twice, completely ignoring attempts from players and umpires to stop him. A number of international players like Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma and Rishabh Pant are in action.Justice Vikramjit Sen, the administrator in charge of DDCA, said that the issue was being sorted by the Services Control Board, which is in charge of the Palam ground. “Fortunately there was no injury to any of the players. We are trying to sort the issue,” Justice Sen said. Asked if the incident will put a cloud over matches in future at the venue, Justice Sen said all points would be considered based upon the investigation.The BCCI’s anti-corruption unit (ACU) is understood to be not in charge of security during domestic tournament. However the ACU is in touch with the concerned authorities to facilitate the probe.The incident took place at 4.40pm, 20 minutes from close of play after the match officials took the half hour extension to make up for the over-rate. The match referee deemed the pitch “playable” after examining potential damage. The match will begin as scheduled on the final day at 9.15am.Uttar Pradesh, who pocketed the first innings lead, were 224 for 7, ahead by 246, when play stopped. The lost time could thwart both teams in their quest for an outright result.Delhi, who have one win in two matches so far, were denied an outright win in their tournament opener in controversial circumstances. Assam were accused of “slowing down the game” and bowling just seven out of the mandatory 15 overs in the last hour of play, leaving Delhi inches short of an outright win.With no other venue available, the fixture, which is Delhi’s home game, was shifted to the Palam ground because the Feroz Shah Kotla was engaged for the first India-New Zealand Twenty20 International on Wednesday.

The Bash Brothers finished the job but it was Brisbane Heat’s spin twins – Mitchell Swepson and Yasir Shah – who laid the platform for Melbourne Stars’ nine-wicket defeat

The Report by Alex Malcolm in Melbourne02-Jan-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe Bash Brothers – Chris Lynn and Brendon McCullum – finished the job but it was Brisbane Heat’s spin twins – Mitchell Swepson and Yasir Shah – who strangled the Melbourne Stars at the MCG, consigning them to a nine-wicket defeat.Swepson and Shah put on a legspin masterclass, taking 4 for 30 in eight overs of exceptional variety and control, having identified the MCG pitch would respond to a slightly quicker and shorter trajectory. McCullum and Lynn opened the batting for the first time this season and produced a 101-run stand in just 10.4 overs. McCullum was the only wicket to fall during Heat’s win.Thanks to the victory, the Heat vaulted into the top four on the BBL table with their third victory in five games while the Stars slumped to their third straight loss in as many appearances since the start of the season.Chris Lynn and Brendon McCullum put on a century stand•Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Spin to win
Shah opened the bowling in a bold move that paid immediate dividends. He trapped Ben Dunk in front in his second over after conceding just three runs from his first.The Heat, however, nearly let the early advantage slip. They paid dearly for three dropped catches on New Year’s Eve against the Adelaide Strikers and carried the catching form to the MCG. Cameron Gannon dropped a simple chance off Luke Wright down at third man in the second over. Then Joe Burns dropped a straightforward chance off Kevin Pietersen at cover, and McCullum feared the worst as Pietersen raced to 28 and the Stars reached 1 for 53 after seven overs. McCullum, however, then turned back to legspin. Swepson lured Wright down the track and beat him on the inside edge to have him stumped by a mile.It was how the duo bowled to Glenn Maxwell that forced the wickets of Pietersen and Marcus Stoinis. Maxwell scored five runs from his seven balls before Pietersen holed out trying to pick up the rate. Maxwell was 16 off 19 without a boundary of either spinner when Stoinis was run out trying to pinch a second run that wasn’t on. Rob Quiney was Swepson’s third scalp in his last over and the Stars were 5 for 85 with only six overs left.Maxwell’s grind
Maxwell has battled for form all through the tournament after dominating the Sheffield Shield in the lead-up. He played an innings that was most unlike him but was invaluable for his team. At one stage, he was 30 off 30 before he launched his first six. That sparked him to life. He scored 20 in nine balls to reach his first fifty of the season before miscuing a ball badly off the toe of the bat. As ugly as it was, he did enough to help lift the total above 140.One chance
Lynn was promoted to open with McCullum to try and make the most of the new ball on the unusual surface. Lynn gave John Hastings a gift-wrapped chance off the third ball of the innings from James Faulkner. It was waist high, slightly to his right on the ring at mid-off. Hastings took four bites at it before it fell to the turf. Hearts around the MCG sank immediately.Bash Brothers open up
McCullum shimmied down the track one ball later and clipped beautifully wide of mid-on for four and that was that. McCullum targeted Stars danger man Michael Beer, partnering Lynn to launch three fours and a six in his two overs in the Powerplay. Beer had previously conceded less than five an over in Powerplays this season. While Lynn took 24 balls to get his strike-rate above 100, McCullum’s hovered above 200. He hit seven fours and three sixes in a 30-ball 61 before holing out to Quiney. Lynn reached his slowest half-century in BBL cricket, off a comparatively tortoise-like 40 balls. As poorly as he hit the ball by his incredible standards, he still matched McCullum’s seven fours and three sixes and finished the job alongside Burns with 32 balls to spare.

The Australia U-19 captain played a bit of basketball and soccer in school and college, and was only convinced of cricket as a career option when he made it to the Australia Under-16 side five seasons ago

Shashank Kishore in Tauranga13-Jan-2018As Australia arrive at training ahead of their Under-19 World Cup opener against India in Mount Maunganui, a familiar stance, backlift and fidgety movements catch the eye as one gazes towards the dressing room. Jason Sangha is being filmed as he imitates Steven Smith. “Not as good as Maxi, but I’m getting there,” he laughs. Then he goes on to twirl his bat and play that whip off his hip.Back at the Australia nets, there’s energy bursting at the seams. The Under-19 group is set to play together for the first time in over two months. The entire squad, barring Will Sutherland, who missed the domestic Under-19 championships in Hobart, was rested for the bilateral series against Pakistan last month to gear up for the tournament. But Sangha couldn’t get cricket out of his mind. A couple of times, he was spotted on the road imitating a bowling action or practising a cover drive. “So much, excitement,” he says. “Indian roots. How could I not be mad about cricket?”As a 16-year old, Sangha was picked to play for Australia at the previous Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh, but the team pulled out because of security concerns. Now, he’s been given the additional responsibility of also being captain.”For a young guy, it was a new experience. It was the first major thing I’d accomplished in my cricket career, something I’ve cherished since. For me, it was difficult. I would’ve loved to be in Bangladesh, but I knew I had another World Cup coming up,” Sangha says of the disappointment from 2016. “Most of the guys were quite emotional about it, they knew how much it meant to actually not play that World Cup. From there, I had the extra desire and hunger to be a part of this World Cup.”Sangha has already led Australia Under-19s in a bilateral series against Sri Lanka at home in April. He made news in November when he became the youngest first-class centurion in the country since Ricky Ponting in 1992-93. It was a pre-Ashes warm-up fixture and Sangha was facing an attack that included Chris Woakes, Craig Overton and Moeen Ali. He held firm to bring up a superb century, one he says gave him oodles of belief.”It was still quite a competitive game, they wanted to win but so did we,” he says. “It was a great experience. You don’t really get to play those oppositions that often. Especially as a young kid it’s awesome to get the opportunity to play against an international attack. To get that hundred against England absolutely meant the world to me, a lot of preparation went into that. I’m just glad it happened.”His form leading into the game helped too. Playing for the Randwick Petersham Cricket Club in Sydney, which gave David Warner and Usman Khawaja to Australia, he smashed two big hundreds in the New South Wales Premier Cup. He looks back on these knocks fondly and though he is happy with where his game is at, he is eager for more success.”For me, I don’t feel I’m there in cricket yet,” he says when asked about having to choose between cricket and university. “Obviously signing with the New South Wales and Sydney Thunder is good, but I always think I can always get better. So I feel I still haven’t quite made it yet into where I want to be in cricket. The Under-19 World Cup is obviously a massive pathway for me to showcase my skills for the future.”Jason Sangha celebrates his century•AFP

Sangha loved netting three-pointers and slam dunks as he grew up. He also played a bit of soccer, but was only convinced of cricket as a career option when he made it to the Australia Under-16 side five seasons ago. “That was probably my first major milestone and that’s when I thought I’ll try and pursue cricket a fair bit,” he says. “The best thing about Australia is that there are so many different sports that we play.”I’m one to always love playing not just cricket, but also basketball, baseball and soccer. Those sports are some which everyone in Australia love. You see someone like Will Sutherland, he was pretty much giving it in his AFL career and ended up choosing the right one, which is cricket. So it’s good for us. That’s the best thing about our team as well, we have guys who not just love cricket but also other sports as well. We’re lucky to be in a country like Australia, where you can pursue a career in whichever direction you want to go.”Sangha and co have come through the system that has carefully been streamlined by Greg Chappell, who heads Cricket Australia’s national talent management wing, and are now under the care of two players who were, only four years ago, celebrating a 5-0 Ashes triumph.”We have someone like Ryan Harris [head coach] and Chris Rogers [batting coach] who just came out of the Australian system and they know what it’s like to be an Australian cricketer, the messages they have been taking from the actual Australian team, they’ve tried to implement here,” Sangha says. “In these competitions sometimes you can get too confused. When you’re in high pressure moments, you need to have a bit of clarity. In those high pressure moments, need to be a bit relaxed and have a simple mindset. That’s where they have helped.”Australia’s route to the Under-19 World Cup has taken shape over a two-year period in which the selectors have persisted with a core group that they identified at Under-15 level. “It hasn’t been a six-month planning. It’s honestly been for about two-three years, knowing this batch of age-group cricketers was going to be ready for the World Cup in 2018,” Sangha says. “It started with the Under-15s tournament. It’s been about consistent training, having a squad going to the NCC up in Brisbane and train there during the winters and the season. It’s honestly been a long process, but I believe this is the best squad we’ve got and I’m confident we can go all the way.”

The offspinner claimed three wickets while the opener smashed a 23-ball fifty to put the Melbourne Stars out of contention for the semi-finals

The Report by Daniel Brettig16-Jan-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsNathan Lyon and Nic Maddinson led Sydney Sixers to a hiding of Melbourne Stars at the MCG, easing them a game clear in the battle of the two lowest-ranked teams in the Big Bash League. On a pitch that offered something for pacemen and spin bowlers alike, Lyon’s spell ensured that the Stars were never able to gather any momentum.

Fastest fifties in terms of balls in BBL 2017-18

• Nic Maddinson 23

• Ashton Turner 23

• Shane Watson 25

• Marcus Stoinis 26

• Ashton Turner 27

• Mohammad Nabi 27

• Joe Burns 27

• Brendon McCullum 27

• Kevin Pietersen 28

• D’Arcy Short 29

• Sam Billings 29

• Jos Buttler 29

• Travis Head 30

The pursuit was then driven by Maddinson’s unbridled aggression, ably supported by Daniel Hughes. Having gone six matches without a win, the Sixers now have two from two – too late to make the semi-finals, but indicative of their ability to do some damage to better-placed teams in the run towards the pointy end of the tournament. The Stars’ defeat also formally eliminated them from contention, meaning they will miss the semi-finals for the first time in the club’s history.Lyon’s short-form audition
On Sunday night, Australia moved into white-ball mode without Nathan Lyon as part of their team, as has been the case for the vast majority of his international career. After Adam Zampa and Travis Head bowled 10.5 overs for 78 runs and no wickets between them, Lyon had a chance at the MCG to remind a few observers of his potential value in the shorter forms, and did so from his first over – the last of the Stars’ Powerplay.Starting from around the wicket, his first ball was levered to the fine-leg boundary by Kevin Pietersen, and in response Lyon’s second ball was quicker and shorter. Pietersen picked up the length quickly and swivelled into an instinctive pull shot, but skewed it squarer than intended. This after Lyon had brought long-on up, resulting in a simple catch at deep midwicket. Next ball Lyon found sharp spin and bounce to catch the edge of Ben Dunk’s bat, well held by Peter Nevill, before Pete Handscomb also failed to control a lofted stroke, hitting straight when he tried to go squarer to be taken at long-on. Lyon finished with 3 for 18, the sort of analysis worthy of Rashid Khan.Maxwell in a pitched battle
Coming out to bat at No. 4, Glenn Maxwell found variation in pace and bounce from virtually his first ball, delivered by Carols Brathwaite, and edged his third past the stumps to get off the mark. A fuller delivery sailed over long-off for an imperious six, before the next was edged loosely to the third-man boundary. After a pair of quieter overs, Maxwell launched again, knocking Sean Abbott for a pair of sixes over fine leg and long-off before attempting to upper cut a slower ball and edging through to Nevill.If a mixed bag, Maxwell’s was by a distance the swiftest of the Stars’ stuttering innings. He hit 28 off 16 balls at a strike-rate of 175. By contrast, James Faulkner battled to the same score from 30 deliveries in his efforts to set some sort of score for the Sixers to pursue. The slow scoring was, in Maxwell’s opinion, the result of an MCG surface that offered too much to bowlers. Speaking to Ten after his dismissal, he indicated the view that the ground staff was compensating for the lifeless Test wicket, and seemed none too happy about it.Taking control of the chase
While not exactly outstanding in a struggling team, Nic Maddinson’s BBL this season has been appreciably better than his overall T20 record with the bat. With a clear mind and strong attacking intent, he went about improving that ledger even further while hammering the Stars all over the MCG. After a first-ball single off Daniel Worrall, he made his intentions completely clear second ball, when he launched the Stars captain John Hastings beyond wide long-on and into the crowd of 26,130 and plenty of seagulls.From there, Maddinson struck at least one boundary in every over he faced, motoring to 50 from a mere 23 balls and clattering five sixes. He was particularly harsh on 21-year-old legspinner Daniel Fallins, taking 20 runs from eight balls, while Hastings was also subject to punishment – 17 runs from 10. The sequence of consecutive overs with boundaries reached seven before he tried a pull shot at a Jackson Coleman short ball, could not cover the bounce, and was well held by a running Ben Dunk. Maddinson walked off with a strike-rate of 200 for the night, and 213 runs at a strike-rate of 128.31 in the competition.A solid supporting act
At the other end to Maddinson’s pyrotechnics, Daniel Hughes played the ideal supporting hand, rotating strike with no fewer than 15 singles on the way to an undefeated 49. Hughes likes pace on the ball, and struck a quartet of boundaries from the fast-medium of Daniel Worrall. He was less comfortable against Fallins, beaten by one sharp legbreak that underlined the turn that could be extracted from the pitch.Overall Hughes has enjoyed a decent tournament, averaging 49 with the bat and striking at 108.04 – good numbers for an opening batsman if he can be batted around. Unfortunately for Hughes he was accompanied for most of the competition by a misfiring Jason Roy, who was unable to find his best form until he switched to ODI matches for England. This night, however, Maddinson provided the requisite aggression, and Hughes excelled.

Dinesh Chandimal, who had led Sri Lanka in six limited-overs matches during the tour of Bangladesh, is likely to take charge in the T20I tri-series, also involving India and Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Feb-20183:18

The Angelo Mathews story

Angelo Mathews’ ongoing hamstring troubles have ruled him out of the Nidahas Trophy tri-nation series, which begins next week. Though nominally Sri Lanka’s limited-overs captain, he has led in only one ODI since his reinstatement in early January. Sri Lanka were led by Dinesh Chandimal in the six remaining limited-overs games on the tour of Bangladesh, and it is Chandimal again who is expected to take the reins for the T20I tri-series in Sri Lanka, also involving India and Bangladesh.There was more bad news for Sri Lanka in the approach to the tournament. Fast bowler Shehan Madushanka, who had made an impressive start to his international career in Bangladesh, has himself been ruled out by a hamstring strain he sustained in Bangladesh. Allrounder Asela Gunaratne, meanwhile, has been ruled out due to a rotator cuff strain.However, batsman Kusal Perera, who had been among the injured in Bangladesh, has played two matches for Colts Cricket Club in the ongoing domestic T20 league, and is fit enough to have been named in Sri Lanka’s provisional 20-member squad. That squad will be trimmed to 15 before the tournament begins.Mathews’ recent history of injury-layoffs does not make for encouraging reading. Since late 2016, he has missed eight out of 18 Tests, 24 of 40 ODIs, and 14 of 19 T20s. In short, he has only been available for 40% of Sri Lanka’s international fixtures. Mathews and Sri Lanka’s physios have said that this current spate of injuries is a consequence of the allrounder’s incredibly heavy workload in previous years. Mathews was one of the most active cricketers in the world between 2013 and 2016, shouldering both batting and bowling responsibilities, in addition to captaining Sri Lanka across formats.The Nidahas Trophy begins on March 6 and runs for 12 days.Sri Lanka preliminary squad: Dinesh Chandimal (capt), Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Niroshan Dickwella, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Akila Dananjaya, Amila Aponso, Asitha Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera, Dhananjaya de Silva

The CA chairman also said that former Test batsman Rick McCosker would lead the review into the culture of the Australian men’s team

Daniel Brettig06-Apr-2018David Peever, the Cricket Australia chairman, criticised former players for expressing outrage at Australia’s behaviour before the board handed down bans of up to 12 months on the captain Steven Smith, his deputy David Warner, and the young opener Cameron Bancroft, following their exposure for ball tampering in Cape Town.In audio obtained by ESPNcricinfo, Peever is heard on a teleconference call to the state associations on March 26 – the day after the Newlands Test concluded – making noises about wanting the game to be an encouragement to parents and their children, before lapsing into something more cynical about the public reaction to the events.”All of that said, though, I have been interested in the fact that I didn’t realise so many former cricketers were such angels reading the press,” Peever said, in an off-hand remark that on the audio was received with strangled laughter by others on the call.The revelation of Peever’s statement about past players took place two days before CA chose to ban Smith and Warner for 12 months, and Bancroft for nine months. Smith and Bancroft were also barred from captaincy for two years, and Warner for life. Smith and Bancroft took the lead in accepting the sanctions, before Warner also assented to them on Thursday.CA had been subject to multiple instances of former Australian players questioning the behaviour of the national team prior to the events of the Cape Town Test. Former Test allrounder Tom Veivers revealed last month that he and former captain Brian Booth had previously written to the CA chief executive James Sutherland and been rebuffed.”I would like to see James Sutherland take a tougher stance,” Veivers told . “Brian Booth and I wrote to him a couple of years ago saying this and he wrote back and said we had to realise the game has changed from our day and it is a lot tougher. I disagree. The game was tough back in our day. What has changed is the sportsmanship. Cricket Australia has to do something about it.”Peever, a former Rio Tinto executive, who joined the CA Board in 2012 and succeeded Wally Edwards as chairman in 2015, has long been evasive of speaking publicly. Before his press conference on Friday, where he named former Test batsman Rick McCosker to chair a cultural review of the game, Peever had previously made himself available for questions at the CA AGM last October, following acrimonious MoU negotiations with the Australian Cricketers Association.”I think we’re all going to come under the microscope in terms of what is occurring back in the organisation that might have contributed to this,” Peever told reporters in Brisbane. “But I can tell you this, circumstances like this are not the time for witch- hunts.”I know people in these circumstances call for everybody to be sacked. Clearly, that isn’t going to solve any problems. What we must do now is work on the issues that we have and we take responsibility for fixing them and making them better.”This week, it was revealed by that Peever had rounded on the in correspondence with the executive Armando Nunez, after CA rejected a joint broadcast rights bid by Ten and Nine as “non-compliant”. Peever described local management of Ten as “bottom feeders” to Nunez.”Unfortunately, your team has completely messed this up,” Peever said in the email to Nunez. “I expected much more, given our discussions and the unique position we were affording 10. Frankly, the tactics are appalling on a number of levels.” He then added that “I feel they [Ten] are not prepared to challenge their operating model to be anything other than bottom feeders in this market.”The ball-tampering scandal has resulted in the withdrawal of CA’s Test naming rights sponsor Magellan, while coinciding with decision to sign a five-year, A$300 million deal to cover tennis over summer, having been the major broadcaster of cricket in Australia for more than 40 years.

Derbyshire survived a late assault from Tom Wells to go top of the Royal London One-Day Cup North Group with a five-run victory

ECB Reporters Network25-May-2018
ScorecardDerbyshire survived a late assault from Tom Wells to go top of the Royal London One-Day Cup North Group with a five-run victory at Derby over Leicestershire who axed captain Michael Carberry before the game.In a match reduced to 33 overs by rain, Billy Godleman top scored with a run a ball 64 and Gary Wilson made 49 out of 211 for 9 with Indian fast bowler Varun Aaron taking 4 for 31.The Foxes looked down and out as Luis Reece claimed 3 for 37 and Matt Critchley 3 for 35 and although Wells hit an unbeaten 49 from 28 balls, they came up short on 206 for 7.Leicestershire announced before the game Carberry had been relieved of the captaincy following a “review” by head coach Paul Nixon and his replacement Paul Horton decided to bowl first when play got underway at 2pm.Despite the murky conditions, Derbyshire’s openers had no trouble sighting the white ball with Ben Slater pulling Gavin Griffiths for consecutive sixes.But the seamer responded impressively by having Slater caught at short fine leg for 29 and then lured Reece into pulling a short ball to deep square leg in his next over.Wayne Madsen drove former Derbyshire spinner Callum Parkinson for six but then steered Aaron to third man before Critchley chopped Parkinson into his stumps to reduce the home side to 92 for 4 in the 15th over.But Godleman and Wilson regained the initiative by adding 71 in 11 overs before Neil Dexter had Godleman caught behind off a wild swing and Alex Hughes chipped to midwicket.Wilson was bowled making room against Aaron but Daryn Smit provided late momentum by driving Dexter for six before Aaron struck twice in the last over to leave Leicestershire needing 212.Horton and Ned Eckersley laid down a solid platform against some accurate bowling with a stand of 58 in 11 overs before Eckersley stepped away to drive Critchley’s leg spin and was caught at deep cover for 32.Even with the floodlights on, batting was not easy on a misty evening and Leicestershire were pegged back again when Horton mistimed a drive at Critchley low to point.Derbyshire were building pressure and it brought them the big wicket of Mark Cosgrove when he played across one from Reece who held a leading edge in his next over to remove Lewis Hill.Leicestershire were falling further behind the rate and although Neil Dexter drove Reece for six, he holed out at long on off Madsen before Ben Raine was bowled aiming a big swing at Reece.The innings continued to unravel with Colin Ackermann caught behind off Critchley for 41 but Wells hit Ravi Rampaul for two sixes in the last over before the experienced seamer held his nerve to see Derbyshire home.