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Acting Ireland captain says bubble life leaves players feeling like they’re being “manoeuvred on a chessboard”

Matt Roller12-Jan-2022Paul Stirling has said there is “no doubt” that large numbers of players will pull out of tours and tournaments if they continue to operate in tight biosecure conditions, suggesting that Covid bubbles no longer feel like they are about “our health and safety” and instead are only in place for “financial reasons for companies, organisations and franchises”.Stirling has played overseas in the Hundred, T20 Blast, PSL, LPL and Abu Dhabi T10 in the last two years as well as touring regularly with Ireland. He contracted Covid-19 in Florida at the end of December following their T20I series, and has now joined up with the rest of Ireland’s squad – minus four Covid-positive team-mates and their interim coach David Ripley – in Jamaica ahead of Thursday’s second ODI against West Indies.With Andy Balbirnie among the positive players – along with Lorcan Tucker, Simi Singh and Ben White – Stirling will stand in as captain for the rest of the series. Speaking during his pre-match press conference on Wednesday, he said that while his introverted character meant he had coped with bubbles, there is “not too much rope left” for many players around the world.Related

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• 'Playing with Covid more challenging off the pitch than on it' – Balbirnie

• Stirling, Getkate to join Ireland squad in Jamaica after testing negative for Covid-19

• Remaining West Indies-Ireland ODIs rescheduled, T20I called off

“Will players pull out? One hundred percent,” he said. “There’s no doubt about that. I think the restrictions are now no longer as much to do with our health and safety as they are to do with making sure that competitions go ahead and financial reasons for companies, organisations, franchises and making it work from that point of view.”When that starts happening and that transition is so apparent, and you feel as a player that you’re just being manoeuvred on a chessboard, that’s I think when people are going to be pulling out, fairly swiftly. That’s probably not far away, or else rules will be broken as you go.”As a whole, we’ve done pretty well. Not that you can blame anyone else but it would seem like we’ve had our camp in a good way, our discipline was good, we were sticking to the rules which is easier said than done sometimes.”We had a pretty good record and I think whenever cases came out, we nipped it in the bud. This is the first time where it’s lingered. I don’t know any teams that have completely avoided it, so it’s maybe time to start moving on in that direction a bit quicker.”Ireland’s players are in a strict bubble in Jamaica but were not at the start of their tour in Florida, where they had to abide by Covid protocols as part of a “managed environment”. It was not enough to keep the virus out of their camp, with their ODI series against the USA abandoned at short notice after players’ family members tested positive, but Stirling denied that the decision to avoid draconian protocols had been a mistake.”I don’t think the tour would have gone ahead [in a strict bubble],” he said. “Going away over Christmas in a different country – if you’re going to propose that with a full bubble like we’re in now, who’s going to say yes to that? It could only be relaxed.”And I say relaxed: it’s being allowed outdoors, it’s eating outdoors, it’s 15 minutes in places to get your essentials. I wouldn’t say it was extremely enjoyable. It was certainly the way that we see it going forward – that as an absolute bare minimum as to what we’re allowed to do.”Everyone reacts differently to news of positive tests. Even if you’re negative, you’ve got that anxiety of ‘will it be me next?’ This just seems to be one of those ones where it feels like our turn. It is tough if you’re not used to it. You’re away from home, you’re not sure if you’re going to get home.”Hopefully this is going to ease out with time this year. I don’t think there’s too much rope left with the players with having these bubbles as we go forward. The next three-four months, an easing of these sort of protocols would be pretty high on our list.”Stirling said that he was fit to play on Thursday despite suffering from “two dodgy days” while self-isolating in Miami, and feeling like he was “in the Highlands in South Africa” while jogging at his first training session in Jamaica.”From a health point of view, I’m feeling good,” he said. “I’m glad it’s over – the people who have had it are so glad they’ve already had it because that takes you off for six months [due to natural immunity] where we can focus on cricket. We’ve got [T20 World Cup] qualifiers coming up [in Oman in February] and the last thing we want is this sort of environment where people are unsure.”Andy McBrine (concussion) and Mark Adair (foot) are both expected to be available for Thursday’s game, while Singh and White could be available for Sunday’s third ODI if cleared by medical staff.

South Africa made full use of the second new ball to rip through Sri Lanka’s last five wickets and complete a 206-run win in Port Elizabeth, an hour and 10 minutes into day five

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy30-Dec-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details5:25

Five things we learned in Port Elizabeth

Abject SL, awesome Rabada

• 9 Number of losses from 11 Tests for Sri Lanka in South Africa. They have the third-worst loss percentage in the country behind Zimbabwe and Bangladesh who are yet to win in South Africa.

• 2.5 Win-loss ratio for South Africa in 2016. They end the year as the second-most successful team after India. South Africa have won five Tests and lost two.

• 68.22 Average of Angelo Mathews in the fourth innings of Test matches. Only Bruce Mitchell, Jeffrey Stollmeyer and Don Bradman average more (min 500 runs). Mathews top-scored for Sri Lanka with 59.

• 36.6 Strike rate of Kagiso Rabada in 2016 – the best for any fast bowler this year (min:20 wickets). He also has four five-wicket hauls, which is also the most for any fast bowler in 2016.

South Africa made full use of the second new ball to rip through Sri Lanka’s last five wickets and complete a 206-run win in Port Elizabeth, an hour and 10 minutes into day five. Once Kyle Abbott broke through early to dismiss Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya de Silva, there was little Sri Lanka’s lower order could do. The margin of Sri Lanka’s defeat belied how comfortable their top-order batsmen had looked on day four, and reflected how so many of them had thrown their wickets away.Chasing 488, Sri Lanka started the final day 248 adrift with five wickets in hand and their last two recognised batsmen at the crease, one of them batting on 58. That man, Mathews, had added only one run to his score when Abbott nipped one in sharply and had a loud lbw shout upheld. Mathews had taken guard on off stump right through the Test match, and this probably played a major role in his dismissal. Jumping back and across, Mathews had to open up to access the ball that was jagging back into the stumps, and before his bat could come across to meet it, the ball had struck his retreating front pad, right in front. He reviewed more in desperation than hope.A near-replay, down to the failed review, sent de Silva on his way 3.5 overs later. Again the batsman was standing on off stump, and again was forced to play across the line. Again the review returned an umpire’s call verdict on height.In between, Abbott had also dealt Rangana Herath a blow with a sharp lifter that struck him on the bottom hand. Having strapped up his fingers, Herath lasted a further nine balls before Vernon Philander had him caught and bowled, diving across the pitch to catch it low to his left, landing painfully on his arm, after getting the ball to stop on the batsman.Kagiso Rabada got into the act next, finding away seam movement and extra bounce in the corridor to catch the shoulder of Dushmantha Chameera’s bat. The last wicket went to Keshav Maharaj, who finished with a three-wicket haul that was reward for some skillful, tight bowling while getting through 29 overs on day four. He only needed to bowl nine balls on day five, the ninth an absolute ripper, turning past the outside edge of Nuwan Pradeep’s defensive bat to knock back off stump.

Allrounder has been key to Sydney Sixers’ middle order in one of his best BBL campaigns

Andrew McGlashan29-Jan-2021Dan Christian has not shut the door on representing Australia again after hitting what he believed was career-best form for the Sydney Sixers.Christian joined the Sixers from the Melbourne Renegades, whom he had helped win the title in the 2018-19 season. Although run tallies in the BBL are skewed by the growth of the competition, his average of 36 this campaign is his second best after 2013-14. Christian’s strike rate of 186.66 is far and away his highest in any edition of the tournament and his second best for any league behind the 194.05 he struck at in the 2018-19 Mzansi Super League.Christian, 37, last played for Australia in 2017, a career that includes 19 ODIs and 16 T20Is. Having been overlooked for the expanded squads of the Covid-19 era, his time would appear to have gone; but he believes he as “a lot of cricket left in me”.Related

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“For sure, I’d still love to be playing in that Australian side,” he told reporters in Canberra. “If the opportunity arises, great. But one of the things I’ve focused on is just win games and competitions. That’s the currency for playing at the next level. If you are doing that, you will get noticed. Certainly found that in my days at Victoria when we were winning all those Sheffield Shields.”Christian has enjoyed the new challenge after changing clubs, also taking 13 wickets alongside the runs he has scored following a lean last season with the Renegades. When asked if he’d ever played better, he said: “Probably not, it’s hard to remember… particularly in the Big Bash, I’ve had similar runs of form in other competitions – particularly in England – but over here probably been my best ones.”I didn’t look at changing anything, was probably more the fresh start and confidence of being in a new group. Still feel I have a lot of cricket left in me despite being 37.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“I’ve been playing really well in England in the last few years, and the great thing about being in this Sixers side is I’m playing a very similar role – that bowling role in the middle, a bit at the death, then batting-wise coming in around 10-12th over and finishing off things. Feel that’s where I play my best cricket so nice to do that for the Sixers.”Christian will be part of the Sixers side taking on the Perth Scorchers in the Qualifier final in Canberra on Saturday with the prize being a direct route into the final on February 6.He hopes that conditions at the Manuka Oval, which will host the match due to the ongoing border restrictions impacting Sydney, are similar to when the two sides met a couple of weeks ago when Christian took 2 for 22 from his four overs to pull back a rapid Scorchers to the extent that the chase was a cruise.”Hopefully it plays pretty similar to what it did last time,” he said of the pitch at the Manuka. “Generally how we’ve played a lot of our stuff, pace off from our spinners and our medium pacers have been really successful, as long as it’s different to what they have at the Optus [Stadium in Perth] because they are brilliant on the fast, green wicket.”

Bangladesh’s limited-overs captain Mashrafe Mortaza reached out to the England players with whom, he said, a deeper bond can be developed if the October tour goes ahead

Mohammad Isam24-Aug-2016Bangladesh’s limited-overs captain Mashrafe Mortaza reached out to the England players with whom, he said, a deeper bond can be developed if the October tour goes ahead. The three-member ECB delegation, which recently completed a security assessment ahead of England’s tour to Bangladesh and India, are due to brief the one-day team on Thursday. England are scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on September 30 for two Tests and three ODIs.”I would tell all the players to come to Bangladesh,” Mashrafe said. “I can assure you that you can play cricket here wholeheartedly. You don’t have to think of anything else. It will be a competitive series. Our friendship will get deeper if we play in this series. It is not just about the game. There are a lot of things connected to this series. We are hoping that they would come here to play. From what I have heard, our security forces are giving it the highest attention. I have confidence in them since we have hosted many big tournaments in the recent past.”As a player I would urge for cricket to continue. These incidents are happening all over the world and if we postpone playing now, there will be a time when we would have to stop the game. We all have to keep our faith on the ECB team that visited recently as well as the two boards.”Last month, after the ECB said it would follow government advice on touring Bangladesh following the terror attack in Dhaka on July 1, Mashrafe had said he was hopeful of the tour going ahead. He didn’t rule out communication initiated by Bangladeshi cricketers to urge their English counterparts. He also said that England’s participation in this year’s Under-19 World Cup gave them confidence that the tour will go ahead.”If some of the players have a friendly relationship, they may knock each other. But these things are mainly dealt by the boards, on whom we have to depend upon,” he said. “I believe that the ECB is taking it very seriously, and they will be satisfied with our security plan.”England has been with us from day one and I believe they will be with us now as well. They sent their team to the U19 World Cup.”Mashrafe also said that the Bangladesh players’ body, the Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB), could still play a role in discussing player safety with their counterpart, the Professional Cricketers’ Association.”I think steps can be taken through our players association, because it does have an impact. Maybe our players’ body isn’t the strongest but I still feel that if there’s an opportunity, we can venture into that avenue too. A lot is at stake here.”

West Indies women drew level in their five-match one-day series against England, thanks to a dramatic fightback in another low-scoring contest at Trelawny Stadium

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2016West Indies 148 (Taylor 56, Hartley 4-31) beat England 110 (Dottin 4-19) by 38 runs

ScorecardDeandra Dottin sealed victory for West Indies•WICB Media/Athelstan Bellamy

West Indies women drew level in their five-match one-day series against England, thanks to a dramatic fightback in another low-scoring contest at Trelawny Stadium in Jamaica.After batting first, West Indies made 148 all out from 50 overs – one run fewer than England’s winning score at the opening fixture on the series on Saturday.England’s slow left-armer, Alex Hartley, took 4 for 31 in 10 overs to give England the upper hand, with Stafanie Taylor top-scoring with 56. In reply, England’s captain Heather Knight made 26 and Natalie Sciver 27, as England reached 107 for 4 in the 37th over.However, they then imploded in spectacular fashion, losing six wickets for three runs to collapse to 110 all out with sevenovers left unused. Deandra Dottin claimed the last four wickets for figures of 4 for 19.”Dottin came on and had a magnificent spell,” England’s Laura Marsh told the BBC. “It’s unfortunate really. We played really well for the first half but credit goes to Dottin because she’s won the game for them. We put ourselves in a brilliant position, the bowlers did a great job. We fancied chasing that score so we’re pretty disappointed.The teams now relocate to Kingston for the final three matches of the series, starting on Friday at Sabina Park.

If the short-term role goes well, there is a possibility Malinga could return for other assignments

Andrew Fidel Fernando26-Jan-2022Lasith Malinga will be the Sri Lanka men’s team’s bowling strategy coach during their five-T20I tour of Australia.According to an SLC release, Malinga will “support Sri Lanka’s bowlers” and provide “tactical insight and technical expertise to help the on-field execution of strategic plans”, which essentially means that he will function more like a consultant, than a bona-fide bowling coach.”We have some very talented young bowlers and I am very excited about the opportunity to share my experience and knowledge to help them develop,” Malinga said, following his appointment.Related

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Malinga has previous experience with such a role. In 2018, he was the Mumbai Indians bowling mentor, before he returned in 2019 as a player. In Sri Lanka, he is reputed for his unconventional approach to bowling, and his strategic thinking – attributes that are believed to have helped him become one of the island’s greatest limited-overs players.For now, this appointment is described as a short-term role, but if it goes well, there is a possibility Malinga could return for other assignments.Meanwhile, Rumesh Ratnayake will continue as Sri Lanka’s interim coach for the Australia tour, with SLC yet to appoint a permanent successor to Mickey Arthur.Earlier on Wednesday, SLC had also named a squad of 20 for the T20I series in Australia. Opener Danushka Gunathilaka was recalled for the first time since being suspended for breaching Covid-19 protocol on the tour of England last year, and Kusal Mendis, who was suspended alongside Gunathilaka, was also picked. There was no room, however, for Niroshan Dickwella, the other player whose one-year suspension was lifted earlier this month.The series will be played from February 11 to 20 in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne.

Board chief upset at not being able to dictate team decisions during series

Mohammad Isam14-Feb-2021Mominul Haque knows that winning and losing a game for Bangladesh produces two very different types of reactions. It was all very calm when Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe last year, but after West Indies blanked them 2-0 in their backyard, he knew “a lot of things won’t be in your favour and a lot of things will come out”.One of those is a public tongue-lashing from Nazmul Hassan, the BCB president, shortly after the 17-run defeat against West Indies in Dhaka. Previous captains have endured such dressing downs, in both public and private, and this was no different. Hassan slammed the captain and coach for the decisions they took, one of which was the selection of Soumya Sarkar from outside the squad, to replace the injured Shakib Al Hasan.Hassan, who often gets involved in the minutiae of running the Bangladesh team, said that Sarkar was his fourth choice.”When Shakib was injured, I had [board directors] Akram [Khan], [Khaled Mahmud] Sujon, [Ismail Haider] Mallick, [chief selector Minhajul Abedin] Nannu and [selector Habibul Bashar] Sumon in front of me,” Hassan said. “I gave them four or five options. My first choice was Mahmudullah Riyad, and then Mosaddek [Hossain], Mahedi [Hasan] and the fourth option was Soumya [Sarkar]. They [captain Haque and coach Russell Domingo] selected Soumya.”I still went ahead and personally called Mahmudullah, who told me he had back pain. Mosaddek was in Abu Dhabi. We tried, but they [Haque and Domingo] had only one choice. They didn’t mention any other names.”Haque said they needed an allrounder in place of Shakib. “Shakib ‘s absence threw off our combination. I needed a batsman who could bowl medium-pace.”I went with Soumya because he is an experienced player, and has been playing ODIs recently too. These things come up when you lose a game, and it would have been a different story if we had won.”Hassan slammed Russell Domingo and Mominul Haque for making all the decisions by themselves•AFP via Getty Images

Sarkar’s selection was just one of many topics that Hassan criticised the Bangladesh team for. He also took offence about Taijul Islam saying after the third day of the first Test that a lead of 250 was good enough on that pitch. Bangladesh, though, set West Indies a target of 395, which they chased down with three wickets in hand.”We are not going to make abrupt changes but we can’t let this happen,” Hassan said. “Definitely it is time to look into these things. Look, we can lose a Test but we cannot just declare that a 250-lead is enough to beat a visiting side.”We couldn’t defend 395, and a batsman went on to score a double-hundred on the fifth day. These are unacceptable. We bowled poorly, no doubt.”Hassan sounded ticked off by the spin strategy as well, and said the team management should have picked a second seamer for the Dhaka Test.”Since the Afghanistan Test [in 2019], all I have heard is spinning wicket. Recently our pacers did well in the domestic tournament. We have a number of pacers. But we didn’t play the pacers. We took five pacers, closed down any room for an allrounder but we played only one pacer. Why did we then take these pacers?”Hassan said that there is a detachment between the Bangladesh team and him due to their bio-secure bubble. He took exception to the fact that Haque and Domingo, the captain and coach, had taken all the team decisions during this series. Pre Covid-19 and bio bubbles, Hassan and some of the board directors typically stayed with the team management during home and away series.”The decision-makers are the captain and the coach. We are not part of it. We will seek answers from all of them, not just the captain and the coach. I must know whether they [Bangladesh’s team management] had a team meeting before today’s play. My hands are tied due to the bio-secure bubble. I am totally handicapped.”After a game, I am usually entering their dressing room at this time, or sit in their team hotel. I haven’t been able to interact with them. We only had one Zoom meeting with the full team but that’s not enough to know what’s going on. I asked Akram what the plan is. He says he doesn’t know. The selectors don’t know. We are not inside the bubble. We have to know what happened before I can tell you anything.”He called the lack of access he had “intolerable” and warned about a “message” being given to the team.”I cannot give you any more details but I want to tell you that we tried. Now we have to know what’s happening, as it is becoming intolerable. There’s however very little time since we are heading to New Zealand, and then a week after New Zealand we are going to Sri Lanka. We cannot make a lot of tumult in this short time but the message will be given.”