Billings, Crawley return to action but wish they hadn’t, as Milnes exploits dreadful pitch

David Hopps16-Jun-2021If you are going to directly clash a Glamorgan T20 Blast tie with a Wales match in the European Championship, then at least reward those who turn up with a decent pitch. Instead, the surface at Sophia Gardens was roguish and the loudest cheers of the night, which sounded from the crowd when Wales secured a 2-0 win against Turkey, suggested that many thoughts had strayed elsewhere.This was a dreadful match. Kent scrambled to 144 for 7 with a series of batters persistently mistiming shots and, upon their dismissal – the shot that mattered most – some batters, to various degrees, allowed themselves an aggrieved look. Predictably, this mediocre total proved to be of gargantuan proportions as Glamorgan made 104 with Matt Milnes working up a decent head of steam to take 5 for 22. Kent now have four wins in five and will be relieved to move on, their position in the top four of South Group strengthened.Milnes’ five wickets included three excellent top-order scalps, incuding two overseas players. David Lloyd pulled him to deep square leg and there were two return catches – Marnus Labuschagne failing to loft over the head (cue intense shot practice on the way back to the pavilion) and Colin Ingram, a little cramped on a pull shot, contriving to send it back in his direction. Even at 59 for 4, at halfway, the outcome felt predictable.To play this T20 tie on the same day as Wales’ clash with Turkey was bad enough and would have been best avoided. To begin at the same time owed something to misfortune, forced upon Glamorgan by a malfunctioning scoreboard and the recognition that the previous match had finished in bad light. But also to contest it on a two-paced pitch of unreliable bounce – a different kind of turkey – did nothing to persuade those cricket lovers, or football haters, that they had made the right decision to turn up.Matthew Maynard, Glamorgan’s coach, proferred: “It was a difficult wicket to bat on – both teams found that”, before adding: “You have to play on instinct in T20 cricket and that instinct was maybe a little bit off today.”Instinct, though, is undermined by a lack of trust, especially when modern-day players expect T20 pitches to be true. Cricket pitches are natural and variable and, allowing for interesting and valid experiments with hybrid pitches, may that always remain the case. Neither does every game has to finish 200 v 200 – good bowlers deserve the chance to succeed. But this was not a match when skilful bowlers dominated, it was just a cricketing dirge in which the bowlers – any bowler – were bound to get lucky in the end.Glamorgan are far from alone in occasionally producing indifferent surfaces: this is a general observation. The wider perspective is that the T20 Blast is struggling to assert its status in a summer when the Hundred is to be launched and every night of poor entertainment is a sword in its side. Produce these sorts of pitches when Welsh Fire is the name above the home dressing-room, and there will be a secretive ECB inquest. Call me cynical, but they’ve probably reserved the best pitches already.Kent fielded two players who had been freed from England duty – and both were ill-served by this match, as was another player of recent England vintage, Joe Denly, whose frantic innings suggested he was spooked by the whole thing.Related

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Zak Crawley, who made 15, desperately needed a chance to rebuild his belief, to restore his touch. Instead, he was part of a frenetic Kent start that, one ball after the Powerplay, saw them 37 for 3 as he mistimed a pull at a long hop from the slow left-armer Prem Sisodiya and fell at short fine leg. He might be in bad form, but he is not in that bad form.Sam Billings managed 30 from 30 balls, the top score of the night, sensibly compiled. Having been beaten by a couple of balls that bounced far more than he expected, he was bowled by Dan Douthewaite as he pulled above one that didn’t get up.Billings has netted and played head tennis in the Test bubble for the past few weeks, while loyally observing James Bracey take the gloves ahead of him. He has also had a couple of T20 matches for Kent, the side he captains, but all too rarely, and is due to join up with England’s T20I squad – also in Cardiff – at the weekend, where he also may not play.Billings is 30, at the peak of athletic prowess, holding admirable ambitions, and has had three innings all summer. What an appalling waste of his talents this is. There has to be a better way. This observation may have been made before.Billings’ two successive sixes over midwicket against Andrew Salter (had Kiran Carlson been on the rope, he might have intervened) represented the most dominant batting minute of the night in a match containing 22 boundaries in 38 overs. His first slog-sweep was imperfectly timed, so Salter tossed up another one, as if for practice.Labuschagne also took two intelligent wickets, having Jack Leaning caught at the wicket, cutting, and then tossing one up wide of off stump for Darren Stevens, who had timed a couple, to pick out deep cover.Labuschagne will probably be regarded, statistically, as failing in the Blast for the first time this season but actually his 22 was the second top-score in Glamorgan’s reply, outdone only by some late-order slogging by James Weighell after Milnes had ripped the heart out of their innings. But at least Aaron Ramsey, 3,000 miles away in the Baku Olympic Stadium, made the night worthwhile for the hosts.

The leading wicket-taker in the competition’s history joins Hobart Hurricanes

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jul-2021Two of the WBBL’s leading spinners have moved teams ahead of the 2021-22 season. Molly Strano, the top wicket-taker in the tournament’s history, has left Melbourne Renegades to join Hobart Hurricanes and legspinner Alana King, who was a central figure in Melbourne Stars reaching last year’s final, has signed with Perth Scorchers.For both Strano and King the WBBL moves follow their interstate switches with the pair having joined Tasmania and Western Australia respectively.Offspinner Strano, who was part of the Australia’s T20 World Cup squad last year, is the only bowler with over hundred wickets in the WBBL (104 at 18.74).”I made my decision to come to the Tigers a while ago now, but when it came to deciding where I was going to play my WBBL cricket it was something I had to think long and hard about, and was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make,” she said.”Moving down to Tassie was a big decision for me, so I decided to embrace the move wholeheartedly, and play for both Tasmanian teams. I’m looking forward to throwing myself in the deep end and learn what I can from this new environment, and I’m really excited for this next chapter of my cricketing career.”Meanwhile, King will now be playing for the side she had a huge role in putting out of last year’s WBBL in the semi-finals where she claimed 3 for 16 in the semi-final – taking out the powerhouse top three of Sophie Devine, Beth Mooney and Amy Jones – while she also showed her power with the bat down the order striking at 187.87 during the season.”Last season we saw first-hand the influence she can have on a match, her wrist spin can change a game while her power with the bat can swing momentum at the end of an innings too,” Scorchers head coach Shelley Nitschke said.The Scorchers also confirmed that Devine, who has been player of the tournament in the last two seasons, will return to the club. It gives them a very strong-looking top order alongside Mooney and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu.

He hopes for more opportunity with the ball during the five-match T20I series in Bangladesh

Andrew McGlashan01-Aug-2021Ashton Turner hopes a return to the bowling crease will boost his chances of being part of Australia’s T20 World Cup squad.Turner has undergone multiple shoulder operations during his career, the most recent two years ago, and has rarely been seen with the ball. However, across the last two ODIs in West Indies he sent down 14 overs, claiming two wickets and impressing with his control.It was the most he had bowled since the end of 2016-17 Australian domestic season when he delivered 41 overs in a Sheffield Shield match against New South Wales.He now hopes for more opportunity with the ball during the five-match T20I series in Bangladesh, starting on Tuesday, which is a final chance to impress the selectors before the World Cup squad is named.”Bowling is something I’ve always loved and unfortunately due to my shoulder injuries I haven’t been able to contribute much in games,” he said. “It’s been almost two years since my last operation, so I feel as good about my bowling as I have in a long time.”Although I haven’t been able to bowl a lot in games, behind the scenes I’ve been working a lot at training and it’s nice in conditions that suited spin bowling and to be another option for the captain. Hoping that my bowling workloads can increase from here.”Don’t think I’ve bowled eight overs in a game for more than four years…no doubt that will take some time. Feel like I’ve done everything I can over the recent periods and I’m starting to enjoy it as much as I used to.”Having a second string could be a deciding factor in selection although Turner’s primary job will remain with the bat. He is seen as one of the players who could be Australia’s finisher but he only played twice in the recent T20I series against the West Indies. His best innings came in the first ODI when he made 49 while the performance that put him on the map internationally was his 84 off 43 balls against India in Mohali in 2019.To date, he has made 87 runs from 89 balls across nine T20I innings. The 22 balls he faced in the third ODI in St Lucia is the most he has managed in a single game, in a position where the demands are often for instant results very quickly, but he believes his role in domestic cricket for Perth Scorchers stands him in good stead.Ashton Turner bowled 14 overs across two ODIs against West Indies•AFP

“There’s no secret until you’ve been able to walk out in high-pressure situations and perform, training can’t replicate that pressure,” he said. “I’m fortunate that for a number of years now I’ve been able to experience some close games in the middle order and try to finish innings. With that experience, comes confidence and that’s not something that can be found at training.”In the West Indies, he also took the chance to pick the brains of Andre Russell who is a master of the closing overs and has also lent on the recalled Dan Christian in the Australian dressing room.'[Speaking to] Andre Russell on the back of the West Indies tour, being able to get some insights from him about how he goes about his game. He’s probably the best in the world at the moment at finishing innings and he’s another one playing T20 cricket only,” Turner said. “The message coming from Andre is that he’s trying to replicate the situations he has in games and challenge him as much as possible.”Dan Christian is someone I’ve played a lot of cricket with but not necessarily spent a lot of time in the same dressing. So I have spoken to him about his transition from playing all formats of the game to now plying his trade as one of the best middle-order finishers in the domestic circuit. It’s interesting to see a change in his philosophy around batting and how he models his training and that’s certainly evolved over the last five years.”The five-match T20I series against Bangladesh that begins on Tuesday will be played across seven days in Dhaka. Australia are expected to be captained by Matthew Wade in the absence of Aaron Finch who has returned home with a knee injury.

Captain’s classy 60 sets up nervy chase as Brave enjoy home comforts against Phoenix

Alan Gardner30-Jul-2021James Vince stroked 60 from 38 and Chris Jordan produced a late cameo with the bat as Southern Brave finally got their campaign up and running with victory under the lights at the Ageas Bowl. Liam Livingstone produced his first significant contribution of the Hundred with an unbeaten half-century and Adam Milne’s 3 for 15 had seemingly set up Birmingham Phoenix for a narrow victory – only for Tom Helm to blink first against Jordan in the final set of five.For the third game running, Brave conceded a century stand (no other men’s team has done so even once), as Livingstone and Miles Hammond lifted Phoenix from a precarious 47 for 3 after 37. Jake Lintott picked up 2 for 13 while Liam Dawson was also frugal – but neither bowled their full allocation as Brave’s big guns, Tymal Mills and Jordan, again proved expensive, Livingstone hauling Phoenix up above 150 with a boundary from the final ball of the innings.Vince led the Brave charge but Milne removed Quinton de Kock cheaply and Devon Conway suffered the rare indignity during his time in England of being made to look human, producing a scratchy 34 from 27. Conway took 21 balls to score a boundary and then had his stumps rearranged by the returning Milne, leaving 32 needed from 19.Jordan struck a vital boundary off Helm and Milne produced a late blip by delivering a wide and a no-ball in his final set, bringing the equation down to single figures. With Phoenix failing to bowl the 95th ball before the cut-off, they were made to bring an extra fielder up inside the ring – and their poor timekeeping was to prove costly, as Jordan thrashed Helm into the newly-created gap at deep square leg, before a wide and a dropped catch by Benny Howell at deep midwicket was followed by another wide as Jordan scrambled Brave over the line.Lintott provides cutting edge
Despite a much-vaunted pace attack for this competition, Brave have struggled to make an impact with the ball. Missing Jofra Archer as he continues his comeback from injury, Mills and Jordan had taken one wicket between them in Brave’s first two games; and their only wicket in the Powerplay was George Garton’s dismissal of Alex Hales at the start of Trent Rockets’ low-pressure chase of 127.Related

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Brave started much better in their first outing at home, with Garton proving difficult for the two right-handed Phoenix openers to get away during an opening “tenner”. Colin de Grandhomme sneaked through a cheap set and Mills then finally got himself on the board for the campaign when Daniel Bell-Drummond slapped to point for 9 off 10. Phoenix were 27 for 1 after 25 and although Livingstone targeted de Grandhomme, hitting him for two sixes either side of being caught off a no-ball, the introduction of Jake Lintott seemed to put Brave on top.The left-arm wristspinner, a Blast wildcard pick after his success for Birmingham Bears, claimed a wicket with his first 100-ball delivery in Cardiff earlier in the week, but was then collared by Ben Duckett. On a bigger ground, he had greater protection to toss it up, and this time he struck twice in four balls – Finn Allen stumped coming down the pitch, Moeen Ali bowled while slog-sweeping – for impressive figures of 2 for 3 from his opening ten.Livingstone, we presume
That Livingstone would prove to be the headline act for Phoenix sooner or later was no surprise, coming just a couple of weeks after he had blitzed an England record 42-ball T20I hundred. But despite a few trademark towering blows into the stands, this was an innings that was more perspiration than inspiration.Liam Livingstone powers one through the offside•Getty Images

Livingstone was reprieved on 12, when replays showed de Grandhomme had overstepped after a big top edge had settled in the hands of mid-off, and although the next ball was dumped over the ropes, he only managed to find the boundary once from his next 23 balls. He moved into the 40s with a thick top edge over the keeper, crashed Mills into the crowd next ball and then brought up his half-century with another slice over short third man.Taking the pressure off during the middle of the innings was Hammond, moved down after the first two matches to fill an unfamiliar middle-order berth. From 6 off 9 he looked increasingly fluent and briefly overtook Livingstone to be 41 off 25 – but only ended up facing four of the last 15 deliveries. He said afterwards his strategy was to “get down the other end” and let his partner go to work, but Livingstone’s struggle for timing continued, even if his 68 off 44 looked like decisive.Vince’s lone hand
The women’s match earlier in the day had produced a cakewalk of a chase for the home side, Danni Wyatt’s fireworks seeing them to a target of 141 with 18 balls to spare; consequently, both Vince and Moeen Ali had been keen to bowl first at the toss. Vince got his way and made the early running in Brave’s chase. In fact, he did the early everything – during the time he was out in the middle, he scored 60 out of 82 and all nine of his side’s boundaries.He began in circumspect fashion against Milne’s extra pace in the Powerplay, but climbed into Helm, taking his first five for three fours and a six. Howell’s second ball was lofted for a regal six over deep extra cover, while four more boundaries came from the spin of Moeen and Livingstone. But with Conway dealing almost exclusively in singles, the pressure on Brave’s captain increased – and when he top-edged a sweep off Moeen to short fine leg, they were left needing 70 off 42.It looked beyond them until Jordan joined his captain in making a stand, as Brave’s men matched the women by pulling off the highest chase in their side of the tournament so far.

Bengal eliminated in Super Over while Rajasthan, Kerala and Gujarat perish in quarter-finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2021
Super over
Ritwik Roy Chowdhury’s unbeaten 18-ball 36 went in vain for Bengal as Karnataka’s Manish Pandey effected a final-ball run out in the second quarter-final to take the game into a Super Over when the scores were level. In the Super Over, Bengal capitulated to lose their two wickets for only five runs, which Karnataka surpassed easily to secure their place in the semi-final.Chasing 161, Bengal started their innings with 20 off the first over, but slowed down as Shreevats Goswami, Abhishek Das and Sudip Chatterjee fell inside the powerplay. Writtick Chatterjee, the No. 3, then scored 51 in 40 balls, but his dismissal – along with the wickets of Kaif Ahmed and Shahbaz Ahmed – brought Karnataka back into the contest.

Semi-final line-up

• 1st semi-final: Tamil Nadu vs Hyderabad, November 20, Delhi
  2nd semi-final: Karnataka vs Vidarbha, November 20, Delhi

However, Roy Chowdhury nearly won Bengal the match when they needed 20 to win off the final over off seamer Vidyadhar Patil. Roy Chowdhury started the over with two sixes followed by a single, after which No. 9 Akash Deep hit a four and ran a double to bring the equation to one run off one ball. But, Deep was run out trying to pinch a single off the final ball courtesy Pandey’s direct hit.In the Super Over, Roy Chowdhury was stranded at the non-striker’s end, facing zero balls. Kaif was out for a duck, and Goswami was run-out for 5 while trying to pinch a second run. Pandey took just two balls to chase the target down and ended the game with a six over midwicket.That Bengal had to chase 161 was courtesy Karun Nair’s unbeaten 55 off just 29 balls. Karnataka’s scoring rate hovered around six for most of the innings, but they accelerated towards the death overs. Nair hit three sixes and four fours and the late boost was provided by Abhinav Manohar, who scored 19 off nine balls, and Aniruddha Joshi, who scored 16 off 10.Sanjay Yadav’s 32 off 22 and a nine-ball unbeaten 19 in the death from Shahrukh Khan sealed a chase of 182 for defending champions Tamil Nadu in the first quarter-final against Kerala, with three balls to spare.TN needed exactly 50 from the last five overs, and Sanjay and Shahrukh struck a combined three sixes and a four in the next three overs to bring the equation down to a more comfortable 14 off 12 and later four off the last over.Sai Sudharsan top-scored for them, hitting seven fours in his 31-ball 46, and there were handy contributions from Hari Nishaanth (32 of 22) and captain Vijay Shankar (33 off 26) as well.Although Kerala’s left-arm seamer Unnikrishnan Manukrishnan took 3 for 26, he did not find support from his team-mates.Kerala’s innings began with a 45-run opening stand between Rohan Kunnummal (51) and Mohammed Azharuddeen. Kunnummal added another 46 for the second wicket with Sachin Baby (33), but two wickets at the score of 91 off Sanjay’s left-arm spin jolted Kerala as they lost captain Sanju Samson for a duck.No. 5 Vishnu Vinod then smacked an unbeaten 65 off just 26 balls, at a strike rate of 250. In the last three overs, Kerala smashed 62 runs – featuring seven sixes and a four – to reach 181 for 4, but the late rally wasn’t enough.File photo: Former Under-19 batter Tilak Varma impressed for Hyderabad once again•ICC via Getty

After Tilak Varma cracked a 50-ball 75 to take Hyderabad to 158, their bowlers rallied to restrict Gujarat to 128 and seal a semi-final spot in the fourth quarter-final. Ravi Teja, the right-arm seamer, was Hyderabad’s standout bowler with three wickets for 27 runs while left-arm seamer Chama Milind took two wickets for 28.It was the two early wickets from Milind and Teja that rocked Gujarat’s chase. Saurav Chauhan was then run-out for 9 to leave Gujarat reeling at 33 for 3 after eight overs. Although Het Patel (25), Piyush Chawla (25) and Ripal Patel (35) contributed from the lower-middle order, the slow scoring rate in the first eight overs meant Gujarat were hardly in control of the chase.For Hyderabad, Tilak – the team’s most consistent batter this season so far – hit five fours and two sixes for a strike rate of 150. He was supported by captain and opener Tanmay Agarwal’s 21-ball 31. The death-overs fireworks were provided by Rahul Buddhi, whose unbeaten 16-ball 25 took Hyderabad past 150.Vidarbha’s well-rounded bowling attack rattled Rajasthan in the morning game and secured their semi-final spot with a comfortable nine-wicket win in the third quarter-final. Ambidextrous spinner Akshay Karnewar’s four overs for only seven runs strangled Rajasthan after they were 18 for 5 inside the powerplay.Rajasthan’s recovery was slow and they managed only 84 for 8. Thirty-nine of those came off Kamlesh Nagarkoti’s bat from No. 5, as he stayed unbeaten. Only two other Rajasthan batters – Mahipal Lomror and wicketkeeper Suraj Ahuja could score in double digits.The eight wickets that Vidarbha took were shared by every bowler, with right-arm seamer Yash Thakur taking two and the rest collecting one each. No Vidarbha bowler had an economy of more than six an over.Rajasthan gave the new ball to Ravi Bishnoi, but he had a wicketless run as Vidarbha openers Atharva Taide (40*) and Ganesh Satish (28) put on a 63-run stand. Vidarbha captain and No. 3 Akshay Wadkar and Taide then finished the game off with 31 balls to spare.

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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“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.

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.

The Richardsons – Jhye and Kane – set up victory by limiting Sri Lanka to 139 for 8

Alex Malcolm18-Feb-2022Australia’s bowlers strangled Sri Lanka with the ball before a middle-overs batting masterclass from Josh Inglis and Glenn Maxwell rescued the home side from a precarious position to post another comfortable six-wicket win at the MCG and go 4-0 up.Sri Lanka lost 6 for 12 in 19 balls in their under par innings of 8 for 139 with Ashton Agar bowling 10 dot balls to claim 1 for 14 from four, while Jhye Richardson picked up 2 for 20 on his international return.Australia slumped to 3 for 49 in the ninth over in the chase before Inglis stroked a masterful 40 off 20 and Maxwell manipulated the chase with a classy 48 not out from 39 balls to steer his side home with 11 balls to spare and claim player of the match honours.Maxwell also produced a stunning direct hit run out to remove the dangerous Kusal Mendis during Sri Lanka’s innings just as he and Pathum Nissanka were laying the visitor’s best platform of the series. Nissanka made 46 from 40 but failed to kick on. Australia managed all this without their big three fast bowlers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins who were sent home to Sydney to rest for the last two games of the series.Kusal finally arrivesNissanka had been holding up Sri Lanka’s top order in this series but finally he got some support from Mendis. He was one of the few Sri Lankan batters to show some true power-hitting intent in this series. Danushka Gunathilaka struck a powerful six down the ground but fell for a run-a-ball 17 to Ashton Agar. Mendis took a few balls to get off the mark but he opened his account with a sublime piece of timing. He then attacked Maxwell and Kane Richardson with two excellent blows down the ground. Nissanka was busy as well as the pair were intent on facing fewer dot balls in this innings after Sri Lanka absorbed 55 dots in game three in Canberra. They laid the perfect platform moving Sri Lanka to 1 for 73 after 10 with both Mendis and Nissanka well set.Maxwell missile sparks collapseWhile the running intent was admirable it brought about Mendis’ downfall. Nissanka worked a ball to the mid-on circle off Agar and Mendis pushed for two but picked the wrong fielder to take on. Maxwell swooped from the rope with a one-handed pick-up and a rocket throw to produce a direct hit that left Mendis miles short. Agar then put the squeeze on again claiming figures of 1 for 14 from four for the second straight game, including 10 dots and just 14 singles. Adam Zampa also clamped down to pressure Nissanka and Charith Asalanka. The latter cracked, skying Jhye Richardson straight up and Sri Lanka lost 6 for 12 in 19 balls at the end of the innings. The two Richardsons cashed in with two wickets apiece while there was another calamitous run out, although Kane copped some tap in the final over conceding 17. Chamika Karunaratne produced two sensational strikes. He clubbed two length balls over wide long on to leave Kane Richardson with figures of 2 for 44 from four.Glenn Maxwell made a 39-ball 48•Getty Images

Agar out of his depthAustralia trialled Agar at the top again. The theory is similar to the way Melbourne Renegades first used Sunil Narine as an opener, which was eventually adopted with great success by Kolkata Knight Riders. Andrew McDonald was coach of the Renegades at the time and Aaron Finch was captain as they are for Australia now. The idea is to lengthen the middle order and let the lesser skilled Agar bat with just two men out in the powerplay. But the mystery of Maheesh Theekshana and the express pace of Chameera Dushmantha and Lahiru Kumara tied Agar in knots. He faced 14 dots in 31 balls, including four in a row at one point, and struck just two boundaries. It was more dot balls than he bowled. His lack of scoring put pressure on Ben McDermott and Aaron Finch with both succumbing while searching for a boundary. Kumara was rewarded for an exceptional spell of express pace bowling with two wickets. Finch holed out to deep backward square and then Agar miscued to mid-on to end his tortured stay of 26 from 31 and leave Australia in a major hole at 3 for 49 in the 9th over.Ingenuity from Inglis and MaxwellIf there was any pressure built up, Inglis wasn’t feeling it and he released it immediately with a skillful array of strokeplay to take the game away from Sri Lanka. His first ball was a dot ball and then he scored off every ball he faced thereafter until he fell. He struck back-to-back boundaries off Jeffrey Vandersay including a brilliant reverse sweep. He did have a huge slice of luck in Vandersay’s next over when he lofted him to long off and Chameera took the catch but misjudged where the rope was and landed on the wrong side of it with ball still in hand.Inglis was flawless from thereon. He picked off three twos with superb placement and carved Chameera for six over wide third man. He fell trying to dab the next ball for a single and got a thin edge but his job was done. He dragged his more senior partner Maxwell with him. Maxwell didn’t find the rope with the same ease but he struck eight twos using his intimate knowledge of the MCG’s huge dimensions to his advantage. He and Marcus Stoinis struck three boundaries after the fall of Inglis to ice the game with 11 balls to spare.

Number of unsuccessful reviews increased from one to two per innings in the upcoming season

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2022Irrespective of whether the batters have crossed or not at the point of a catch being taken, the incoming batter will be on strike, except if the dismissal is on the last ball of an over, in IPL 2022. That, and the number of unsuccessful reviews going up from one – introduced in 2018 – to two per innings are among key updates to the tournament’s playing conditions, put out ahead of the upcoming season, starting March 26.Covid-19 might be perceived as a lesser threat around India at the moment than it was even a few months ago, but there remains a worry that, like was the case with Melbourne Stars and Brisbane Heat at the recent BBL, teams might have a number of players unavailable for a particular match. In that case, where a team has fewer than 12 players available – 11 on the field, of which at least seven must be Indian, and one substitute – for selection, the BCCI, “at its discretion, will attempt to reschedule the match for later in the season”. If, for whatever reason, this is not possible, the matter will be referred to the technical committee of the IPL, and the decision of the committee will be “final and binding”.Related

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Earlier, the rule was that if rescheduling the match was not possible, the franchise unable to field a team would be deemed to have lost the match, and their opponents would win full points.Also, with the number of teams increasing to ten, and the number of matches – including the playoffs – going up from 60 to 74, the BCCI has confirmed that the prize money for the franchises would be paid “based on the final standings and any increments would be adjusted and calculated based on ten teams rather than eight”.The tweak in the law of the game vis-à-vis batters crossing before a catch was taken and, the new batter going to the non-striker’s end, was changed by the MCC earlier this month, but the law comes into effect for international cricket only later this year, in October. The IPL has, however, decided to enforce it straightaway.The decision to change the law came as a result of it being trialled in the Hundred last year, as a way of further rewarding the bowler for taking a wicket.In terms of disciplinary procedures, the BCCI has said that “in the event post of Ombudsman is vacant then the Commission comprising of the members of the IPL Code of Behaviour Committee will step in to the role of Ombudsman”.

James Anderson has two second-innings wickets so far to help contain hosts’ lead

ECB Reporters Network29-Apr-2022Keith Barker claimed his second LV= Insurance County Championship five-wicket haul of the season as Hampshire and Lancashire continued their close-fought encounter.Left-arm fast bowler Barker is the equal leading wicket-taker in Division One so far this season with 20 scalps, with his 5 for 67 adding to his impressive start to the campaign.The Lancashire-born Barker helped Hampshire secure a nominal six-run first-innings advantage, with Phil Salt and Tom Bailey’s half-centuries keeping the visitors well in the match.Nick Gubbins lead Hampshire’s evening lead builder, while James Anderson added two more wickets to his career tally – with Hampshire closing on 103 for 3, the lead growing to 109.The county champions tend to be the teams who take 20 wickets the easiest each match, and therefore have the best bowling attack. This is the main reason Hampshire and Lancashire are considered to be this year’s main challengers.Anderson, Hasan Ali and Tom Bailey vs Kyle Abbott, Muhammad Abbas and Keith Barker, or in terms of first class wickets 1,547 vs 1,515, back that up. Against other attacks the par on this pitch might be close to 350, rather than 250, such has been the relentlessness of accurate and skilful fast bowling.The helpful morning conditions which had reduced Hampshire to 40 for 5 on the first morning returned to see Lancashire lose six wickets in little over an hour on day two. Nightwatchman Danny Lamb pushed forward to third slip, Josh Bohannon and Dane Vilas were undone by some extra bounce by the impressive Barker and George Balderson nicked behind having been done on the angle by Abbott.Steven Croft attempted to cut with a flourish but instead nailed into the slip cordon and Rob Jones jerked behind – Lancashire 105 for 7, with all seven being caught behind the wicket. Hampshire’s lead would have been closer to three figures had Joe Weatherley held onto misjudgements from Bailey and Salt when there were in single figures.The duo put on 94 with risk-free cricket to as the ball started to age. Bailey dominated the offside with boundaries, while Salt milked either side of the wicket with intelligent running – half-centuries coming in 70 and 68 balls respectively.The stand ended when Bailey strode forward to edge to third slip, but Hasan joined the tail-end fun to take the scores to almost parity with a smart 19 – with Barker eventually ending things by bowling a slogging Salt and having Hasan picking out long-on.First time around, Anderson was forced to wait until his 18th delivery before taking Ian Holland’s outside edge. He needed half the deliveries to persuade Weatherley to prod a wobble ball to Rob Jones’ safe hands at third slip. Holland followed soon after lbw to Hasan.James Vince and Gubbins batted their way out of another sticky situation with their glorious shot-making, putting on 58 carefree runs before the former was adjudged leg before to Anderson – a decision that left Vince seething.Gubbins, who survived a tight lbw appeal, was joined by Liam Dawson and the pair put on an unbeaten 33 under the floodlights before play finished five over short due to bad light.