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Panesar feared for England career

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Monty Panesar, the England spinner who has endured a troubled season, has welcomed the chance to resurrect his international career after being included in the Ashes squad to tour Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-2013Monty Panesar, the England spinner who has endured a troubled season, has welcomed the chance to resurrect his international career after being included in the Ashes squad to tour Australia.Panesar was released by his county, Sussex, after a drunken night out in Brighton culminated in him urinating on bouncers outside a club, and he feared he had “thrown away” his England career. However, since making his apologies to the England management and taking up various offers of help to deal with his problems, he is hopeful of making a fresh start.”I just can’t tell you how thrilled I am with the selection,” he told the . “It’s an incredible boost I needed as a cricketer and as a person, after a chapter in my life I’m ashamed of. The support I’ve had from everyone has been overwhelming and my only focus now is to repay them for their amazing faith in me.”Panesar was fined by the police for being drunk and disorderly over the nightclub incident and footage of him being taken away from a late-night fast-food outlet subsequently appeared on YouTube. Shortly afterwards, Sussex announced that he would be released from his contract at the end of the season and he agreed to join Essex on loan.”I know it looks terrible but I wasn’t as drunk as people believe,” Panesar said of the night in question, when he was out with a number of Sussex team-mates. “Yes, I’d had a lot to drink, but I wasn’t paralytic. I was asked to leave and then got caught short. The next thing I knew the bouncers were shouting at me and running after me.”I swear I didn’t see them and I had no intention of purposefully urinating on them or near them. To be honest, I barely went at all and I’m pretty sure I didn’t hit them but the next moment I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, they’re chasing me’, and I ran to the pizza place. That’s where they caught me and a local decided to film it and put it on YouTube.”The next morning I woke up and thought, ‘What have I done?’ My first reaction was that I’d just thrown my England career away, maybe even my whole cricket career. I felt very lonely and very depressed. It was a very dark time.”As well as phonecalls to Andy Flower, England’s team director, and the captain, Alastair Cook, Panesar also got back in touch with Neil Burns, the former Leicestershire and Somerset wicketkeeper who is now a professional mentor and coach. He denied that his divorce in 2011 had contributed to his problems and said that the support from his family and the Sikh community had helped him to turn things around. He has also taken up yoga and not touched alcohol in the last six weeks.”I’ve had a lot of help from people like Neil Burns, my long-time friend and mentor, who has helped me to learn to make a point of integrating far more with my new team-mates at Essex, as well as the staff and fans there. It’s really helped, as has yoga. I used to do it a bit but since the incident I do it every morning without fail. It’s helped to put me in a better place, both mentally and physically.”Panesar’s inclusion in England’s Ashes squad was subject to plenty of debate and the question of his suitability was raised again on Friday, when he was given a suspended ban by the ECB for “threatening and intimidating behaviour” in a county match. However, the 31-year-old, who is not yet certain where he will be playing next season, believes that his “passion is back” and said he is ready to perform the role of Graeme Swann’s understudy that he is so familiar with.”I wouldn’t say I was either threatening or intimidating but I will admit to becoming incredibly frustrated because I was having no luck at all, with inside edges and catches falling just short,” Panesar said. “I have to be aggressive when I bowl but it was a minor incident that I accept. The ECB and I have spoken about it and I must be mindful of my behaviour, but it’s not seen as a problem by England.”At least it shows my passion is back, I suppose. I know there’s a chance I might not get a Test match in Australia but I am determined to be eager, positive, supportive and ready if a chance comes my way. I’m hoping I can be involved in a fourth consecutive Ashes victory and I’m very confident I will be, even if it’s as a squad member.”

BCCI discards presidential rotation system

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The Indian board has done away with the zonal rotation system for electing its president, and also allowed its office bearers longer terms

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Sep-2012The Indian board has approved significant changes in the election and tenure of its president and office-bearers that could influence who gets to run cricket’s most powerful national board. The decisions, which included a tweak to the zonal rotation system for electing the president, were made during a special general meeting in Chennai on Saturday.The change to the election process of the president was originally mooted, as an informal suggestion to the board, last year by former BCCI president Shashank Manohar. It was formally put forward for discussion at the working committee meeting last month by Manohar’s successor, current BCCI president N Srinivasan.The current rule stipulates that any nominee for the president’s post should have attended at least two AGMs as a representative from the zone that nominates him. This rule has been relaxed: while the nomination remains with each zone on a rotational basis, the nominee need not be from that zone. So East Zone, whose turn it is to nominate the next president when Srinivasan steps down in 2014, could propose a candidate from any other zone if two out of the six state associations from East support that candidate.The other change was to make all BCCI office-bearers eligible for a second three-year term; at present, only the five vice-presidents can stand for a second term.BCCI officials have unofficially explained the changes as being meritocratic, picking and keeping the best people in the job rather than following a quota- and time-bound policy. It would also, officials have stressed, avoided a scenario where India has a weak representative at the ICC.The immediate concern is the 2014 election, which would be the East Zone’s turn for nomination. The zone is not perceived to have a suitable candidate for the post and the new rule would allow someone from outside the zone to take charge of the board. The current consensus candidate seems to be Arun Jaitley, the vice-president from North Zone who would otherwise have had to wait till his zone’s turn in 2017.However some officials have told ESPNcricinfo that it was not certain Jaitley would be the next president. “It could even be Manohar. He was the one who proposed it and now that the constitution for the office bearers has been changed, he could also be in fray.”And whoever wins the 2014 election could enjoy a six-year term.

We're no one-man team – Vettori

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Daniel Vettori, the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain, is not concerned that the side is becoming a one-man team

Siddarth Ravindran at the Chinnaswamy Stadium03-Oct-2011How closely are Royal Challengers Bangalore’s fortunes tied to those of Chris Gayle? Since he joined them midway through the IPL and revitalised a moribund campaign, he has made 25 or less in five matches – Royal Challengers have lost all five. His other ten games have been Royal Challengers wins and he has been Man of the Match in seven of them, and a plausible candidate for the award in one other match as well.Aren’t those numbers pointing to a one-man team? Royal Challengers’ captain Daniel Vettori wasn’t too concerned about the side’s reliance on the West Indian after yet another Gayle-inspired demolition job at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. “At least not as long as he’s scoring runs,” Vettori said with a chuckle, before striking a more serious note. “We’ve got a batting order that complements Chris and his ability to strike the ball so well. We saw guys come in today, [Tillakaratne] Dilshan took some pressure off Chris, Virat [Kohli] played very well, [Saurabh] Tiwary is starting to come into form, Mayank [Agarwal] came out and played his natural game, he looks like a sensational player.”Despite their captain’s nonchalance, Royal Challengers have reasons to worry. With AB de Villiers injured and out of the tournament, only Kohli remains as a reliable batting performer to support Gayle. Dilshan, bought for $650,000, has a couple of half-centuries though he is yet to put in a match-turning contribution after a dozen outings.Gayle’s extraordinary success has starved Tiwary of time in the middle but in the chances he has had, Tiwary hasn’t been able to replicate the form of IPL 2010, which bumped up his price tag to an astronomical $1.6m. Agarwal, 20, has sparkled briefly on several occasions but a headlining effort has eluded him while Mohammad Kaif hasn’t convinced too many people he can cut it in the Twenty20 format.Chris Gayle starred in another victory for the Royal Challengers•Associated Press

Those thoughts won’t be occupying the minds of the Royal Challengers fans who turned up on Monday, expecting more fireworks from Gayle. They were treated to a typical Gayle innings, as Somerset were flattened, in that it was a combination of vigorous hitting and lackadaisical running – his 86 has eight sixes and only two twos.It wasn’t the usual blast-from-the-start Gayle innings though. He began with a carve over cover for four but tempered his approach after a reprieve off his third ball and nearly being run out soon after. By the end of the Powerplay he was on a sedate 15 off 14 balls. “The wicket was a bit damp, the ball was doing a bit, you want to try and get set on this sort of wicket,” he said after the match. Unusual words from Gayle, especially in a Twenty20 match.Regular programming swiftly returned though as Gayle unleashed a barrage of sixes, most of them in arc from the sightscreen to long-on, propelling the Royal Challengers to the first 200-plus total of the tournament. Somerset’s armada of left-arm spinners were clueless against the onslaught, with 19-year-old George Dockrell pummelled for three sixes in an over.Somerset’s captain Alfonso Thomas said they were thrown off by Gayle’s watchfulness at the start. “Usually in the first six overs he goes all guns blazing but he kept himself back, which was not part of our our game-plan,” Thomas said after the match. “We thought he will come hard at us in the first six overs and that one of our seamers will knock him over before our spinners could come in. When he starts going, he will make sure that he is hitting all over. Well done, that’s what he is paid to do.”The latest Gayle tour de force has lifted Royal Challengers’ net run-rate so much that a win over South Australia on Wednesday is likely to be enough to take them to the semi-finals. Vettori said in preparation there would be an optional training session on Tuesday. “Some guys will train, some guys will have a pool session,” he began to explain, only to be interjected by Gayle, who said “and some guys will sleep”. If Gayle is caught napping against the Redbacks, the Royal Challengers need their other batsmen to take up the slack.

IPL Governing Council likely to be trimmed

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The IPL Governing Council is likely to be trimmed to seven members – half its original size – at the BCCI’s annual general meeting (AGM) tomorrow

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Sep-2010The IPL Governing Council is likely to be trimmed to seven members – half its original size – at the BCCI’s annual general meeting (AGM) tomorrow.The new seven-man panel will include two cricketers instead of the current three, with every council’s tenure lasting for a year and not five as was announced when it was formed. The BCCI has been keen to cut the council down to size following the board’s fallout with the IPL’s suspended chairman Lalit Modi, who is now caught in a bitter battle over charges against him that include the misappropriation of funds.Modi’s successor, the interim IPL chairman Chirayu Amin, will remain on the council, with Arun Jaitley, Rajiv Shukla and Niranjan Shah as his likely co-members. The council may also consist of either Jyotiraditya Scindia, Anurag Thakur or Farooq Abdullah. Of the three cricketers currently in the panel, one among Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri will be made to exit what is a lucrative post. A senior board functionary told ESPNcricinfo, “Ravi Shastri is certain to stay, but we are still thinking about the other two.”Originally, it was decided that the council would have five permanent members: Modi, IS Bindra, Shah, Jaitley and Shukla. But another source now indicated that the board has struck a deal with Bindra, taking a commitment from him that he would play no further role in the BCCI. The reason this has been done, it is believed, is because Bindra is the only one in the BCCI who has supported Modi after his suspension.The AGM is expected to formalise Modi’s exit from the BCCI in any capacity, after an eventful and controversial five years.

List of nominations

President – Shashank Manohar
Vice-presidents – Niranjan Shah (West Zone), Rajiv Shukla (Central Zone), Arindam Ganguly (East Zone), Arun Jaitley (North Zone), Shivlal Yadav (South Zone)
Secretary – N Srinivasan
Joint Secretary – Sanjay Jagdale

Treasurer – M.P. Pandove
President-elect – N Srinivasan (South Zone)

It is also expected that the schedule of New Zealand’s tour of India will be announced, with the second Test being moved from Kanpur to Hyderabad and the second and third ODIs switching from Mohali and Hyderabad to, as is believed, Jaipur and Baroda.In another late development, Shah filed his nomination for the vice-president’s post as a representative for the West Zone and sealed the position as one of other main contenders. Maharashtra Cricket Association president Ajay Shirke could not attend the meeting to complete the formality.Each of the five zones in the BCCI nominates a vice-president. Two vacancies emerged this year because the Central Zone’s Modi is under suspension and West Zone’s Amin had finished his maximum term of six years. Though Shukla was a certainty, the late arrival of Shah caught many board members unawares. But Shah has been one of the long-serving board members and, along with twice being board secretary, has occupied many posts.Srinivasan gets strong backing for president-elect
The formalisation of Srinivasan as president-elect came through the nominations he received not only from the South Zone teams of Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad and Kerala but also three nominations from outside the zone – Saurashtra, Orissa and Jharkhand. Given that the next BCCI president after Srinivasan will have to be named from the East Zone, many believe Orissa and Jharkhand’s involvement today gives an indication of a lining up of early loyalties with Srinivasan.

Evin Lewis fireworks, Gudakesh Motie four-for power West Indies to huge win

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Hosts too strong as England team featuring four debutants is gunned down in Antigua

Andrew Miller31-Oct-2024West Indies 157 for 2 (Lewis 94) beat England 209 (Livingstone 48, Motie 4-41) by eight wickets (DLS) The only way is up as England seek to reboot their once-glorious white-ball fortunes, but on the evidence of a deeply one-sided first ODI against West Indies, the journey to the 2027 World Cup will be long, arduous and – perhaps most significantly – unfamiliar to a new generation of cricketers whose lack of experience in 50-over cricket was all too plain to see in Antigua.The format’s rhythms weren’t quite such a mystery to the man who gunned them down, however. Evin Lewis had been absent from West Indies’ ODI plans for more than three years until last weekend, when he announced his second coming with a 61-ball century in Sri Lanka. Now he added a startlingly violent 94 from 69 balls, making light of a two-paced pitch and a stodgy outfield to blaze eight sixes – one for each of the wickets by which his team eventually won. It might even have been nine for nine had he connected properly with the shot that got him out, an inside-out slap to wide long-off, with victory already in the bag.The result had scarcely been in doubt after Gudakesh Motie’s four-wicket haul had wrecked England’s hopes of a competitive total, but the only real challenge to West Indies’ dominance was the rain, which arrived at the end of the 15th over of their chase to briefly raise the prospect of a very unjust washout. West Indies were 81 for 0 by that point – with Lewis himself on 51 – but after an hour-long delay and the loss of 15 overs and 53 runs from the target, the skies cleared sufficiently for justice to be served on a red-raw England line-up featuring no fewer than four debutants.The power and poise of the run-chase was at total odds with the tentative fare that had preceded it. Whereas England had had to wait until the 32nd over of their innings before their stand-in captain Liam Livingstone struck the first of their two sixes on the night, Lewis himself outdid that tally four-fold, having waited just 11 deliveries before hoisting the lively pace of John Turner over the ropes at deep backward square.Gudakesh Motie claimed four wickets including Liam Livingstone•Getty Images

Even when Adil Rashid did him in flight in his second over, Lewis’ commitment to the aggressive option allowed him to find enough hang-time to leave deep midwicket sprawling for his fifth six in the space of 13 overs. He then followed that up by whipping Sam Curran through backward square for his first four of the night, and after bringing up his fifty from 46 balls, he jogged through for one more single before the rain break to reach his 2000th ODI run.Lewis’ sidekick Brandon King offered a more earthbound assessment of the tricky batting conditions, grinding along to 30 from 56 balls as Jofra Archer and Turner, making his long-awaited international bow, repeatedly harassed his outside edge in a lively but unrewarded powerplay gambit. King’s torturous stay might have ended in the first over after the rain delay, but Livingstone’s half-tracker lbw was found to have pitched outside leg. Instead, he fell to perhaps his most emphatic shot of the night – a full-blooded full through a Jacob Bethell long-hop that picked out deep square leg to end a 118-run opening stand.The damage, however, had long since been done, however, leaving Keacy Carty and Shai Hope to wrap up victory with 24.1 overs of their original allocation left unused. Even allowing for the absence of so many key personnel through injury and Test commitments, England’s shortcomings had been glaring in the extreme.After losing the toss and being asked to bat first, their innings was characterised by timid accumulation, reminiscent of their off-colour displays at the 2023 World Cup, interspersed with moments of frustration, with the majority of their wickets falling to misjudged attempts to clear the inner ring. By the 21st over, England were flatlining at 93 for 4, with each of the top four falling for scores between 17 and 27 – none of them at a strike-rate quicker than 82 – as if overawed by the responsibility of batting for more than twice as long as a standard T20 innings.West Indies did bowl with nous from the outset, not least Jayden Seales, who shrugged off a wicketless tour of Sri Lanka earlier this month by claiming both of England’s openers inside his first five overs.The first to fall was Phil Salt, whose third-ball blaze through the covers belied a notably sluggish outfield that would add to the sense of an innings with no momentum, and would ultimately vindicate Lewis’ decision to take the aerial route as much as possible. On 18 from 29 balls, Salt tried just that, but his toe-ended drive was well caught by Alzarri Joseph, running back in the covers, as his innings came to an end inside the powerplay for the 18th time in 23 ODIs.Will Jacks, promoted to opener in the absence of Ben Duckett and the injured Jos Buttler, then produced a near identical knock of 19 from 27, eventually skying an attempted launch off Seales to Motie at mid-on, to leave England neither here nor there at 46 for 2 in the 11th over.Matthew Forde’s lack of extreme pace was scarcely any less effective on a receptive surface that offered grip and bounce to his cutters. Jordan Cox projected confidence at No.3 in the first act of his extended international audition, with the prospect of a Test debut in New Zealand looming next month, but then ruined the impression with a horrid hack to deep third, while Bethell – another Test debutant-in-waiting – looked sparky as he kept the strike rotating, but also fell to an ungainly slog into the covers to hand Forde his second.Only the team’s relative old stagers – Livingstone and his de facto deputy Curran – found the gumption to thrive briefly in a fifth-wicket stand of 72. But their endeavours were derailed by a familiar recent nemesis. Motie’s wily offerings had been instrumental in West Indies’ twin series wins this time last year, and sure enough, he accounted for the senior men – most crucially Livingstone, who had just begun to step up his tempo with a calculated assault on the offspin of Roston Chase.But, after being given a life on 44 as the returning Shimron Hetmyer spilled a simple chance at short midwicket off Chase’s final delivery, Livingstone then popped a return catch back to Motie four runs later. When Curran holed out to long-on for 37, the tail came as meekly as the rest.John Turner, Jordan Cox, Dan Mousley and Jamie Overton show off their maiden ODI caps•Getty Images

Jamie Overton, making his ODI debut, had been singled out for his long-levered ability to hit sixes down the ground, but fell lbw to Motie as he missed a first-ball sweep, while Dan Mousley’s international debut was scarcely any more memorable, though he did at least connect well on the flat pull off Motie that picked out Lewis on the midwicket boundary for 6.Joseph had been expensive in his initial spell – not helped by some lax work in the outfield – but bounced back well with the late wickets of Archer and Rashid, England’s leading ODI run-scorer in this deeply inexperienced squad, who extended that lead by a further 15 runs to drag England’s total past 200. Not even the onset of the Antiguan rain could delay the inevitable for long.

Perry stars with bat in Australia win but picks up knee concern

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Ash Gardner cracked a rapid half-century as Ireland were overwhelmed despite a strong start to the chase

AAP25-Jul-2023Ellyse Perry suffered a minor knee injury as she helped lead Australia to a convincing 153-run one-day international win over Ireland in Dublin.Perry top-scored for Australia with the bat, hitting 91 from 99 balls in their 321 for 7, before being kept off the field with a left knee issue as the tourists had Ireland all out for 168.Perry was able to move freely after the match, but medical staff will monitor the 32-year-old ahead of Australia’s final match of the tour against Ireland on Friday.It was one of the few sour notes for the tourists, who put in a complete performance in their first game since the drawn Ashes.Perry hit nine fours and three sixes in her innings, combining with Beth Mooney (49 off 62) for a 106-run fourth-wicket stand after Australia fell to 58 for 3 in the 11th over when Georgina Dempsey claimed two wickets in two balls.Ashleigh Gardner also hit 65 off 39 balls for the visitors, in an innings that included seven fours and three sixes. The allrounder took a particular liking to Cara Murray, taking 20 off one over from the legspinner for three sixes over the legside.Australia were slightly better with the ball, after an untidy Ashes series. Spinner Georgia Wareham claimed 3 for 33, while Tahlia McGrath and Jess Jonassen each took two wickets to have Ireland all out in 38.2 overs.After Ireland were 127 for 2 in the chase with some early hitting from Gaby Lewis (37) and Amy Hunter (50), the wickets fell quickly as Australia took 7-41.”It was nice to get out there and just put a good performance out there,” captain Alyssa Healy said. “That’s what we’ve been asking for for the last six weeks. And we haven’t done it consistently.  It was nice to see everyone have a proper crack today and do really well.”Irish-born star Kim Garth was also a stand out, taking 1 for 9 from six overs with the new ball.”She did fantastic,” Healy said of Garth. “She could have bowled 10 on the trot there. It’s great to see her back here, she is smiling so much. To see her enjoy her cricket, it’s some really special to see.”

England's fortunes take a dip … after cricket ball takes untimely dip

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Daryl Mitchell’s bout of beer pong leaves spectator drink-less and England swing-less

Alan Gardner10-Jun-2022When Daryl Mitchell struck Jack Leach into the crowd in front of the pavilion during the evening session at Trent Bridge, it didn’t just cost the England spinner six runs. Mitchell’s blow landed with a splash in a spectator’s pint, and might well have contributed to the day going flat for the home side.The ball, which was 55 overs old at the time, had to be vigorously wiped down after coming back covered in beer (or possibly cider). Although England had tried to get the ball changed on more than one occasion previously, they were told to continue with it and struggled to make further inroads as Mitchell and Tom Blundell put on an unbroken stand worth 149 come the close.England’s seamers had enjoyed their best spell during the afternoon, finding swing with the older ball. New Zealand batter Devon Conway said after play that it “certainly didn’t swing as much” after going for a dip, and admitted that the tourists had been surprised that the umpires didn’t call for a replacement.Related

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“We were quite shocked that they didn’t change the ball, with all the Covid protocols put in place these days, we thought that they might have looked to have changed it,” Conway said. “I think certainly it didn’t swing as much. So I think Daryl played a very smart role there, to make sure the ball didn’t swing as much. Yeah it was an interesting period. I think I did see the umpire trying to dry it as much as he could with a towel. If that did play a role, I don’t know.”It also transpired that New Zealand had arranged to buy a replacement pint for the female spectator whose drink was so dramatically dive-bombed, with Conway jokingly suggesting that Mitchell should cover the cost after finishing the day on an unbeaten 81.England, after opting to bowl, might have felt events were beginning to transpire against them. If Joe Root had held a regulation outside edge when Mitchell had made 3, New Zealand would have been 170 for 5; in the end, England managed just the four wickets and saw four clear chances go begging, as they were thwarted for the second time in as many weeks by Mitchell and Blundell.

The question of whether this year’s batch of Dukes balls have been as swing-friendly – or even durable – has been a theme during the early part of the season, and England could be seen repeatedly in discussions with the umpires about whether this one had gone out of shape, before and after the dunking. Jon Lewis, England’s bowling coach, acknowledged there had been some concerns but said it was a problem they would have to learn to deal with.”I wasn’t out there, I haven’t spoken to the boys about it,” Lewis said. “It did swing a little bit less [after landing in the cup], but it’s just I think the ball was really soft. When the ball goes soft it’s hard to get it past the bat with any pace. It changes the game a little bit.”I think we’ve just got to find a way [to take wickets]. It’s obvious that the balls are going a little bit soft, and a little bit out of shape, but they’re still going through the hoops. It’s something we’ve got to find a way to take wickets with the balls that we’re given to play with.”

Dimuth Karunaratne: Sri Lanka 'could have dominated' but for injuries

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“Never faced a situation like this,” says Sri Lanka captain after losing three members of six-man attack

Andrew Fidel Fernando29-Dec-2020Sri Lanka were in such a good situation in the early stages of the first Test they could even have dominated had multiple injuries not hit. This, at least, was the view of Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne, whose dressing room was decimated by injury through the course of the four days at Centurion.Sri Lanka made 396 in the first innings – their highest ever score in South Africa – but lost Dhananjaya de Silva to a thigh strain during what was arguably their most fluent innings of the Test. In subsequent days Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara withdrew from the attack due to injuries, meaning Karunaratne had only three good bowling options remaining.Despite the good first-innings total, they went on to lose by an innings and 45 runs, after South Africa racked up a total of 621 against a substantially depleted attack.”I’ve never faced a situation like this and maybe no one has, where in one match you lose three bowlers,” Karunaratne said. “When we started we had a balanced attack, with bowlers I could use for various roles. But in the first innings we lost that. We had been in a position where we could have even dominated the game. We had been in worse situations than this on our last tour to South Africa when we won those games. Losing this [game] by an innings is a huge disappointment.”We had scored the most we’d ever scored [in South Africa] in the first innings. We knew after making that total that it’s going to get harder to bat on later in the game as well. If our bowlers had stayed fit we would have been able to do something. Our batsmen did a good job in this match.”Karunaratne was unwilling to be too severe on the second-innings batting effort either. Sri Lanka conceded a first-innings lead of 225, but aside from the absence of de Silva, they also had to contend with a niggle that Dinesh Chandimal picked up, as well as Rajitha and Kumara’s inability to do anything but hobble between the wickets. Wanindu Hasaranga was also struggling to run after injuring his thigh diving on the ball on day three.Related

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Karunaratne suggested that Sri Lanka’s collapse to 180 all out in the second innings was at least partly due to injuries having wiped out their prospects of victory.”We were 200 runs behind and if we’d chased that down and set a target, we still wouldn’t have had any bowlers to defend it,” he said. “We had two wicket-taking bowlers, and once their spells finish, the next bowlers we had available are myself, Kusal Mendis and Dasun Shanaka.”We have three wicketkeepers in the XI, so we don’t have a lot of part-time bowlers. I think that must have been in the batsmen’s minds in the second innings, because no matter how well we set up a target, it’s still not going to be easy. And when batsmen can’t run, that makes it tough because then you can only score with fours or sixes. Sticking around for two and a half days on this wicket would have been tough. It was still seaming and the bounce was inconsistent.”Sri Lanka hope to have senior seamer Suranga Lakmal back for the second Test, but he is battling against time to recover from a hamstring niggle by Sunday. Chandimal is also doubtful with what seemed to be groin problem sustained while batting. Top-order batsman Oshada Fernando is expected to be fit for the second game, however. Sri Lanka also have fast bowlers Dushmantha Chameera and Asitha Fernando in reserve, while Vishwa Fernando got through the first Test unscathed – the only frontline quick to do so.”We’re not sure about Suranga’s fitness. We hope he’ll be fit, but we’ll have to watch a few more days. Chandimal’s injury also needs to be observed. We don’t know yet whether he’ll be able to play, but I suspect he’ll be able to. We’ll need to replace Dhananjaya de Silva. The big loss going to Wanderers is that we don’t have our best attack anymore. We’ll do what we can with the players we have left.”In the dressing room, it’s not easy to handle this kind of situation. As a captain I need to work out how to keep my head up and keep the players together. There’s a lot of disappointment because we arrived on this tour with a lot of hopes. We’d been in a positive mindset. But the series isn’t over yet. I’m sure the replacement players will do well in the second Test.”

Batting depth the difference, says Heather Knight, after Deepti Sharma lifts Storm over the line

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Sharma’s crucial unbeaten 39 from 22 balls from No. 6 pulls Storm through nail-biting run chase

Matt Roller at Hove01-Sep-2019Heather Knight paid credit to her Western Storm side’s batting depth after Deepti Sharma’s crucial unbeaten 39 from 22 balls from No. 6 lifted them over the line in a nail-biting run chase against Southern Vipers at Hove.Sharma came in with Storm needing 70 off 7.3 overs after prolific openers Smriti Mandhana and Rachel Priest had fallen early, but struck seven boundaries in her cameo in the middle to support Knight – who made 78 not out – as they chased down their target with an over to spare.”We’ve had people throughout the order play brilliantly throughout the competition,” Knight said. “Fran Wilson and Sophie Luff have been outstanding for us this year, and Deepti has had some really good cameos, even though she hasn’t had to bat too much.”I’m really delighted with how we’ve gone. The two at the top [Mandhana and Priest] obviously have a job to try and score quickly and sometimes that doesn’t pay off so we’ve got the middle order to patch that up if that does happen.”Also read: Knight leads Storm to title with unbeaten 78 against VipersVipers captain Tammy Beaumont suggested that while her side’s middle order had chipped in throughout the tournament, the difference in batting depth was ultimately the difference between the sides.”Yeah definitely, you look at them – they’ve got seven international players, and we’re kind of lacking that a little bit in our team,” she said.”Full credit to the girls, they’ve all stepped up at different times. Amanda Wellington has played some gems of innings for us at five or six, and so have Fi Morris and Paige Scholfield, so that’s just the way it is. But yeah, of course – having someone of the class of Deepti is maybe a little bit of a difference there.”The contrast with the Vipers – who were 134 for 1 after 14 overs, but lost six wickets for 38 runs in the final six overs – was clear, and Knight paid credit to her side’s decision to sign a full quota of overseas players that would be available for Finals Day, which contrasted with the other two sides.”Trevor Griffin has been amazing, putting the squad together,” she said. “No-one works harder as a coach than him in the early summer going to see players play in county cricket, and stuff like that, and assembling the best squad we could.”We made the decision to go with an overseas [player] that was going to be available for the final, because obviously we lost Smriti last year. It was sad to let Stafanie [Taylor] go but obviously she wasn’t available for today, and Deepti’s been outstanding for us, and obviously we had that little bit of extra depth which was nice.”With Danni Wyatt, who was confirmed as player of the tournament after the final, striking the ball cleanly, the Vipers had been set for a total far in advance of the 172 they ended up with, and Knight credited her seamers with dragging things back in their favour.”I thought they were on for 200-plus at one point, the way Tammy and Danni were going there in the middle,” Knight said. “It was a really good track, really hard to defend or stop the flow of runs when players were going like that.”We bowled outstandingly – Freya [Davies] and Anya [Shrubsole] in particular pulled it back nicely, managed to pick up a few wickets and I thought 170 was going to be really tough to chase, but we knew it was probably within our grasp.”We’ve chased some really good totals over the past couple of years, and we’ve somehow found a way to win a lot this season in tricky situations, so to do that, with the belief we’ve had, we knew that if one batter was there at the end we were in with a good chance. [I’m] delighted it was me, and happy to pick up the trophy.”

Fresh faces wipe out old guard in USA Cricket elections

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Although former members of both the USA Cricket Association and the American Cricket Federation were vying for the director’s post, they received very little support from the voters

Peter Della Penna06-Aug-2018The people have spoken and they want change as USA Cricket announced its election results this weekend. Although former members of both the USA Cricket Association and the American Cricket Federation were vying for the director’s post in the country’s new governing body, they received very little support from the voters, signalling the end of an era in American cricket administration.Avinash Gaje from New Jersey, Suraj Viswanathan from northern California and Venu Pisike from Atlanta claimed the three individual director slots. Voting was open to the more than 5000 registered members, with USA cricket approximating a turnout of 46 percent. The results reflected concentrations of the largest voting blocs, highlighting the success or failure to get players to register in their respective territories.Gaje received the most votes – 584 – out of all the candidates in the election and will get a three-year term as a result. He is president of the New Jersey Softball Cricket League, from which 15 full clubs and more than 200 members had registered to vote. That is second only to the Midwest Cricket Conference in Chicago, which had 25 clubs and just short of 400 individuals register, but none of its members ran in the election.Viswanathan claimed 557 votes and will be in office for two years, according to the staggered term limits put in place in the new USA Cricket constitution. Pisike had 548 votes and will serve for one year before going up for re-election.Brian Walters, from Austin, Texas, was the most high profile candidate in the individual director category. A former member of the Gladstone Dainty-led USACA board, he suffered from voter apathy in his region with just two clubs registering to vote in the Houston Cricket League.John Aaron, the former USACA executive secretary who went on to serve on the board of the ACF, also had the same problem. He ran in the club director category and touted endorsements from high profile names including former West Indies great Clive Lloyd, but lacked support on the ground. Only three clubs in his league, the New York Metropolitan & District Cricket Association, registered to vote.That meant Ajith Bhaskar, from the Commonwealth Cricket League of New York, enjoyed victory, snaring 66 of the 120 votes from registered clubs – defined as a team with at least 12 players registered. Bhaskar will serve a two-year term as club director.Atul Rai, the former USACA president who led the governing body from 2001-2003, finished in a dead-heat with former USA captain Sushil Nadkarni, who was taking part in the election for the first time. Both men were part of a four-man race for the post of league director and received 12 votes each, with the voters asked to rank candidates from first to last. A run-off election will take place from August 5 to August 12 to break the tie. In case there is a tie again, a coin toss will decide the winner.In the elite female athlete category, Nadia Gruny beat Erica Rendler by taking 16 of the 23 votes and will serve a two-year term on the board. Usman Shuja ran uncontested in the elite male athlete category and will serve a one-year term.When the run-off election between Rai and Nadkarni is decided, the final members of the board – three independent directors – will be announced by the nominating and governance committee. The full 10-member board should be finalised by the time USA hosts the 2020 World T20 Regional Americas Qualifier in September.