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Mahela Jayawardene has said it was the broadcaster’s choice of close-up replays that led Sri Lanka to raise concerns with the match referee that Australia’s players were allegedly tampering with the ball

Andrew Fernando at Bellerive Oval18-Dec-2012Mahela Jayawardene has said it was the television broadcaster’s choice of close-up replays that led Sri Lanka’s team management to raise concerns with the match referee that Australia’s players were allegedly tampering with the ball in Hobart.Australia’s players were since absolved by Broad. In a statement issued after the Test, Broad said that match officials had reviewed the footage and monitored the state of the ball, and had not found any evidence to suggest the condition of the ball had been changed.Jayawardene said Sri Lanka’s management simply reacted to close-up footage of Siddle’s grip on the ball from the broadcaster. “[The ball tampering concerns] weren’t from our management,” he said. “It was something that was shown on television and that was it. We just wanted to make sure that the officials saw what we saw on television. We never made any official complaint about it. We just moved on. It’s up to the officials to see if anything happened and if so, take action. If not, move on.”For the TV guys to zoom in and stop, obviously they saw something funny. Otherwise, we had five days of Test cricket and nothing else was shown. It’s up to the officials to find out, even from the TV guys, to see whether there was something funny happening, and if that is the reason that they showed it. Otherwise they don’t have to show something like that on national television where millions of people are watching this match. That’s what prompted us to find out what was going on. Like I said, we don’t have any proof. We didn’t see it happen.”After the match, Siddle was adamant the footage had been misinterpreted. Siddle took 9 for 104 in the Test and was the Man of the Match. “I wake up in the morning, I thought today if I ran out there and ball-tampered in front of 15 cameras and a lot of people watching the game I will get away with it?” Siddle said. “That is a ridiculous statement. Why would I want to jeopardise that when I know we can go out there and do everything in the spirit of the game and win. That’s how we play and we always play. There’s nothing to it at all.”Australia captain Michael Clarke backed Siddle and emphasised his team’s commitment to playing fairly. “At the end of the day, the ICC have made it very clear there was nothing there,” Clarke said. “I 100% believe we always play in the spirit of the game. I don’t think any of the Australian players would ever jeopardise that or do anything to ruin our reputation. We play hard on the field but we understand there is a line you can’t cross and we play the right way.”Jayawardene also said Sri Lanka would be dismayed if the match officials had not at least raised the issue with the Australian team. Broad’s statement said he had spoken with Australia coach Mickey Arthur during the tea interval of day three, soon after the close-up shots of Siddle’s grip had caused concern in the Sri Lanka camp.”The easiest thing for them to have done is to at least have a chat with the Aussie management or the captain and see what happened,” Jayawardene said. “If they haven’t done that, we’d be a bit sad about it. That’s the minimum requirement. Everyone saw on television, what they zoomed in on. It’s not that just we saw something, it was on television.”When told that match officials had not found any evidence upon which to lay charges, Jayawardene said he was fine with their findings and was happy to move on. “The teams will fight it out there in the field – there’s no love lost in that. Off the field we are pretty good friends and the players can have an unofficial chat about it. It’s not that big a deal. I think they’ve got the talent to win matches without doing those kinds of things.”

A round-up of the fourth day’s play of the sixth round of matches of the Ranji Trophy Elite, 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Dec-2011Group BManprit Juneja made an unbeaten 201 on Ranji debut•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Manprit Juneja became only the fourth Indian to score a double-century on first-class debut as Gujarat made an impressive reply to Tamil Nadu‘s huge first-innings score in Ahmedabad. It was not enough to deny Tamil Nadu three first-innings points but the total of 539 was Gujarat’s highest of the season. Juneja, 21, joined Amol Muzumdar, Anshuman Pandey and Gundappa Viswanath as Indian batsmen to score a double-century on debut. Juneja had played eight List A games previously and had a highest score of 64.Overnight unbeaten on 84, Juneja started the day in the company of Pratharesh Panchal, who was five short of half century on the third evening. Though Panchal reached his fifty he would soon depart on 66 and when Gujarat needed 204 more runs to avoid follow-on. It meant that the onus was now on 21-year-old Juneja and 22-year-old Jesal Karia, the last specialist batting pair. Even if Karia himself was playing only his fourth first-class mach, he showed no nerves and played aggressively. That helped Juneja settled down as he reached his maiden century by taking twelve runs of a Yo Mahesh over.He got an immediate reprieve when R Prasanna dropped him on 104 at second slip against the bowling of J Kaushik. On 170 Juneja lost Karia (72 off 74 balls) and had only the tail now for support. He carried batting without any nerves, but three short of the double-century mark a sharp outside edge against Kaushik flew straight to Prasanna, who was standing wide at second slip. But for the second time in the day he deprived Kaushik of Juneja’s wicket. A push to the midwicket brought wide smile on Juneja’s face as he leapt in the air to celebrate his landmark. He had surpassed Nari Contractor’s 152 (against Baroda in 1952-53) to become the highest scorer for Gujarat on debut.In the end Gujarat fell short by 158 runs but Tamil opted to bat the second time. The three points sealed a quarter-final berth for Tamil Nadu but the one point Gujarat got was also important as it keeps them off the bottom of the Group B table.Manoj Tiwary and No. 10 Veer Pratap Singh stuck it out on the fourth morning at Eden Gardens and took Bengal past Delhi‘s first-innings score. The three points improve Bengal’s chances of staying in the Elite division, and even keep alive slim hopes of a quarter-final berth. Delhi have finished all their matches and will not be progressing further in the season.Bengal started the day still 34 runs behind with just two wickets in hand, but Tiwary was batting on 163 not out. For company he had Veer Pratap, a 19-year-old on first-class debut. Veer Pratap managed to survive 51 balls, offering a straight bat to everything that came his way to score 15 crucial runs, while at the other end Tiwary took his score to 187. Their 43-run partnership secured three points for Bengal. Tiwary, whose nine-hour vigil put Bengal in control, was dismissed when the host took a five-run lead. Immediately Sourav Ganguly, the Bengal captain, declared the innings an hour before lunch. After that Delhi could not do much but have some batting practice. Puneet Bisht, Mithun Manhas and Yogesh Nagar signed off for the season with half-centuries.Bengal have eight points with a game in hand and have a good chance to avoid relegation if they can gain at least three points in the final Group match against Baroda. In case they manage to beat Baroda with a bonus point they could even fancy a knockout berth if the other results in the group go in their favour.But Tiwary said Bengal need to roll their sleeves and work hard if they have any ambitions of winning the Ranji Trophy. “Batsmen are getting out at the wrong time and to soft dismissals. There is also a bit of concern over the bowling because after knocking off seven-eight wickets we are struggling to dislodge the remaining few. Catching is a big issue too. So, overall, we have to do better in all three departments to play good cricket and pick up the points,” Bengal’s leading batsman told .Haryana hung on to earn a draw against Madhya Pradesh in Rohtak but three points for a first-innings lead were enough to ensure MP will be in the quarter-finals. Following on, Haryana had reached 147 for 2 by the end of the third day and started the fourth looking to bat time. They lost Sunny Singh early, but Prateek Pawar and Sachin Rana scored patient half-centuries to thwart MP’s push for an outright win. Rana scored 64 while Pawar batted for 223 balls to get 84. The pair were dismissed within five overs of each other to give MP an opening but Priyank Tehlan played an important innings of 34 off 95 balls. TP Sudhindra took two wickets in the day to give him a match-haul of 10 for 131.Group AA six-wicket haul from medium-pacer Sumit Mathur made Rajasthan the only winners in the sixth round of games, as they shot out Saurashtra for 143 and won by 229 runs in Jaipur. The victory Rajasthan’s first this season, has them eight points, staving off the fear of relegation. What more they now stand an outside chance of making the knockout stages. As soon as Aakash Chopra was trapped lbw by Jaydev Unadkat two runs short of a century, Rajasthan made up their minds for an early declaration. A target of 373 from 76 overs made it a lively final day.In the first innings, Mathur had played the supporting role while Pankaj Singh had taken five wickets. This time around, the roles reversed. As Pankaj kept things tight at one end, Mathur attacked the off stump with only two fielders on the leg side. Pankaj and Rituraj Singh took a couple of wickets early, and then Mathur ripped through the rest of the line-up to finish with 6 for 33. Saurashtra needed this win desperately. Their top order had got good starts but there was no big partnership. But with Mathur hitting the right strides, they barely got an opportunity to settle down. “I knew this was my chance to show what I’m capable of. There was a bit of help from the pitch and a lot of support from the management, especially bowling coach Meyrick Pringle,” Mathur told .A middle-order collapse, sparked by Ramesh Powar, meant Uttar Pradesh fell 102 runs short of Mumbai‘s first-innings score in Lucknow. UP had started the day on 166 for 2 and would have entertained hopes of going past Mumbai’s 414. But it was not as straightforward. Only four overs were possible in the first session due to fog but Aavishkar Salvi, in the third over of the day, induced an edge of Bhuvneshwar Kumar which wicketkeeper Sushant Marathe easily pouched. Parvinder Singh and Suresh Raina seemed to have put UP on course, with half-centuries. But Powar bowled a beauty as he pitched an off break in the rough that zipped past Parvinder’s defence to clean bowl him. Arish Alam stayed back to a fuller length delivery from Powar and was lbw. Raina, who looked at ease, was then caught short of his crease by a direct hit from Kaustubh Pawar.Suddenly UP were struggling. Piyush Chawla followed Raina two overs later, and then Powar completed the slide by dismissing Praveen Gupta. From 215 for 4, UP had slipped to 253 for 8. RP Singh made 31 gritty runs, surviving for an hour before he made the erroneous decision to sweep against the spin as the top edge went straight to Iqbal Abdula at midwicket. The UP captain’s wicket helped Powar to his 24th five-wicket haul in his first-class career. The three points confirm Mumbai’s place in the quarters while UP will have to get a result against table-toppers Karnataka in their last game.Orissa lost five wickets for 37 runs on the fourth morning against Railways at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi, and consigned themselves to relegation from the Elite division. Orissa started the day favourites to take the lead, with 86 runs needed, five wickets in hand and two batsmen – Abhilash Mallick and Govind Podder, who had put on 84 runs on the third day at the crease. Unfortunately Podder added five runs to his overnight score of 39 before getting bowled by Krishnakant Upadhyay, Railways’ highest wicket-taker this season (16) and the innings disintegrated thereafter. Upadhyay struck again, Basant Mohanty was bowled by Murali Kartik and Mallick was run out soon after reaching his half-century by a direct hit from Upadhyay. The crumble meant Railways had secured three crucial points, which kept them in the hunt for the knockouts, while Orissa languished at the bottom with just two points.Punjab had the unenviable task of facing the top two teams in the table away in their final two rounds of a tightly contested group. They will be satisfied with how the first of those matches have gone, after taking three points on the basis of a first-innings lead against Karnataka at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The one point Karnataka earned though was enough to keep them on top of the table. They are now through to the quarter-finals. Read full report here.

Round-up of the first day of the seventh round of the Ranji Trophy Super League

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Dec-2010

Group A

Sourav Ganguly’s much-anticipated return to first-class cricket was an anticlimax as he scored just 13•AFP

It was a low-scoring first day in the last round of Ranji Trophy matches, as several teams prepared result-oriented wickets in search of victories that could take them through to the quarter-finals.Twelve wickets fell in the crucial game between top-side Mumbai and third-placed Delhi on a pitch that was offering the seamers some assistance at the Roshanara Club Ground in Delhi. The hosts hold a slight edge after dismissing Mumbai for 267 after they had elected to bat. Delhi lost some of the advantage when they came out to bat, with seamer Ajit Agarkar striking two blows for Mumbai to leave Delhi at 47 for 2. Virat Kohli, who missed the last three of Delhi’s games because he was playing for India against New Zealand, was bowled by one that kept low from Agarkar and at that stage Delhi were 28 for 2. Shikhar Dhawan and captain Mithun Manhas were unbeaten at stumps. Delhi need a win to ensure qualification for the next round, while three points will give them a chance, provided other results go their way.Seamers Sumit Narwal, who took nine wickets in Delhi’s last match against Railways, and Pradeep Sangwan, did the damage for the hosts, taking four wickets each. Narwal got the first breakthrough, bowling Mumbai wicketkeeper Onkar Gurav in the third over of the match. Later, Narwal credited Manoj Prabhakar and Sanjeev Sharma for fine-tuning his bowling. “They have been talking to all of us how to read the batsmen, how to analyse a game, passing off their knowledge and helping us with our technique at the same time,” Narwal told .Seamer Parvinder Awana chipped in with a couple of wickets to reduce Mumbai to 47 for 3. Captain Wasim Jaffer and Rohit Sharma both got starts in the middle-order, but Suryakumar Yadav was the only Mumbai batsman to reach a half-century. His 73 off 89 balls and some useful runs from Agarkar and left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla were the reasons Mumbai managed to go past 250. Yadav, however, was disappointed not to reach his hundred. “It is disappointing to get out when you are almost close to the three figure mark,” Yadav said. “I was trying to guide the ball for a single but it ballooned into the hands of Kohli. I would have been happier if I had got a hundred on debut.”

Bengal only managed 201 in their first innings against Railways at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi, but it may turn out to be a decent score given that the wicket was already behaving unpredictably on the first day. Both teams knew the wicket was going to turn and keep low, so it was no surprise that Bengal elected to bat first.Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain, was playing his first Ranji Trophy match of the season, and he came in at a crucial juncture with Bengal at 109 for 3. He looked uncomfortable, barely moving his feet during the 43 minutes he spent at the wicket, and eventually inside-edged one that kept low from seamer Anureet Singh onto his stumps.While Railways spinners managed to get some assistance from the wicket, it was poor shot selection that was the main cause of Bengal’s low total. Captain Manoj Tiwary got his eye in and was looking comfortable on 42 when he tried to smash left-arm spinner Nileshkumar Chauhan down the ground, against the spin. He ended up holing out to mid-on to leave Bengal at 160 for 6. It was a similar story for opener Aridnam Das, who was set on 21 when he was caught at short fine leg attempting a slog sweep off left-arm spinner Murali Kartik. Wicketkeeper Gitimoy Basu was the only batsman to build on a start, reaching 58. Kartik ended up with two wickets for Railways while Anureet took three.Bengal will hope the pitch deteriorates further as the match goes on, since Railways will have to bat last. Both sides still have a chance of making the quarter-finals, and are separated by just one point in a very tight Group A table.

The Chennai weather continued to be the biggest obstacle to Tamil Nadu’s passage to the next phase. They have already had three rain-affected matches at the MA Chidambaram Stadium of which two did not see the first-innings completed. Only 42 overs could be bowled on the first day in their crunch match against Gujarat.On a wicket that, like many others in the last round, took turn from the first day itself, Gujarat crawled to 69 for 4, scoring at 1.64 runs per over. The hosts would be happy with their position but will be nervous about further rain stoppages in the next three days. If they do not manage to finish an innings in the match, it will give Delhi, Bengal and Railways all a chance to pass them in the table and go through to the quarter-finals. Gujarat’s batsmen struggled against the offspin duo of R Ashwin and Suresh Kumar, who took three wickets between them. Ashwin took the vital wicket of Parthiv Patel, luring him to drive straight to Ganapathy at cover. S Badrinath did his bit on the field by taking a sharp diving catch at first slip to remove Bhavik Thaker off Suresh Kumar. Niraj Patel managed to stay unbeaten at stumps, after his 26 had taken 109 balls.

Seventeen wickets fell on the first day of the match between Saurashtra and Assam at the Khandheri Cricket Stadium in Rajkot. Assam needed an innings victory to give themselves an outside chance of making it to the top three spots, but ruled out that possibility after collapsing to 107 for 7 in response to Assam’s 140. That makes this match all about who will be relegated to the Plate League next season.After electing to bat, Saurashtra lost their last eight wickets for 48 runs, with five of their last seven batsmen failing to get to double figures. Shitanshu Kotak’s 44 was their highest score. The wickets were shared amongst the Assam bowlers, with Tarjinder Singh taking three, offspinners Arlen Konwar and Sarupam Purkayastha taking two each, while fast bowler Abu Nechim also got two.Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja derailed Assam’s reply early, taking three wickets and leaving Assam at 33 for 4. Offspinner Kamlesh Makvana then got in on the act, taking three scalps within a few overs and leaving Assam at 76 for 7. Purkayastha and Nechim managed to survive till stumps, and their unbeaten 31-run stand for the eight wicket was actually Assam’s highest partnership.

Group B

Baroda have all but booked their place in the quarter-finals after taking the first-innings lead against bottom-of-the-table Himachal Pradesh at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara. Left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt did most of the damage, snaring four of the first five batsmen to fall, as HP were dismissed for 119. At 78 for 8, it looked like HP might not even get to a century, but No.10 Gurvinder Singh made 25, and added 40 with Varun Sharma, to push them past the three-figure mark. The 20-year-old Bhatt finished with 5 for 40, while India seamer Munaf Patel backed him up with 3 for 30. Bhat is now the top wicket-taker this Ranji season, having taken 28 wickets, including two five-wicket hauls. “When I got the five-wicket haul against Haryana, it boosted my confidence,” Bhat told . “I keep my cool while bowling and never get intimidated by the reputation of a batsman.”Baroda lost three early wickets, including the dangerous Yusuf Pathan, with just 13 on the board, before Kedar Devdhar and Ambati Rayudu steadied the innings with a 108-run partnership. Vikramjeet Malik had Rayudu caught behind for quick 57, made from 72 balls with seven fours and a six, but Pinal Shah helped Devdhar, who was unbeaten on 71, take the hosts to 173 for 5.Haryana bowled Orissa out for 175 to keep alive their slim hopes of going through to the quarter-finals. India legspinner Amit Mishra and Sachin Rana each took three wickets at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Rohtak, with Subhrajit Sahoo the only batsman to go past 25, making an unbeaten 50 from 102 balls. Haryana got off to a decent start, with the openers putting together 30 before Nitin Saini was caught off medium-pacer Alok Sahoo for 14. That triggered a mini-collapse, with Sahoo taking two more wickets, and Debasis Mohanty bowling Ankit Rawat for 1, to leave the hosts 43 for 4. Former India batsman Hemang Bedani and Rana then took them to 75 at the close of play.Uttar Pradesh needs a win over table-toppers Karnataka to make sure they stay alive in the tournament, although a first-innings lead could see them through as well, depending on other results, and legspinner Piyush Chawla has given them the edge on the first day at Green Park in Kanpur, taking 4 for 74, to restrict Karnataka to 274 for 7. The visitor’s total was build around two partnerships: Manish Pandey and Amit Verma put on 102 for the third wicket after Karnataka found themselves in a bit of bother at 28 for 3, and Pandey was adjudged lbw – a decision that didn’t go too well in the Karnataka camp as they felt that the ball was going down leg – when he missed a sweep shot against Chawla. Karnataka recovered, courtesy Muralidharan Gautam and Vinay Kumar who added 91 for the seventh wicket. Verma made 54, Kumar 51 and Pandey 36, with all three falling to Chawla. Gautam was still there on 62, with former India left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi on 13 for company.

The first-class game in the West Indies is set to welcome radical innovations such as day-night matches and the use of pink balls to boost spectator interest

Cricinfo staff15-Dec-2009The first-class game in the West Indies is set to welcome radical innovations such as day-night matches and the use of pink balls to boost spectator interest. The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will trial these innovations in its four-day tournament, which gets underway on January 8. Another feature is the hosting of an entire round in one territory to ease the logistical challenges in travelling arrangements.”Spectator interest in regional matches has been declining in recent years and we are looking at different ways to organise our tournaments and ensure greater value for all our stakeholders, including players and spectators,” Ernest Hilaire, the WICB’s CEO, said.”We at the WICB aim to bring the game back to the fans and we believe the new format of having day-night cricket in the four-day tournament will help to generate public interest and also be a winner with the players and officials.”Hilaire added that each of the seven teams will get to play at least one match under lights. He said data will be collected on the impact on players, spectators, match officials and spectators before the format comes under review.”We will also be looking to utilise some of the wonderful facilities we have in the region as we seek to develop players who will be able to represent the people of the Caribbean at the highest level,” Hilaire said.The first round will begin in Jamaica from January 8-11 while the final round will be played at Windwards between February 26 and March 1.

The pair also put on the second-highest partnership in all men’s T20 cricket: 241

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2025This morning, Litton Das was left out of Bangladesh’s squad for the Champion’s Trophy 2025. By the evening, he was taking his frustrations – if any – out on Durbar Rajshahi at the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). He slammed his maiden T20 hundred and batted through the innings for Dhaka Capitals, finishing on 125 not out off 55 balls with ten fours and nine sixes and a strike rate of 227.27. At his side for most of this was Tanzid Hasan, who will be going to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. The pair added 241 off 118 – the second-highest stand in all men’s T20 cricket – and Dhaka finished with 254 for 1, which is the highest total in the BPL.Related

• Litton Das: 'I was dropped because I wasn't performing'

• Litton and Shakib left out of Bangladesh's Champions Trophy squad

Litton got to his hundred off 44 balls, which makes it the second-fastest by a Bangladeshi player in men’s T20s, behind Parvez Hossain’s 42-ball hundred for Fortune Barishal in the Bangabandhu T20 Cup in December 2020. He finished fourth on the list of highest scores at the BPL, behind two efforts from Chris Gayle and one from Tamim Iqbal.Rajshahi had elected to bowl in the game and it seemed like a sound decision when Dhaka got to 22 for 0 after four overs. But then Tanzid took 21 off a Sunzamul Islam over, and Dhaka never looked back. By the end of this over, the fifth, Litton was 10 off 9, but he got going in the next, the last of the Powerplay, hitting SM Meherob for 4, 6, 4 off consecutive deliveries.Litton Das got to his hundred off 44 balls, the second-fastest by a Bangladeshi in men’s T20s•Dhaka Capitals

Litton brought up his fifty in the ninth over, with a six off a no-ball. By the end of ten overs Dhaka were 115 for 0 and they just kept going. Tanzid also brought up his fifty with a six, off Ryan Burl to end the 11th. Litton continued the pair’s pattern of bringing up their landmarks with a boundary, getting to his hundred in the 16th with a four off Shafiul Islam.Tanzid completed the set in the final over, taking four first ball to bring up his hundred, before hitting Shafiul for six more and then holing out for 108 off 64 balls (six fours, eight sixes, strike rate 168.75).By then Dhaka already had the record for highest total in the BPL, and the wicket hardly slowed them down with Sabbir Rahman and Litton hitting one more six apiece to close out the innings on a dazzling 254 for 1.In response, Rajshahi quickly wilted, falling to 34 for 5 before an unbeaten 47 from Ryan Burl held off the inevitable. Eventually, they were bowled out for 105 in the 16th over, falling short of their target by 150 runs.

SLC president and country’s sports minister hold separate media sessions to push their point of view

Andrew Fidel Fernando and Nagraj Gollapudi11-Nov-2023Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) president Shammi Silva has warned that the country could lose out on hosting the men’s Under-19 World Cup in January and February if the ICC’s suspension of SLC was not lifted. He also said the ICC wanted to suspend Sri Lanka back in July, but he prevented it.However, ESPNcricinfo understands the ICC has not yet made a decision on the U-19 World Cup and will discuss the hosting of that tournament only at the next board meeting on November 21. It is learned that there was also no discussion within the ICC of suspending SLC in July.According to Silva, ICC deputy chairman Imran Khwaja had taken special interest in potential political interference in Sri Lanka. “About five months ago, the ICC came here when there was news of political interference, and held an inquiry,” Silva said. “Mr. Imran Khwaja met the minister and the president (of Sri Lanka), and told them the ICC would be taking it seriously if you don’t properly control this. This [the suspension] is not something that happening in one or two days.”Khwaja came on May 10. I later went to an ICC meeting from July 10 to 14. In their report, it says that Sri Lanka Cricket is being totally politically abused. Then they told me we have a few options: either we ban Sri Lanka, stop the cricket in Sri Lanka, or stop the money to Sri Lanka. I told them not to do that. So actually we were going to be suspended between July 10 and 14, and we [SLC officials] prevented it.”Related

• Sri Lanka Cricket suspended by ICC board

• Court issues stay order to prevent Ranatunga-led interim committee from taking over

• Sports minister looks to replace SLC officials with Ranatunga-led interim committee

According to information that ESPNcricinfo has, it is only after SLC complained to the ICC about political interference in November 2022 that Khwaja travelled to Sri Lanka on a fact-finding mission. It is understood the ICC did not find prima facie evidence of direct interference at the time.The background to this issue is that SLC and the country’s sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe have been in conflict over the past year, with Ranasinghe making accusations of corruption and mismanagement in the cricket board, while Silva and SLC accuse him of meddling with cricket.Both Silva and Ranasinghe held media interactions separately on Saturday afternoon; both parties sometimes making personal insults. In Silva’s press conference at SLC headquarters, he stressed that both the ICC and SLC seek assurance from the highest level of Sri Lankan politics – the president of the country, essentially – that there would be no further political interference in the running of cricket in Sri Lanka.Though Silva and his elected board are currently at the helm at SLC, their place remains precarious. It is only the result of a 14-day stay order delivered by Sri Lanka’s courts, which reversed Ranasinghe’s appointment of an interim committee led by Arjuna Ranatunga on Monday to run SLC.Ranasinghe, meanwhile, outlined the sports ministry’s next steps as it attempts to have SLC’s suspension lifted by the ICC. He said the ministry would approach the ICC’s dispute resolution committee first, which is a body within the ICC that reviews appeals from boards on membership matters. If that process fails, Ranasinghe said, the ministry would look at pursuing a case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.On the home front, the ministry will seek a jugdement from Sri Lanka’s own courts that reinstall the minister’s Ranatunga-led interim committee.It is Silva who is understood to have sought SLC’s suspension, as a means of putting pressure on the Sri Lankan government. When asked directly about this at the press conference, he said: “I’ve already said this was something that was going to happen for five months. If I can pull strings like that, I’ve got to be an impressive person.Earlier in the day, SLC’s vice president Ravin Wickramaratne told ESPNcricinfo: “As a full member, it is our right to go to the ICC.”

Three players from Afghanistan – Najibullah Zadran, Zahir Khan and Fazalhaq Farooqi – as well as Samit Patel have been snapped up too

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Aug-2022MI Emirates, the Mumbai Indians-owned team in the UAE’s ILT20, have announced their roster of non-UAE [overseas] players, headlined by old favourite Kieron Pollard, and Trent Boult, who opted out of a New Zealand central contract on Wednesday to spend more time with his family and focus on T20 franchise cricket.The league has allowed the six participating franchises to pick as “direct acquisitions” up to 14 overseas players for their line-ups – with up to nine allowed in the playing XIs. For MI Emirates, the 14 are Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Nicholas Pooran and Andre Fletcher (from the West Indies); Boult (from New Zealand); Imran Tahir (from South Africa); Najibullah Zadran, Zahir Khan and Fazalhaq Farooqi (from Afghanistan); Samit Patel, Will Smeed and Jordan Thompson (from England); Brad Wheal (from Scotland); and Bas de Leede (from the Netherlands).Related

• Shane Bond appointed MI Emirates head coach

• Trent Boult hoping he's not done with Test cricket just yet

• Lynn, Hetmyer, Jordan join Gulf Giants in ILT20

• Russell, Narine, Bairstow join Abu Dhabi Knight Riders for ILT20

• Boult's choice a landmark moment in fast-evolving landscape

While Pollard has been a one-team man in the IPL, turning out for Mumbai Indians every season since starting out with them in 2010, Boult was traded to Mumbai Indians ahead of the 2020 season by Delhi Capitals and went on to play a starring role in their title run. He picked up 25 wickets that season, second only to Jasprit Bumrah’s 27, and was the Player of the Final as Mumbai Indians won their fifth title. Bravo and Pooran have also represented Mumbai Indians in the past.”I am delighted with our dynamic group of 14 players that will be part of our #Onefamily and represent ‘MI Emirates’,” Akash M Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio, the owners of the franchise, said in a statement. “We are glad to have one of our key pillars, Kieron Pollard continue with MI Emirates. Joining us back are Dwayne Bravo, Trent Boult and Nicholas Pooran.”On Thursday, the franchise owned by the same group in the yet-to-be-named South African T20 league – MI Cape Town – had announced their pre-signings for the inaugural edition, to run more or less concurrently with the ILT20. That list reads: Rashid Khan, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada and Dewald Brevis.The MI Emirates team will be based in Abu Dhabi. The local UAE players will be added to the squad in the near future.

Joe Root resists temptation to pair Broad and Anderson with heavy itinerary still to come

Matt Roller12-Feb-2021England will make a call between the pace of Olly Stone and the control of Chris Woakes as they decide on an XI for the second Test in Chennai, with Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad and Ben Foakes confirmed as replacements for Dom Bess, James Anderson and Jos Buttler.
Joe Root named a 12-man squad in his press conference on Friday morning, with the decision as to which seamer comes into the side to replace the injured Jofra Archer to be made after England’s training session. Stone, who is the quickest available bowler in England’s squad, can hit speeds in excess of 90mph/145kph and is the closest like-for-like replacement for Archer, while Woakes would lengthen their batting line-up and provide greater control.With Buttler returning home as part of England’s rotation policy and Archer ruled out with an elbow injury, England were forced to make at least two changes. And Root confirmed that they would make four: Anderson has been rested ahead of the day-night Test in Ahmedabad, and Bess has been dropped after an inconsistent showing in the first Test. Stone has not played for England in any format since his Test debut against Ireland in July 2019, while Woakes is yet to make an appearance this winter after playing five out of six home Tests last summer.”There’s two different ways we can go,” Root said. “We can have the same balance [in the] side in terms of straight like-for-like swaps with Stone and Broad coming in for Archer and Anderson, or Woakes could come into things as well which adds to the batting and obviously gives us a huge amount of control with the ball.”We will make those decisions off the back of today, look at the wicket, get a bit more information a day out, and either way it looks like we have a very strong squad on this wicket.”Root admitted that he had been tempted to back Anderson to play what would have been his third Test in four weeks following his devastating spell of reverse-swing bowling on the final day of the first Test, but said that his omission was a reflection of England’s desire to keep him fit for the rest of the series.Anderson had vowed to put his “name in the hat” for selection in the second Test after his match-winning efforts in the first, but England have instead opted to continue their ploy of fielding only one of him and Broad in a single side this winter.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“”It gives him [Anderson] the best opportunity to be fit and available for those last two games,” Root said. “Everyone’s heart was in favour of him being available for this game but also you have to look at the bigger picture and ideally if he is available for two of the last three, that is a huge asset for us [with] the way he is bowling and his reputation, as well as his numbers and the way he has performed in recent games.”While it may come as a surprise to see England make four changes on the back of a dominant 227-run win in the first Test, Root said that it demonstrated their depth and their desire to be proactive rather than reactive in ensuring that their bowlers remain fresh throughout the tour.”It’s really important that we go into every game with the attack that we think is best going to exploit 20 wickets [sic] and get the best out of the surface. Whether that comes down to freshness, or making sure that over a series, guys are going to get through with the quick turnaround and the amount of workload that there is in this part of the world… you have to factor everything into it.Related

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“We’ve seen since Covid that the number of injuries has probably gone up around world cricket, and we’re trying to stay ahead of that and look after our players, and make sure that guys can get through a Test match and keep adding [to the side], not seeing performances dip off throughout. When you’ve got guys on the sidelines like Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad and Moeen Ali coming into this game, proven performers in Test cricket, that’s an exciting place to be.”Someone like Stoney, he hasn’t played a huge amount of cricket but has so much potential and excitement about what he can bring to the fore. It’s taken a huge amount of time to build this squad up, but now we’ve got the opportunity to utilise it all and to have that freshness going into games like this. They’ve got a great chance now to show what they can do in an England shirt.”Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood both arrived back in India on Friday, having flown home to rest after the series in Sri Lanka, but Sam Curran has been given a few extra days of down-time. Root confirmed that Foakes will keep wicket in the rest of the series barring injury, and that Bairstow will be considered exclusively as a specialist batsman.Root also said that he expects Archer to be “fully fit and ready to go for the rest of the series” after missing the second Test, and predicted that Ben Stokes would have a bigger role to play with the ball in the second Test after getting through 10 overs across both innings of the first.”He can provide that aggression and it looks like he’s getting fitter and stronger the more he gets into the tour,” Root said. “We had to be quite smart about him in the last game – he looked a bit uncomfortable at times – but the more and more he bowled in each spell he looked more comfortable.”I think he will go from strength to strength as you normally see from Ben – the more he gets into a series the more you get from him. You can bet that in those big moments, he will be the one asking for the ball, trying to change things and make a real impact. It is very exciting that there is more from him to come.”

Allrounder reported pain in left knee during second Test against New Zealand

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Dec-2019Ben Stokes will be fit to bowl in England’s Test series against South Africa, after undergoing MRI scans in which “nothing really showed up”, following his return from New Zealand.Stokes reported pain in his left knee after completing his second over on the first day of the second Test at Hamilton, and did not bowl again that day. But he was cleared to bowl after resting overnight, and bowled a further 25 overs in the Test.ALSO READ: Knee injury casts doubts over Stokes bowling again in second Test“It’s alright,” Stokes told TalkSport. “I got some scans when we got back [to] England and there’s nothing really showing up on the MRI scans, which is good news.”I just need to toughen up I guess but it’s alright and it’s just treatment now. I will be fine to bowl [in South Africa].”Stokes underwent surgery on his left knee in May 2016 after tearing cartilage while bowling against Sri Lanka and has had to manage the injury ever since. Ahead of the first Test of the New Zealand series, he admitted he was managing his workload because of it, and he was used somewhat sparingly in that game.Joe Root admitted after the second Test that it can be hard to take the ball out of Stokes’ hand, even when he has a niggle.Joe Root and Ben Stokes contemplate their options•Getty Images

“With Ben, you’re always trying to make sure he’s being honest with you,” Root said. “He’ll continue to keep bowling unless you pull him off.”You don’t want him to hurt himself and he’s managing that very well, he’s being a lot smarter with it and making sure that if he is sore he’s not going to rule himself out of any games.”Stokes also warned against expecting too much from Jofra Archer, who endured a difficult series against New Zealand in his first overseas tour as an England player.”When you achieve what he achieved in such a short space of time, you’re expected to do it day in, day out, but that’s just impossible,” Stokes said.”He’s 24 years old: he doesn’t have that much experience, he’s still learning how to bowl properly, he’s still learning how to bowl in Test cricket.”I saw he got a bit of stick in New Zealand but he’s never bowled with a Kookaburra ball before, so he’s still learning and understanding how to bowl in different conditions. So you’ve got to give him a bit of leeway, understand that he’s still learning the game and still maturing as a player, and not expect him to go out and take 4 for 50 every innings.”

The South Africa coach said that his team has moved on from the mishappenings of their previous series, and hoped their opponents would be able to do the same

Liam Brickhill30-Oct-2018Amid the soul-searching around the results of Australia’s Longstaff review, visiting South Africa coach Ottis Gibson pointed to something that was lost in the unfolding uproar since the cataclysmic ball-tampering incident at Newlands in March. When all eyes are focused on events happening off the field, no-one’s talking about the actual cricket.”It’s disappointing when cricket gets lost among all the other stuff, because at the end of the day that’s why we’re all here: to play some cricket,” Gibson said. “When you look at the cricket that was played in that series, after every game there was some sort of incident and the standard of cricket never got mentioned. I thought in the first Test in Durban, [Mitchell] Starc was fantastic and bowled really well. In Port Elizabeth, we were backs against the wall and AB de Villiers makes a brilliant hundred, then you had another incident at the end of that game.”The independent review has suggested that a bullying corporate culture within Cricket Australia contributed to the errant player behaviour that came to a head during a bad-tempered series. Gibson also pointed out another truth that doesn’t fit within an ultra-competitive, win-at-all-costs mindset: ultimately, it’s just a game.”Guys are making friends and playing together in other teams around the world. So when it comes to playing for the national team, you don’t expect them to take that friendship onto the field, but obviously, you don’t want it to boil over into some of the shoulder brushing and all the stuff that happened in South Africa. It’s just a game,” he said, repeating: “It’s just a game”.Gibson refuted the suggestion that there had been especially intense scrutiny of Australia’s handling of the ball during that series, saying that South Africa were well aware that the ball “is being followed all the time”, even before the infamous Cape Town Test. “The international game now, the way cricket is going even in the IPL and other leagues, there’s so much television and so much coverage that the ball is being followed all the time, is what we’ve been told, even before the Cape Town [Test]. So it just seemed like a silly thing to do, bearing in mind the number of cameras and the number of eyes that are on the game at the moment.”We moved on a long time ago. It happened many months ago now. Obviously, it shouldn’t have happened, we all accept that it shouldn’t have happened.”While South Africa might have moved on, that hasn’t been possible for their hosts. The Australian Cricketers Association has reiterated its call for a reconsideration of the harshness of penalties handed down to Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft in light of the findings of the review. Gibson said that hindsight might have changed perceptions about the players’ bans, adding that culpability must fall to CA to decide whether the punishment still fits the crime.”What happened called for strong action and, I guess, that’s what the people who made the decision at the time thought was strong enough,” Gibson said. “Now we’re six months down the road, and everybody has had a bit of time to step back and see what’s going on, and obviously, some people think that it has been too harsh. But was that their same opinion six months ago when it all unfolded? Hindsight gives us the opportunity to step back and look at things, but what happened shouldn’t have happened, and therefore, it called for an action and that’s the action that was taken. It’s up to those people to decide whether it’s too harsh.”Gibson empathised with Australia coach Justin Langer, and admitted that the team South Africa will face in three ODIs and a T20I over the next two-and-a-half weeks have “had their issues”.”It’s been well-documented, and still being documented even now. I’m sure Justin Langer and his coaching team would like to put it all behind them and focus on cricket, and that’s what we’ll be focusing on.”Gibson’s squad has been in Australia preparing for nearly a week, and their tour match against a Prime Minister’s XI will be their first – and only – opportunity for some time in the middle before the opening ODI in Perth on Sunday.”We have had a couple of good days in Perth and we are looking forward to this game,” he said. “It is our first actual match, the guys get tired of net sessions, so we want to get out in the middle.”South Africa are without the experienced pair of Hashim Amla and JP Duminy for this series, with both recovering from injuries, and while they used their limited-overs games against Zimbabwe earlier this month to field-test new options, these ODIs against Australia signal the start of an important next phase of their preparation for the World Cup.”We are halfway to our preparation for the World Cup, that is what we are focusing on,” Gibson said. “This is the next step on that World Cup journey. We have been trying to play a certain brand of cricket, a little bit more positive and aggressive, and we would like to test that out.”The team that Australia has put out, despite what is going on off the field, we have to respect them. They still have quality players. This will be an opportunity for us to test ourselves against them and to see where we are.”