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The Supreme Court is likely to appoint a committee of administrators to run the BCCI on Tuesday and amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium wants them to be empowered

Nagraj Gollapudi23-Jan-2017The Supreme Court is likely to finalise a committee of administrators to run the BCCI on Tuesday, and amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium has asked for this committee to be given the power to run the IPL, appoint the board’s representative to ICC meetings and take over non-compliant state associations.There has been a leadership vacuum in the BCCI since January 2, when the court removed Anurag Thakur and Ajay Shirke as president and secretary. The court said that it would appoint a committee of administrators to oversee the board’s operations until fresh elections are conducted and its constitution amended as per the Lodha Committee’s recommendations.Subramanium filed an intervention application in the court last Wednesday, in which he said it was important and urgent to empower the committee “to allay any misgivings that cricketing activities will be affected due to transition in the administrative structure” of BCCI and the state associations.”The reliefs are emergent and necessary to assist and empower the Committee of Administrators to carry out the mandate of this Hon’ble Court and effectively discharge the onerous responsibility placed on them to ensure that the reforms are implemented in its letter and spirit.”Subramanium asked the court to issue “a direction that the Committee of Administrators shall also be in charge of IPL and may appoint advisors as they deem necessary; an injunction restricting any person, groups of persons, association(s), State Cricket Association(s) from interfering in the functions of the Committee of Administrators; a direction empowering the Committee of Administrators to nominate any member to represent BCCI in the forthcoming ICC Conferences.”Additionally, Subramanium wanted the committee of administrators to take control of all state associations that have not complied with the Lodha Committee’s recommendations. Some of them are still holding out despite the court’s orders in October limiting their financial freedom. Subramanium added more pressure by asking, “upon the office bearers of State Cricket Associations not filing an undertaking in accordance with the orders dated 7.10.2016 and 21.10.2016, the Committee of the Administrators shall be in charge of such State Cricket Association(s) including its properties until freshly elected bodies are in place.”Another significant plea from Subramanium concerned the reinstatement of the Lodha Committee’s authority.In its January 2 order, the court had agreed to a request by the Lodha Committee to limit their purview to “overall policy and direction”. But a week later, the Lodha Committee answered a list of frequently asked questions on who could become a BCCI office bearer. Kapil Sibal, the senior legal counsel who has been representing BCCI and some of the state associations, asked the court on January 20 whether the Lodha Committee was eligible to reply to those FAQs. The court told Sibal it would address the matter in due course.To counter such doubts, Subramanium wanted the court to restore the Lodha Committee’s powers: “…A direction that the mandate of the Justice Lodha Committee to complete oversight, implementation and issuing directions if necessary in terms of the judgement dated 18.7.2016 shall continue in addition to the administration of BCCI and implementation of the reforms by the Committee of Administrators and, liberty be granted to the Committee of Administrators to seek guidance and directions from the Justice Lodha Committee and if necessary to apply to the Hon’ble Supreme Court for directions through the Amicus Curiae.”

The Curran brothers shared six wickets as England Lions completed a comprehensive 195-run victory in the opening four-day match against Sri Lanka A

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2017
ScorecardSam Curran cleaned up Sri Lanka A’s lower order•Getty Images

The Curran brothers followed their important second-innings runs by sharing six wickets as England Lions completed a comprehensive 195-run victory in the opening four-day match against Sri Lanka A.The contest was over shortly after lunch on the final day as Tom Curran ended with 3 for 35 and Sam Curran 3 for 21. The previous day they had added 62 to stretch the Lions lead. There were also two wickets for Middlesex offspinner Ollie Rayner.Sri Lanka A offered minimal resistance, expect for opener Udara Jayasundera who carried his bat with 64 off 166 deliveries, although a final-wicket stand of 54 delayed the end a little.”Everyone has chipped in,” Keaton Jennings, the England Lions captain, said. “As a whole team performance it was absolutely brilliant. It’s a good bowling attack to captain, with a lot of variety, and a really good bunch of guys to captain as well. Those runs we got lower down the order in the first innings were very important in setting up the game.”When Sri Lanka resumed on 41 for 2, Tom Curran gave the Lions an ideal start to the final day when had Roshen Silva caught behind in the first over. Tom Helm also produced a first-over trick, for the second time in the match, by surprising Charith Asalanka with extra bounce.Rayner removed the key wicket of captain Dhananjaya de Silva and also claimed Dilruwan Perera as the Sri Lanka slide continued before the Currans almost finished things off in double-quick time. Sam Curran was on a hat-trick with the No. 11, Asitha Fernando, on strike but he survived and alongside Jayasundera played out the extra half hour the Lions claimed to try and wrap up the victory before lunch.However, it did not take long after the break until Fernando picked out Nick Gubbins at mid-on to give Sam Curran his third.Despite the convincing margin of victory, Jennings pinpointed the top-order batting as an area for improvement ahead of the second four-day game in Dambulla. In the first innings the Lions’ last two wickets added 106 and in the second the last four provided 130.”We all know our roles and responsibilities, and as a top order batter you want to score runs,” he said. “Not everybody can score runs all the time. But you’ve got to make sure you try and take care of that role, show the grit to get through those tough periods and get runs.”From a bowling point of view as well, there’s a few plans we can come up with now we’ve seen a few of their guys. That’s the exciting thing, the room for improvement in the second game in Dambulla. But this was a very good team performance – very enjoyable.”

Delhi Daredevils coach Rahul Dravid has said missing a batsman of Quinton de Kock’s calibre as well as the experience of JP Duminy will affect the balance and composition of the team going into tenth edition of the IPL

PTI30-Mar-20170:54

Quick Facts – JP Duminy

Delhi Daredevils coach Rahul Dravid has said missing a batsman of Quinton de Kock’s calibre as well as the experience of JP Duminy will affect the balance and composition of the team going into tenth edition of the IPL.Duminy has cited personal reasons for pulling out while de Kock has a finger injury, sustained during the Test series against New Zealand.”It is obviously a big blow when you lose big players like JP Duminy and Quinton de Kock,” Dravid told PTI during an interaction at Delhi Daredevils’ academy ground. “If these things happen before the auction, then it is easier because you can plan better. But then this is how it goes and you cannot help it.”Dravid is banking on experienced international allrounders like New Zealand’s Corey Anderson and Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews to fill Duminy’s void but admitted that de Kock is a bigger loss, considering he was a player who could give the team momentum at the top of the order. He was also Daredevils’ top scorer during the last IPL.”We do have talented players like Sam Billings and hopefully they can go up and perform,” he said. “We have allrounders like Corey Anderson and Angelo Mathews, so we hope that these boys can stand up and perform and in some way replace JP. But yes, Quinton is a big loss because he played so many games for us and was one of our main batsmen. We had built him up for this season, but this is how life is and you cannot do much about it.”Quinton de Kock was Delhi Daredevils’ top scorer in IPL 2016 with 445 runs•BCCI

Dravid is hopeful that the core group of Indian batsmen, including Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair, Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant, will have a good season. Asked how he expects Pant’s second season to be after an impressive opening season, Dravid said: “I hope it is better than last season from our perspective. I won’t say Rishabh is our only X-factor. We have guys like Karun, Sanju, Shreyas and [Aditya] Tare.”We will also look to strategise better and give the [younger] players a good opportunity. In a format like the IPL, it is also important to rest the players and keep them fresh and we will also look at that and give it our best.”Dardevils were in contention last season for a top-four berth till the last match, in which Royal Challengers Bangalore outplayed them. Dravid is hopeful things doing better this time around.”We needed to win that one game and qualify for the knockout stages but unfortunately we did not qualify. But this time, we will look to start from where we left last season and try and improve further.”Dravid also feels that Zaheer Khan’s decision to play from IPL to IPL will not hurt the team as the former India fast bowler is an inspiration. “We have a lot of youngsters in the team and that is where we needed Zaheer, as he brings in that knowledge and sense of calm in the dressing room. You need that when you are playing a tournament like the IPL. Also a lot of the youngsters look up to Zaheer as he is an inspiration.”

An unbeaten 132-run stand for the seventh wicket between Roston Chase (131) and Jason Holder (58) helped West Indies end day one on 286 for 6

The Report by Danyal Rasool30-Apr-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:07

Roston Chase, the Caribbean’s Crisis Man

A day that started with ominous familiarity for the West Indies ended in unexpected success as the hosts recovered from a middle order meltdown to post 286 for 6 at stumps. Roston Chase was primarily responsible for the turnaround, an unbeaten 131 – just his second century – dominating the day, while Jason Holder’s unbeaten fifty helped run Pakistan ragged in a final session off which they scored 120.Chase’s awareness around the crease was excellent, knowing exactly when to leave the ball. He was equally effective at adjusting his feet when facing the spinners, and was in position to take advantage when they dropped the ball either short or bowled full. The stroke that brought up his century was a fitting snapshot of how he had played: a delightful cover drive off an overpitched delivery from legpinner Shadab Khan, who had a particularly harsh introduction to the longest format. In the absence of Yasir Shah for most parts of the final session, he was summoned but failed to ring in any sort of consistency.The evening session began, somewhat familiarly, with Holder joining Chase to play his part in yet another rearguard. With the West Indies top and middle order disappointing so regularly, Holder’s runs in the lower order have become essential to his side, rather than just an added bonus. To his credit, he delivers more often than not, and he gave Chase stellar support.With Yasir clearly hampered by a back niggle and unable to bowl at full tilt, Pakistan were at times reduced to being a three-man attack. Chase and Holder were wise to the situation, ensuring they didn’t give a wicket away easily and waited for the bowlers to tire. As they did, their intensity invariably dropped and for the first time all day, Pakistan looked like they were waiting for a wicket to fall instead of actively hunting for one.West Indies had perhaps expected an easier ride after winning the toss and choosing to bat in favourable conditions, but a splendid new ball spell from both Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Abbas put them on the back foot straightaway. The wicket of Kraigg Brathwaite, when it came, had a sense of inevitability to it, the right-hander edging an Amir delivery that held its line. When Shimron Hetmyer fell flashing at a ball outside off stump soon after, the lack of experience was telling.With the pitch seen as conducive to spin bowling, Misbah-ul-Haq turned to Yasir as early as the eleventh over. There was sharp turn on offer for the legspinner right away, hardly a ringing endorsement of the wicket, what with this being the first morning of the Test. But with the under-fire Shai Hope having gone into his shell, Yasir pitched one on a length around middle stump. Hope failed to get on the front foot in time, and the ball took the edge through to Sarfraz Ahmed as West Indies slumped to 37 for 3.Amir provided Pakistan the next breakthrough, ripping a yorker into Powell’s toes that tailed in at serious pace, taking the slow pitch out of the equation. The umpire turned down the appeal, but Amir was sure, and Hawk-Eye agreed with him. Wickets continued to fall as West Indies threatened to fold for a sub-200 total, as the hosts were reduced to 154 for 6. The players went in for tea soon after; the fans will probably have needed something stronger.What they couldn’t have known was Chase and Holder would concoct the perfect tonic to soothe their disappointment in the final session, as the West Indies improbably finished the day on even terms. With the partnership standing at 132, and still unbeaten, the fans had better turn up tomorrow, too. They certainly haven’t seen this before.

Conor McKerr became the youngest Derbyshire player to take 10 wickets in the match, but it was all futile as they collapsed to defeat against Northants

ECB Reporters Network11-Jun-2017
ScorecardBen Sanderson spearheaded Northants’ victory•Getty Images

Ben Sanderson took four second-innings wickets to push Northamptonshire back into contention for promotion from Division Two of the Specsavers County Championship with a 128-run win over Derbyshire at Wantage Road.Sanderson’s 4 for 31 on day three followed up 5 for 52 in the first innings and saw Northants comfortably defend 319 for a fourth win in six matches this season.It looked like Derbyshire were rolling over, having slipped to 58 for 6 shortly after lunch but Tom Taylor made a bright half-century in a stand of 106 with Daryn Smit that avoided humiliation. It merely delayed Northants’ victory until after tea, with Derbyshire eventually bowled out for 191.

Reece discharged after heart scare

Derbyshire batsman Luis Reece was unable to bat having been taken to hospital earlier in the game with an inflammation of the heart caused by a viral infection.
He was discharged from Kettering General Hospital on the third morning of this game.

It was another remarkable day where 16 wickets fell – as they did on day one. Nine of them came in the morning session where Derbyshire’s hopes of a first victory in two years was raised, only to be dashed before lunch.Northants resumed four down with a lead of 289 and sights on setting a target towards 400. But such ambitions were destroyed as Conor McKerr took a second five-wicket haul in the game and became the youngest bowler to take ten in a match for Derbyshire, beating FE Bracey, whose ten came back in 1907 in this very fixture at Derby.McKerr swung a full ball into the pads of Ben Duckett to trap him lbw for just 8 and took out the leg stump of Josh Cobb who recorded a pair. And when Rory Kleinveldt was cleaned up looking for runs with only the No. 11 for company, McKerr had 10 for 141.It completed an outrageous Northants collapse from 225 for 1 and from four overs before the close on the second evening, Northants lost 8 for 33 in 18 overs.It meant Derbyshire were right back in the game but with still a testing 320 to chase. But 20 overs in and their were shattered.Before lunch, they lost three cheap wickets to Sanderson. Billy Godleman miscued a pull that came off a top-edge to square leg, Jeevan Mendis was trapped lbw to an inswinger and Shiv Tahkor also fell pulling, his a full-blooded shot that was very well held by Cobb at square-leg.After lunch, Sanderson’s fourth came when Wayne Madsen chopped into his middle stump and Gary Wilson was run out from a direct hit running to his right from point. Nathan Buck also removed Alex Hughes lbw trying to pull.Derbyshire were in desperate need of a resistance if only to save face and Taylor counterattacked to good effect, driving Buck down the ground, Rob Keogh past extra-cover and sweeping the same bowler. He should have gone for 28 when he was caught at deep square off a Buck no-ball but survived to go through to a second first-class fifty in 44 balls with a clip through midwicket – his ninth four.Together with Smit – bravely resisting with an injured right hand – the pair added 106 for the seventh wicket at over five-an-over to bring to target down to 156 and make Northants sweat a little. But Taylor fell playing in the manner that had brought him his fine fifty – trying to hook Buck and getting a faint edge through to wicketkeeper Duckett.When the same bowler had Tony Palladino held at second slip for 2 it looked as if the game would be over before tea but Smit’s resistance continued and he and McKerr got Derbyshire through to the break, only for McKerr to be bowled by Keogh two overs in the final session.

Jamie Overton took three wickets before the close after half-centuries from Mark Stoneman, Keaton Jennings and Nick Gubbins had set the Lions up for a declaration

ECB Reporters Network23-Jun-2017
Scorecard Mark Stoneman top scored with 86•Getty Images

Three of the contenders for a possible Test call-up – Keaton Jennings, Mark Stoneman and Nick Gubbins – all made half-centuries as England Lions pressed for victory against South Africa A in the tour match at Canterbury.Skipper Jennings and former Durham team-mate Stoneman passed 50 for the second time in the match before Middlesex’s Gubbins sped the Lions toward a declaration with 63 off 65 balls.England pulled out on 308 for 5 after scoring at nearly five an over on a slow pitch, leaving South Africa A with a target of 412 but they lost four wickets before the close, three of them to Somerset’s Jamie Overton in successive overs.Openers Adrian Markram and Heino Kuhn had put on 164 in the first innings but were parted with 8 on the board this time around when Essex’s Jamie Porter defeated Markram’s tentative defensive push. Overton then had Kuhn and Khaya Zondo caught behind and Theunis de Bruyn smartly held at fourth slip as South Africa A limped to 29 for 4 at stumps.A fortnight after he made his career-best 197 for Surrey in the Specsavers County Championship, Stoneman continued his impressive form with 86. He was dropped on 20 and 33 but the left-hander played confidently on both sides of the wicket with 15 fours and a six off offspinner Dane Piedt.Stoneman and Jennings came together after Haseeb Hameed had been dismissed cheaply for the second time in the match when he was squared up by Beuran Hendricks. The second-wicket pair put on 145 in 35 overs and Stoneman appeared to be cruising towards his fourth hundred of the season when he played on to Duanne Olivier after facing 129 balls in 163 minutes.Having hit nine fours in 122 balls, Jennings, one of only three players in this week’s squad who are in the party for the Lions game against South Africa next week, fell for 71 to a smart slip catch cutting against the spin of Piedt before left-hander Gubbins began England’s acceleration after tea.After Dan Lawrence had been caught behind off Hendricks, Gubbins and Ben Foakes, who made an unbeaten 127 in the first innings, added 69 in 7.4 overs with Foakes employing the slog-sweep against Piedt to good effect, twice clearing the midwicket boundary in the same over.Gubbins wasn’t afraid to employ the long handle either, depositing Hendricks over long-on for six. Foakes drove to cover after making 34 from 27 balls and England declared when Gubbins, who struck eight fours and a six, was out in similar fashion.Earlier, South Africa A had been bowled out for 283 – a deficit of 103 – in their first innings after their last three wickets added 46.

Half-centuries by Jacques Rudolph and Aneurin Donald helped Glamorgan extend their leadership of the NatWest T20 Blast South Group with a 25-run win over Kent

ECB Reporters Network30-Jul-2017Jacques Rudolph led the way for Glamorgan again•Getty Images

Half-centuries by Jacques Rudolph and Aneurin Donald coupled with a frugal two-over stint of 1 for 12 by Craig Meschede helped Glamorgan extend their leadership of the NatWest T20 Blast South Group with an emphatic 25-run win over Kent.Rudolph’s captain’s knock of 77 not out from 52 balls saw Glamorgan post 199 for 2 on an excellent Canterbury pitch – a pursuit that proved too tough for Kent despite Joe Denly’s 68 as the hosts fell well short with a 20-over total of 174 for 4.Looking for their fourth South Group win, Kent’s chase started with panache when Denly straight drove Michael Hogan’s fourth delivery for a straight six. At the other end Daniel Bell-Drummond went for 3, dragging the ball on to middle stump in attempting to cut Lukas Carey’s third delivery of the afternoon to bring in Kent skipper Sam Northeast with only 21 on the board.Denly hit the ropes three times as Graham Wagg’s first over of left-arm seam went for 13 to move past the 300-run milestone in this year’s Blast, yet Kent were still 10 behind the visitors come the end of the Powerplay.Northeast upped the tempo with a swept six against Colin Ingram’s wrist spin and, with spin at both ends, Denly repeated the dose against Andrew Salter to keep Kent ticking at eight-an-over. Hitting to the shortest boundary on the Old Dover Road side of the ground, Northeast cleared the ropes again against Ingram as did Denly over extra cover against Wagg as Kent reached 93 for 1 at the midpoint of their reply.After taking a wicket and conceding only two in his opening over, Carey leaked 17 in his second over as Northeast cantered to a 28-ball
fifty with four sixes. But he holed out to deep midwicket when targeting another six off Marchant de Lange to end a second-wicket stand of 89 and bring in left-hander Alex Blake.Denly continued serenely, lofting Wagg for a third maximum in a 36-ball half-century, but Blake chipped to long-off in Meschede’s first over to be replaced by allrounder Jimmy Neesham. Suddenly the boundaries dried up and, with 36 required from the last five overs. Wagg had his revenge by having Denly (68) caught on the ropes at deep midwicket and Kent’s outside victory hopes went with him.Bowling first after winning the toss, Kent made two changes to the side that beat Somerset on Friday night. Having suffered a recurrence of a thigh injury New Zealand paceman Adam Milne was replaced by Calum Haggett, while veteran offspinner James Tredwell was preferred to rookie left-armer Imran Qayyum.Glamorgan made a watchful start through openers Rudolph and Donald, who opened their side’s boundary account in the third over when Matt Coles leaked 15 runs. Neesham also conceded 15 from his second over as Glamorgan completed their Powerplay overs without alarm in reaching 62 without loss.Taking a low-risk approach to batting by keeping the ball on the turf with proper cricket strokes, the visiting openers complimented each other superbly and kept the board ticking just as nicely.Donald was first to his 50 from 30 balls only to lose his middle stump when playing across the line to Haggett’s very next delivery that made it 88 for 1. Glamorgan dangerman Ingram marched in with 275 runs already to his name in this season’s Blast and appeared intent on accelerating the run rate.Rudolph raised Glamorgan’s 100 with an impudent reverse flick for six off Haggett then left-hander Ingram cleared the ropes with a slog-sweep off the next delivery from Tredwell. But, with his score on 11, Ingram risked a lofted straight drive off Coles and miscued high to long-off where Bell-Drummond took a stunning catch on the run.Rudolph cantered to his fifty from 35 balls and finished unbeaten on 77 from 52, while David Miller contributed a useful 43 not out from 25 balls, plundering 19 off Mitch Claydon’s last over to set Kent a tough asking rate of 10 an over for victory.

Kumar Sangakkara’s eighth Championship hundred of the season continued his run of imperious form and put Somerset on the back foot in the fight to avoid relegation

Tim Wigmore at Kia Oval20-Sep-20171:18

County Championship round-up: Sangakkara troubles Somerset

They call him, simply, “The King”. And, really you can see why. For Kumar Sangakkara, in his 40th year, is lording over English county cricket like it is his own personal fiefdom.Here, in his last ever first-class game at The Oval, and the penultimate one of his career, Sangakkara was majestic, clinical and chanceless yet again. In isolation, this was an innings to enrich any autumnal day. In the context of a magnificent career, it produced memories that many in the crowd will cherish to the end of their days.As ever, there was a myriad of cricketing splendour to enjoy. Each spectator will have their own preferences. To some it will be any of the languid drives, stroked through the covers with no more discernible effort than a coach potato reaching for another pack of crisps. For others it will be the cut, hit late and with sumptuous precision, with which Sangakkara reached his eighth first-class century of the summer.To this correspondent, though, the finest moment came a ball after Dom Bess, Somerset’s young offspinner, had turned one sharply past Sangakkara. As if riled by the merest hint of fallibility, Sangakkara took a couple of strides down the wicket to his next delivery and caressed Bess for a straight six. It was a shot that, delicately and beautifully, carried a simple message: Sangakkara is in charge.All summer long, Sangakkara has played like a video gamer who has unlocked cheat mode, and found a way to bat in cricket without being dismissed. But he is not merely a brilliant player; he is also cold-hearted and utterly ruthless. And so, when Somerset decided to rest their seamers in sight of the second new ball, Sangakkara spied an opportunity to shift the trajectory of this game, perhaps irrevocably.To see Tom Abell trundle in with his medium-pacers, while Sangakkara interspersed playing him exquisitely from the crease with charges down the wicket, was to think of the old line of cowering Christians being fed to the lions. Sangakkara’s art gave way to violence.One of the hallmarks of sporting greatness is not merely the performances themselves, but the burden they place on opponents. The effect of Sangakkara is often to make the opposition perform worse, so flustered are players by the spectre of his excellence. In the evening sunshine, Somerset, who had bowled thoroughly admirably, rapidly began to betray the effects of being exposed to Sangakkara for too long.Bess bowled a rank full toss, pummelled through midwicket for four, and Abell delivered too many balls of dubious distinction. Even the fielders were rattled: a cut to third man went through substitute fielder Roelof van der Merwe’s legs. When Sangakkara, on 88, scampered a precise quick single, there were four overthrows, as if he needed the help.Kumar Sangakkara recorded his eighth hundred of the season•Getty Images

Perhaps the greatest testament of all to Sangakkara’s unquenching thirst for self-improvement and endless curiosity about batting is how he has bettered his first two years at Surrey. In both 2015 and 2016 he averaged in the high 40s in first-class cricket – ordinarily very good, yet scant justice to Sangakkara’s multifarious gifts.As he walked up The Oval stairs to yet more lauding – now more resembling the fawning of rock stars than the genteel applause traditional in county cricket – his tally for the summer read 1369 runs in 13 innings, at an average of 124.45 apiece. No overseas batsman has been as dominant in a summer of English county cricket since Brian Lara in 1994, the summer of his 501.Yet even Lara then only – and, yes, to use that word is absurd, but such has been Sangakkara’s mastery – averaged 89.82. He has scored a century against every county he has played in the Championship this summer; only Hampshire were spared, by his detour to the Caribbean Premier League. Essex are unique in depriving Sangakkara of a half-century in a match – even if he scored a double-century and 84 in the other game against them. For that alone, they deserve the Championship pennant a million times over.Before all the felicitations of Sangakkara, Somerset had bowled tenaciously, with great accuracy and unwavering spirit. None were better than Peter Trego. Gliding in from unusually wide of the crease, his angle accounted for both Surrey’s openers, and left Surrey a round 100 behind Somerset when their fourth wicket fell. Then, Ollie Pope, industrious, enterprising and a sweet driver, came out to join Sangakkara.Now, Sangakkara did what he has done to numerous bowling attacks over his career: he broke them. In the process, he also broke some of Surrey’s own supporters. “Four more years!” they chanted, disbelieving that he really is retiring from first-class cricket. It sure beat grumbling about the bad light that marred the day’s play. But then the best performers heed a simple truth: always leave ’em wanting more.

Tamim aggravated the injury he suffered during the second Test, forcing him to miss the rest of the South Africa tour and at least two weeks of Bangladesh’s premier domestic T20 tournament

Mohammad Isam20-Oct-2017Tamim Iqbal has been ruled out of the rest of Bangladesh’s tour to South Africa after aggravating the injury on his left thigh muscle for the second time in two weeks. He will return home on October 22, and is set to miss at least the first two weeks of the Bangladesh Premier League, which is scheduled to begin on November 4.Tamim had first injured his left thigh during the practice match at the start of the tour in Benoni and in the first Test in Potchefstroom, which he played carrying the injury. Both instances occurred when he was fielding.Despite not being 100% fit, he played the second ODI in Paarl. Before the game however, he had said that he was risking another injury.At the time, Tamim said: “If I get injured again [in the same spot], then I will be out for two months which I hope the team management doesn’t want and neither do I.”When he played in Paarl, there were many who were dismayed by the team management’s decision to risk an in-form batsman, like Tamim, who had already aggravated the injury during the first ODI. Bangladesh, meanwhile, have also lost Mustafizur Rahman due to an ankle injury.Chief selector Minhajul Abedin, on the South Africa tour as manager, has said that Mominul Haque, who is in the ODI squad, will remain with the team for the T20Is as Tamim’s replacement.

The legspinner could be Australia’s trump card in Coffs Harbour as they look to go 2-0 up against the world champions

Adam Collins25-Oct-2017For a ground that has only been in existence for 23 years, Coffs Harbour’s International Stadium has multiple claims to fame. It’s where the Socceroos posted the highest score in the history of international football, piling on a 31-0 win against American Samoa in 2001. Lately, it has become the international home of Austag. Last month it hosted Midnight Oil. In the early days, it was where you went if wanting to catch a rodeo.But maybe it’s best yet? It is where, in November last year, Amanda-Jade Wellington made her international debut. Predictably, with what had been seen of her in domestic cricket, with her first delivery in green and gold she defeated South African champion Mignon du Preez with the most exquisite leg-break.Australia returns to the ground for the second ODI in this multi-format Ashes series 1-0 up after their win in Brisbane. While she didn’t nab a wicket there, it was the 20-year-old Wellington who made herself the talking point across 10 pulsating overs, where all her main tricks – drift and spin – were rolled out routinely, with edges beaten time and again.To get picked, Wellington had to supplant incumbent wrist spinner Kristen Beams, a dozen years her senior but Australia’s most effective operator at the World Cup. But the performance was so good that it builds the case that she may already be the most potent weapon that skipper Rachael Haynes has at her disposal.Mark Robinson, the England coach, has a slightly different take. Acknowledging that Wellington is a “quality bowler” he was quick to add that the wicket “properly ragged” that lent her considerable assistance. “We’re really happy how we played her with all the cards in her favour,” he said. “For us not to lose a wicket and to take her for 40 we were really happy. I wouldn’t expect many of the wickets to spin to that extent.”Haynes, by contrast, believes Wellington could do the same wherever she was turning her arm over. “She has shown she can turn it on any wicket,” she said. “I don’t think she is a one trick pony. She has got more up her sleeve than just the leg-spinner.”And she might have to. Indications on match eve are that the Coffs Harbour ground staff have produced a belter: hard, flat and starkly off-white in colour. There is less margin for error as well, the boundaries wound in noticeably from the opening fixture, especially down the ground.Robinson is comfortable with this adjustment, having himself directed the ropes to be set at the minimum permitted length of 55 yards in the English summer of 2016 to encourage Nat Sciver to start trying to take down attacks. She did then and has barely stopped doing so since.”I just think for the good of the women’s game it’s a better spectacle,” he said, “It allows the girls confidence to be able to swing and not over-hit.”Under Robinson, this England side has averaged two sixes per innings in ODIs since when the previous Women’s Ashes were contested in 2015. In the two years prior to that, they were hitting just one maximum every four games. It shows that if afforded the chance to bat first, they have the tools to go big. But Australia do too, Haynes insists.It will be England’s first game under lights since July 2016, and one where the pressure is dialled up further for the fact that they aren’t the current trophy holders. With 16 points available across the seven rubbers, England needs to claim ten of to win. If they go down here, they will be nearing the stage where they need to run the table thereafter.But that sort of difficulty doesn’t concern their captain Heather Knight, who recalled how little room they had to move after losing their World Cup opener against India before winning every match that followed to unexpectedly lift that trophy. “We made a habit of doing well when our backs were against the wall and that’s the same situation now,” she said.Both captain and coach expressed frustration at not finding a way to win on Sunday after reducing Australia to 87 for 4 chasing 229, before having eventual match-winner Alex Blackwell dropped by Alex Hartley in her follow-through when she was 35. “We were gutted,” Robinson said. “We should have won that game. If we took that catch, we win.”It is expected they will go into the fixture with the same XI. Australia too may do that. Haynes signalled that a harder and bouncier surface should provide a more meaningful opportunity to Tahlia McGrath, the seaming all-rounder used for only one over on Sunday with spin mainly deployed to win.She acknowledged that if conditions are favourable then more runs will need to come than on Sunday, Blackwell then the only Southern Star to pass 50. For that, she will hope Ellyse Perry can repeat her back-to-back half-centuries from their last visit here in 2016.Upon her arrival at the ground yesterday, the omnipresent all-rounder gushed about her fondness for the place. Little wonder with that record. If she and Wellington can make Coffs Harbour their own again on Thursday, Australia will already be a long way towards retaining their trophy.