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On paper, Sri Lanka have the better spinners, but they will need some stars to align if they are to upset the hosts

Andrew Fidel Fernando24-Oct-20221:12

Marsh: ‘Our backs are against the wall and we know what’s in front of us now’

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Is it possible? Are Sri Lanka in a better place going into this match than defending champions Australia?You could make a case, but not really. It’s complicated. Australia were beaten so profoundly by New Zealand in their tournament opener, their NRR has plummeted to a truly appalling -4.45. Sri Lanka, having thrashed Ireland first up, have a NRR of 2.467.NRRs only come into play if teams are on equal points ahead of the semi-finals. But you’re aiming to be the two best sides in a six-team group. Competition is fierce. And NRRs will weigh on teams’ minds. Sides as far back as Australia, who ordinarily are expected to beat Sri Lanka on home tracks, have that little extra inkling of pressure upon them. They don’t just want to beat Sri Lanka; they want to win big.Sri Lanka will be content with just winning. In Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, and Dhananjaya de Silva, they have better spinners than Australia. But on paper, Sri Lanka don’t win a lot of battles. They don’t have a pace attack of the quality of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood. And while Kusal Mendis looks as if he is working himself up to serious form, Sri Lanka’s middle order did not put up serious numbers in the qualifiers. They are heavily dependent on those 8-12 overs of spin.If an upset is to happen here, some stars will need to align. The likes of Dasun Shanaka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa may have to produce the kinds of innings they did in the recent Asia Cup, which Sri Lanka won. Sri Lanka’s inexperienced seamers will need to perform beyond expectation also.Related

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Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)Australia LLLWWSri Lanka WWWLW

In the spotlight

Australia’s openers are their top-scorers this year, which isn’t particularly surprising. However, they have hurt Sri Lanka many times before, and will be confident of taking down the opposition’s novice seam attack. Aaron Finch has three fifties and strikes at 136 against Sri Lanka. David Warner has monstered Sri Lanka in the past, hitting six fifties and a hundred. His 642 runs against them is his highest against any opposition, and he has scored those runs at a strike rate of 141. Sri Lanka will probably need them out early to make a game of this.Although Wanindu Hasaranga gets a lot of headlines, Maheesh Theekshana has been building himself quite the record too. After 28 T20Is, he has 29 wickets, and an impressive economy rate of 6.42 when you consider he often bowls at least one over in the powerplay. In the absence of Sri Lanka’s go-to death bowler in Dushmantha Chameera, Theekshana will likely have to bowl towards the end of an innings too. So far, he’s done the job nicely. He’s got seven wickets, and maintained an economy rate of 5.86 so far in this tournament.Australia’s opening defeat to New Zealand has left their NRR at an appalling -4.45•ICC/Getty Images

Pitch and conditions

There is a small chance of rain in Perth, but it’s unlikely to impact the cricket hugely. Not a lot is known about how the Perth stadium pitch will behave, because it is not only a new stadium, it also saw little cricket over the pandemic. But it tends to be a boundary-hitting ground.

Team news

Sri Lanka are likely to slot Pathum Nissanka back in the XI, and perhaps put seamer Pramod Madushan back into play too, with both seeming to have recovered from niggles. This means Ashen Bandara, and perhaps Lahiru Kumara, go out.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Kusal Mendis (wk), 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Dhananjaya de Silva, 4 Charith Asalanka, 5 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Pramod Madushan, 11 Binura Fernando/Lahiru KumaraAustralia are likely to be unchanged despite their big loss.Australia (possible): 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch (capt.), 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Tim David, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Stats and trivia

• Australia have won eight of the T20s they’ve played against Sri Lanka at home, to Sri Lanka’s seven. One of those wins was a Super Over victory.
• Dasun Shanaka has had an outstanding 2022, in which he’s hit 456 runs, at a strike rate of 142. But he’s had a modest World Cup so far, with scores of 29, 0, and 8 in his three innings.
• The three most-prolific T20I batters against Sri Lanka are Australia batters. Warner is No. 1 and, Finch No. 3, with 446 career runs against them. Glenn Maxwell, at No. 2 on this list, has the most impressive stats – he’s hit 459 at a strike rate of 175.

James Bracey set to debut behind stumps, as England call up Billings, Hameed

Andrew Miller26-May-2021Ben Foakes has torn his left hamstring in a dressing-room accident and will miss the two-Test series against New Zealand, starting at Lord’s on June 2, with James Bracey set to debut in his place as wicketkeeper.Foakes, who had been in line to play his maiden home Test series after finishing the recent tour of India as England’s incumbent keeper, sustained the injury after slipping in his socks while walking through the Surrey dressing-room following their drawn LV= County Championship fixture against Middlesex on Sunday.Foakes’ assessment and rehabilitation will be managed by the Surrey medical team. However, in a statement, the ECB said that he was expected to be out of action for at least three months, meaning he is unlikely to play any part in the five-Test series against India that starts at Trent Bridge on August 4.In Foakes’ absence, Bracey is in line to take over the keeper’s role for his Test debut. Bracey has been a part of England’s bio-secure bubble since the home series against West Indies last July, and was already widely tipped to make his debut as a batter at some stage in the series.However, the other established wicketkeepers in England’s ranks – Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow – are both missing from the current squad, having been rested following their involvement in the IPL, which was postponed earlier this month due to India’s surge in Covid cases.As a consequence, Sam Billings has been drafted into the Test squad as cover. Though he was also at the IPL, as a non-playing squad member at Delhi Capitals, Billings’ winter was interrupted by a shoulder injury, sustained during his solitary ODI appearance at Pune. He returned to action as Kent’s captain last week, making 11 against Glamorgan in his first County Championship appearance of the season.James Bracey is expected to keep wicket on debut after a long period in the England bubble•AFP via Getty Images

Given that Bracey was effectively covering for two roles in England’s squad, the coach Chris Silverwood has also recalled the Nottinghamshire opener Haseeb Hameed, who played each of his three Tests against India in 2016-17, before breaking his hand and suffering a subsequent loss of form for his former club, Lancashire.Hameed, however, has started the 2021 season impressively, making 474 runs at 52.66 to help Nottinghamshire end a three-year win drought with three victories in a row. He is due to play in the forthcoming Championship fixture against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, starting on Thursday, before linking up with the England squad at their London base on Sunday night.The timing of Foakes’ injury would be cruel for any player, but it is particularly unfortunate given how long he has had to wait to be given an extended run in England’s Test squad. He was first selected for England’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2018-19, and immediately impressed with a matchwinning hundred on debut in Galle. However, he was squeezed out of the XI after an ill-balanced team slumped to two Test defeats on England’s subsequent tour of West Indies.Related

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Despite being widely considered the best gloveman in English cricket, Foakes was made to wait another two years for his next Test opportunity, when Buttler flew home for the final three Tests of England’s tour of India, as part of the management’s rest and rotation policy. His wicketkeeping immediately stood out in tough conditions, as he pulled off three stumpings in the second Test at Chennai, although he was unable to better the unbeaten 42 that he made in the first innings of that match.Speaking to London’s Evening Standard in the build-up to the Lord’s Test, Foakes admitted he was looking forward to his home England debut after eight overseas appearances (as well as a one-off ODI against Ireland in Malahide and a T20I in Cardiff in 2019), but said that he recognised that opportunities at the highest level could be few and far between.”You can preoccupy with the external stuff that’s not in your control,” he said. “I am not wondering how many games I might get. I just want to get picked, and treat it for what it is – a game. I’m not worried about any add-ons. I would like to get runs and catch well, but I wouldn’t say I’m trying to put reminders in peoples’ minds or anything like that. I’m just trying to do well.”

Dubai Sports City would “definitely be keen” to stage fixtures, whether internationals or county games

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Apr-2020Dubai has emerged as the latest overseas venue that could host games to help salvage some cricket in the English season.Last week, ESPNcricinfo revealed that Abu Dhabi Cricket (ADC) was set to offer its facilities to the ECB for use between October and January, with all professional cricket in England and Wales suspended until July 1 at the earliest. Tom Harrison, the ECB’s chief executive, said on Friday that there had been “offers from multiple boards… as far away as New Zealand and Australia”.And Dubai has now thrown its hat into the ring to host games, as Salman Hanif, the head of cricket at Dubai Sports City (DSC), suggested he would “definitely be keen” to host whatever fixtures were on the table, whether internationals or county games.ALSO READ: Hundred postponement ‘makes more sense’ than low-key launch – Moeen AliRestrictions have started to lift in the UAE following a strict curfew, and it would seem that the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic has been avoided there with 89 deaths reported to date. Malls have begun to re-open across the country, while the conditions of the lockdown have been loosened.”If anything comes up – any bilateral series, or tournament – that has to be rescheduled, UAE would definitely be keen to host any of them,” Hanif told the . “It is still too early to plan, but if there is anything such as that being considered by the ECB, we would be more than happy to host them.”We have hosted them in the past, and we would certainly offer the best of support, facilities and everything again. Outside of full member countries, UAE has the best cricket facilities, infrastructure, management support, and support for cricket organisations. We have proved that in the past. If anything comes up, I think UAE would be considered at the forefront.”There are three grounds at Dubai Sports City: the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, where England have played 12 times against Pakistan across all three formats, and two pitches at the ICC Academy which have regularly hosted pre-season county fixtures.The ECB has repeatedly stated its intention to stage cricket in England and Wales this summer, with internationals and the T20 Blast prioritised as the most lucrative forms of the game. Harrison said last week that the ECB was “starting to get comfortable with the idea there won’t be crowds this summer”, suggesting that revenue from ticket sales would not be a major consideration.Richard Thompson, Surrey’s chairman, said last week that staging games overseas “has to be considered” but raised the “significant cost” of flying whole squads abroad as a drawback.”Broadcasters are crucial to this,” he said. “No governing body wants to breach an agreement with the broadcasters, so as long as it can deliver the product, it doesn’t matter where it delivers it from.” It appears that offers to play games overseas remain at a very early stage.Last week, David White, the chief executive of New Zealand Cricket, told the : “We really feel for the ECB right now, given the disruption to their season, and are wanting to help in any way we can.”I’m in constant contact with Tom [Harrison] and have communicated that offer to him, should it become possible at our end. We’re part of a global cricket family, and we need to support each other.”

India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and South Africa fast bowler Duanne Olivier were also big gainers

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2019Cheteshwar Pujara’s tally of 521 runs in the four Tests in Australia, his best-ever returns on an overseas tour, has vaulted him to third spot in the ICC rankings for Test batsmen. His runs were crucial in India’s historic 2-1 series win that extended their run at the top of the team standings, while Australia remained fifth despite losing a point.Pujara struck his overseas best of 193 in the drawn fourth Test in Sydney, to follow centuries in Adelaide and Melbourne, and was named Player of the Series. Elsewhere, Rishabh Pant, who also brought up his best Test score of 159 not out in Sydney, was another big gainer, jumping 21 spots to vault into the top 20. No Indian wicketkeeper has been ranked higher in the batting rankings than Pant, who now sits at No. 17.Pant’s aggregate of 673 points are the highest-ever by an Indian wicketkeeper. MS Dhoni, who retired from Tests in December 2014, held the previous highest rating points (662), and his highest ranking was No. 19. Pant was India’s second-highest run scorer in the series with 350 runs. In addition, he also collected 20 dismissals.In the first Test in Adelaide, Pant took 11 catches to equal the world record for most catches by a wicketkeeper in a Test. He eclipsed the all-time India record of 10 catches by Wriddhiman Saha, and drew level with England wicketkeeper Jack Russell and South Africa’s AB de Villiers.Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja gained one place to be listed fifth among bowlers, even as he surpassed West Indies captain Jason Holder to climb to second place among allrounders. Jadeja played only the final two Tests, picking seven wickets in addition to a counter-attacking half-century in Sydney.A few South Africa players also moved up the rankings table, having taken an unassailable lead in the three-match series, with victories in the first two Tests in Centurion and Cape Town. Opening batsman Aiden Markram moved back into the top 10 after scoring 78 in South Africa’ eight-wicket win over Pakistan in the Cape Town Test. He slotted in at No. 10, while team-mate Temba Bavuma moved into the top 30 for the first time.Among the bowlers, Vernon Philander has gained one position to reach third place while Duanne Olivier, who picked 16 wickets in two Tests, continued his surge to move up to 32nd place from 36th.

The ECB has been forced to delay its plans to finalise the commercial terms of the new-team T20 competition after key aspects were rejected by the first-class counties

George Dobell23-Oct-2017The ECB has been forced to delay its plans to finalise the commercial terms of the new-team T20 competition after key aspects were rejected by the first-class counties.The ECB recently circulated a framework agreement for the tournament in the hope it would be signed by now, but feedback from several counties suggested they felt the goalposts had been moved significantly since they agreed to support it. As a consequence, the ECB chairman Colin Graves, wrote to the counties on Friday to reassure them he was “very aware” of the “legitimate questions and concerns” they had raised and to inform them the ECB was “dropping the deadline” for feedback over the agreement to allow a longer period of consultation.That means counties will be asked to tender to host the matches without an accurate idea of the costs or revenues involved.The ECB will distribute tender documents to the counties (and the MCC) on Tuesday for the allocation of major matches from 2020. It will be followed by a presentation period in January – an opportunity for the grounds to show what they can offer – with the allocation set to be announced on February 14. There will, as ever, be significant winners and losers from the announcement with the decision over which clubs will host the new-team T20 competition and the 2023 Ashes series especially intriguing.Central to the delay in agreeing the commercial terms of the new-team T20 competition is a divide between those clubs likely to host it and those that will not. While some of the hosting clubs feel the financial rewards are inadequate, some of the smaller venues are concerned they are too generous and will put their own clubs at a significant long term disadvantage. The current plans would see the hosting clubs receive an annual fee of £150,000 and 30 per-cent of their own gate revenues. The first-class counties have already been guaranteed £1.3m a year each for lending their support to the new competition.Some of the hosting clubs are also uneasy that the ECB’s demand for ‘clean grounds’ during the tournament will incur huge costs and damage their own commercial agreements. A clean ground, as defined by the ICC, means the hosting club cannot use it for games (or, potentially, conferencing purposes) or retain any of its own sponsorship agreements visible in the stadium for the entirety of the tournament. Effectively, therefore, clubs would have to move out of their own grounds for five-weeks in mid-summer. They are also concerned that the offer of 30% of gate revenues is nebulous until the ECB establishes the price of tickets. Previous comments suggest they will be priced low to attract as wide an audience as possible.There are also concerns that new competition will not, in the short term at least, offer the increase of funding to grass roots cricket that was anticipated. While there is an appreciation that the new competition – and a partial return of free-to-air broadcast coverage – will provide the oxygen of publicity the game has long required, it was also initially suggested that 10% of the new-competition revenues would go to grassroots cricket. But the framework agreement makes clear that figure will come from “net revenues”. Many (though not all) insiders do not expect the competition to make a profit in its opening years due to set-up costs, so the benefits to the grass roots game may be less tangible than originally hoped.Managing such expectations may be a recurring theme at the ECB in the coming years. Having secured an impressive-looking broadcast deal – £1.1 billion over five years from 2020 – they have raised hopes for increased funding across the game. They are now finding the demands for that money, not least in terms of player salaries, is going to require careful negotiation and planning.Meanwhile, the ECB hopes to finalise the composition of the board that will run the new-team T20 competition before the end of the year. The board, effectively a subcommittee of the full ECB board, will comprise two directors elected from the county game and five independent directors.

India captain MS Dhoni said he had guessed correctly that the final delivery from Dwayne Bravo would be a slower ball but his execution of the shot let him down

Peter Della Penna in Florida28-Aug-20163:37

Happy with how we bowled in last eight overs – Dhoni

India captain MS Dhoni said he had guessed correctly that the final delivery from Dwayne Bravo would be a slower ball but his execution of the shot let him down. With two runs needed off one ball, Dhoni was caught at short third man and West Indies won the first T20 international by the narrowest of margins.Dhoni said his team should be commended for their valiant chase in the highest-scoring T20 game ever. “I feel there were plenty of positives in this game because the way we chased down 245 runs, apart from the last ball,” he said after the match. “I felt we were totally in the game. Even the last ball, the thinking was right, the execution was wrong.”A cat-and-mouse game that had been developing over the course of the final six balls reached a new level as Bravo engaged in several discussions, stalling for several minutes ahead of the last ball, with two required by Dhoni to secure what would have been a record chase. Even though Dhoni said he knew what was going to be sent down, he praised Bravo’s skills in such a pressure moment.”When it comes to Bravo, I feel in the current scenario he’s among the best when it comes to the death bowling,” Dhoni said. “The amount of experience that he has really counts so you always know if he’s bowling it’s tough. What then becomes important is how we’re executing.”You have to really guess what he’s looking to bowl and according to that you play your shots. So if you guess the bowler well and execute well, you’ll end up winning. Rather than thinking who is bowling, what’s important is to think what his strength is and where he’ll look to pitch the next delivery.”Despite India conceding the third highest total in a T20I, Dhoni praised his bowlers for their effort to reel West Indies back in after Johnson Charles and Evin Lewis added 126 for the first wicket in 9.3 overs. By the end of the 11th over – a 32-run sequence in which Lewis struck the first five legal deliveries from Stuart Binny for six before mis-hitting a full toss – West Indies were 164 for 1.Dhoni said he thought West Indies were on track for 270 or more before R Ashwin started to shift momentum with a four-run 12th over, bowling with the breeze at his back.The wind from the pavilion end helped the spinners throughout the rest of the innings, and Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja conceded just 18 runs in the 12th, 14th and 16th overs. India’s pace bowlers also began nailing their yorkers and the result was just 40 runs off the final four overs to keep West Indies to 245.MS Dhoni said his bowlers did well to pull West Indies back to 245, after they had looked like getting 270•BCCI

“I felt the way the boys performed overall was very good,” Dhoni said. “I was very happy how we brought the opposition down when it came to the last eight overs. That really matters because that is something where we have struggled quite consistently but it was a good exposure to our bowlers and they finished up well to restrict them to 245.”Dhoni also praised the batting efforts of KL Rahul, who struck his maiden T20I century in just his fourth match. Rahul ended 110 not out off 51 balls, having missed the fastest T20I ton by two deliveries, taking 46 balls to reach three figures.”He has been very consistent,” Dhoni said. “I feel that is a strength of Rahul also, compact player but at the same time unorthodox shots. He plays all over the ground, over covers, mid off, mid on. So a complete cricketer. Of course there’s a long way to go for him but the way he has played in the last six months, it’s very encouraging to see him bat.”As for the experience of playing in Florida in front of a heavily partisan Indian diaspora, Dhoni joked that “even if we’re playing in Bermuda Triangle, they’ll be there”. He also praised the efforts put in by the groundstaff at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill.”The facility is as good as anywhere else,” Dhoni said. “The ground itself is up to international standard. You can’t score 500 runs on a bad wicket, so fantastic wicket. The practice wickets were fantastic. When it comes to the stadium, it’s not a big stadium. The moment I say stadium I mean the number of fans it can house. I think it’s close to 15,000. So overall looking at everything as a complete package, I think it was fantastic. We had fun.”When it comes to the Indian fans, it’s a pleasure playing in front of them. They follow us everywhere wherever we are playing. So it’s a first time we are playing in the USA but not to forget we have a big Indian community out here so thanks to them for coming and watching the game.”

Paul Stirling’s incisive spell was followed by a John Mooney hat-trick at the end of the first innings as Ireland quelled a Jersey threat in a seven-wicket win at Malahide

The Reprt by Peter Della Penna in Malahide19-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsPaul Stirling’s incisive spell was followed by a John Mooney hat-trick at the end of the first innings as Ireland quelled a Jersey threat to seal their spot in the 2016 World T20. Ireland’s qualification was also helped by losses to Papua New Guinea and Namibia. PNG, Namibia and Hong Kong finished on seven points to confirm their place in the playoffs next week.Stirling claimed 3 for 16 before bashing a swift half-century in the chase, which was sealed with 20 balls to spare, while Jersey’s knockout stage hopes were extinguished with the loss.Jersey were 88 for 1 in 13 overs after being sent in as captain Peter Gough and Sussex academy batsman Jonty Jenner put on a 46-run stand before Stirling sparked the visitors’ slide with the wicket of Jenner. However, replays showed that Jenner was struck outside the line of off stump on his attempted sweep.Jersey were still in with a chance though at 102 for 2 in 15 overs with Gough still at the crease, but Stirling and Alex Cusack continued to keep Jersey off balance and the last eight wickets fell for just 16 runs. Stirling hadn’t bowled since the tournament opener against Namibia, but his spell shifted momentum back in favour of Ireland as he induced Cornelis Bodenstein to loft to long-off before another ill-advised sweep accounted for Anthony Kay.Cusack opened the bowling and was hit hard in his first two overs – going for 18 runs, but came back in the 17th to end Gough’s scratchy innings for 42 as he mistimed a slog over midwicket that was well taken by Stuart Poynter backpedaling from edge of the circle. He struck again four balls later, teaming up with Poynter at cover to get the right-handed Nat Watkins for 1 before snatching his third in the 19th over as Corey Bisson lofted to Stuart Thompson at long-off.Mooney reinforced his position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, moving to 14 in six games by wiping out the tail with a series of slower balls in the final over. Charles Perchard was done in by a yorker out of the back of the hand off an attempted paddle scoop. Kevin O’Brien claimed a skier on the next ball to remove Ben Kynman before George Dockrell settled at deep square leg to catch Ben Stevens and give Mooney his hat-trick.With Niall O’Brien still nursing a knee injury and unlikely to take any further part in the tournament, William Porterfield moved himself back up to open with Stirling for the first time in the tournament. The previous five opening partnerships – a mix of Stirling, O’Brien and Andy Balbirnie – amounted to a total of 27 runs, but the reunification of Ireland’s prolific opening duo from the last few years had its desired effect, adding 44 runs in just 4.5 overs.Jersey’s fielding, which had been impressive all tournament, let them down as Porterfield did survive a straightforward chance at slip in the first over. Stirling also could have been caught off a slash to third man on 35, but Nat Watkins opted to let the ball fall in front of him to prevent a boundary which left the bowler Kynman bemused.Porterfield added 17 to his tournament tally of 186, including a huge six that clanged off an oak tree beyond the deep square leg boundary but fell trying to repeat the shot off the following ball from Kay and was caught by Bodenstein running in from deep midwicket. Stirling added another 47 for the second wicket with Balbirnie and brought up his fifty off 34 balls, his first of the tournament, before being caught in the deep by Jenner off Stevens’ left-arm spin.The only other wicket to fall was Kevin O’Brien, leg before after missing a sweep to Stevens. Balbirnie and Gary Wilson took Ireland the rest of the way in an unbeaten 21-run stand. Balbirnie hit the winning single through the off side on the fourth ball of the 17th over to finish 32 not out while Wilson ended unbeaten on 11.

Sri Lanka have a number of young players in their squad keen to get an experience of Australian conditions before the 2015 World Cup

Brydon Coverdale in Melbourne10-Jan-2013In choosing their squad for the start of this series, Australia’s selectors made no attempt to hide the fact that they were starting to plan for the 2015 World Cup. Sri Lanka might not have trumpeted it, but they too are looking ahead to that tournament. They have been for some time. While they haven’t rested veterans and other key players for this series – Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Rangana Herath are all in their mid-30s – they have ensured there is plenty of youth in the group.There is Akila Dananjaya, the 19-year-old offspinner who emerged last year as a net bowler who had seemingly mastered the doosra and the carrom ball. There is Kushal Perera, the uncapped 22-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman. There is Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne and Thisara Perera, all of whom have become ODI regulars in the past two years, yet are still in the 22-23 age group. Those last three already have experience of conditions in Australia, where the next World Cup will be held. Further exposure will be invaluable.”It’s a very young squad. I think after the last World Cup we’ve gone in that direction, when we came to Australia for the triangular [series] as well last year we had a very young team,” Jayawardene said ahead of the first ODI in Melbourne. “Chandimal, Thirimanne, all those guys are regulars in the one-day team, so going forward you need to look at that [the World Cup]. It’s in about another two years’ time so all those guys will be looked at.”The couple of young spinners we’ve bought in, Ajantha [Mendis] is coming back after an injury layoff, Akila Dananjaya is here as well so those guys will get the exposure they require to bowl in these wickets. We’re definitely looking at developing a side for the next four or five years.”While spin might not be the weapon that it can be at home in Sri Lanka, the quality of Mendis, Herath and Dananjaya will make them difficult propositions for Australia’s batsmen – even considering the new rules that allow only four fielders outside the circle. Jayawardene said Mendis would draw confidence from his strong record against Australia in the shorter formats, though mostly in T20, and for Dananjaya the trip would be a valuable learning experience.”Ajantha is a class act and he’ll come in with a lot of confidence, knowing that he has had a lot of success against them, but it’s just another game of cricket,” Jayawardene said. “He has to deliver. We’ve got a lot of variations in our bowling line-up. That’s something that we will try and make use of to create some problems for that line-up. Most of our spinners are looking forward to the opportunity of bowling in these conditions and trying to improve their tricks and see how they can become better bowlers outside Sri Lanka.”We’ll see how it goes with Akila. We wanted him to come and learn. [He may get] an opportunity – we’ve got a lot of cricket, seven matches is a lot of games. Hopefully he will get a bit of a taste of Australia as well. We just want him to develop into a bowler that we want him to be. This is the start of it. This is his first tour away from Sri Lanka. It will be a good investment for us.”We’ve had the opportunity to play in Australia the last three years now, so most of the guys have had that opportunity. The guys who haven’t had that opportunity, it will be great for them, especially on different wickets because every venue will provide us with a different surface. We need to adjust to those surfaces pretty quickly. That will be a challenge and the guys will learn from that.”But spin isn’t Sri Lanka’s only weapon in the limited-overs games. The presence of Lasith Malinga, who has spent the past few weeks in the Big Bash League convincing Australians he is unplayable, is a major boost. David Hussey said this week Malinga, his Melbourne Stars team-mate, was in the form of his life. That kind of hype cannot hurt the Sri Lankans.”I saw what Huss has [said about Malinga],” Jayawardene said. “He’s got people thinking, that’s good. It’s good to know that people are thinking about it obviously and they’ll probably expect those deliveries to come at them as well. We’ve got a few other guys who have got that x-factor in our line-up. As long as one or the other clicks and gets the job done for us on the day.”

Kieron Pollard has been ruled out of the inaugural edition of the Big Bash League due to a hamstring injury

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Dec-2011Kieron Pollard, the West Indies allrounder, has been ruled out of the inaugural edition of the Big Bash League due to a hamstring injury. Pollard, who was part of the Adelaide Strikers team, injured his right hamstring while fielding on Thursday and scans revealed a grade two strain. Alfonso Thomas is likely to take his place in the playing XI.”Our plan was always to rotate the international players, and now with our additional signing, it means Alfonso Thomas is able to slot straight into the team,” Darren Berry, the Strikers coach, said. “We are obviously disappointed to lose Polly and his firepower in our middle order, but we won last year’s T20 competition (South Australia) and have proven we can win without him.”Pollard struck form with the bat recently, scoring his maiden international century, an innings that included 10 sixes, against India in Chennai. The South Africa offspinner Johan Botha is also part of the Strikers squad. “The arrival of Johan Botha from South Africa is great news for us, and we regard him as one of the finest T20 players in the world,” Berry said. “The two international players [Botha and Thomas] we have already in the squad, along with the rest of our local stars who formed a large part of the winning team last year, will hold us in good stead.”The Strikers play their first game on December 18 against Melbourne Renegades.

Within three sessions of complete England dominance at the MCG, they moved to within touching distance of retaining the Ashes by dismissing Australia for 98 and passing their total with no wickets down

The Bulletin by Brydon Coverdale at the MCG25-Dec-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Ricky Ponting’s disappointing run of form continued when he was caught at slip for 10•Getty Images

It was meant to be Boxing Day, not Boxing Australia Around the Ears Day. Within three sessions of complete England dominance at the MCG, they moved to within touching distance of retaining the Ashes by dismissing Australia for 98 and passing their total with no wickets down, leaving Ricky Ponting requiring a late Christmas miracle to avoid leading Australia to three Ashes series failures.Chris Tremlett and James Anderson collected four wickets each, backing up Andrew Strauss’s decision to send the hosts in, before Strauss and Alastair Cook showed that with discipline, batting wasn’t that hard on a pitch with a little juice in it. The day could not possibly have gone better for England, who finished at 0 for 157 with Strauss on 64, Cook on 80, a hefty first-innings advantage in prospect and a 2-1 series lead on the horizon.For Australia, it was up there with the opening day at Headingley against Pakistan this year, in terms of disastrous cricketing dates. Back then they chose to bat and managed only 88, but this time there was one slight difference – their dismal performance will probably cost them the Ashes. Not since 1936 had they scored a lower Ashes total at home, and that was in the days of uncovered pitches.It took Tremlett, Anderson and Tim Bresnan less than two sessions to run through the order as they hit consistent lines and kept the runs tight. They also exposed Australia’s team-wide inability to handle seam movement and swing, which is no great revelation but could not be ignored in front of 84,345 fans on the biggest day in the Australian cricket calendar.Every batsman fell to an edge caught behind the wicket, six to the wicketkeeper Matt Prior, two to slips and two to gully. Too many men played with hard hands away from their bodies, and they struggled to work out which deliveries to leave and which ones to play. The questions that the batting coach Justin Langer must consider surround not only technique, but also judgment.England picked up four wickets before the first break and in one particularly impressive patch they collected 3 for 0, as Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson all failed to make solid contact with the face of the bat. A rain delay had extended lunch by nearly an hour, but even that wasn’t enough to help the Australians survive until the scheduled tea break.But England’s bowlers certainly earned their wickets, especially the early strikes. Shane Watson was dropped twice on 0, as Paul Collingwood at slip and Kevin Pietersen at gully denied Anderson an early breakthrough. It was a sign of things to come, and Watson had only made 5 when he was surprised by sharp bounce from Tremlett and fended a loopy catch to Pietersen.