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Sunil Gavaskar, the interim BCCI president for IPL affairs, has said that playing the game with integrity and honesty is critical, particularly amid the corruption allegations that have dogged the league

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Apr-2014Sunil Gavaskar, the interim BCCI president for IPL affairs, has said that playing the game with integrity and honesty is critical, particularly amid the corruption allegations that have dogged the league. Gavaskar was speaking on the sidelines of the opening match of the T20 league between Kolkata and defending champions Mumbai in Abu Dhabi.”Integrity is non-negotiable… You cannot compromise on integrity as far as any sport is concerned, particularly the IPL, because of what has happened last year,” Gavaskar said. “It is therefore important to change the image and change the perception.”According to a BCCI release, Gavaskar stressed on the importance of playing the game according to the MCC Spirit of Cricket at the pre-season meeting with captains and coaches. He said that the image of the game should not be tarnished because of the acts of a few individuals.”In my speech last night, I said that just because of a few people, the entire society doesn’t get tarnished. Similarly, because of a couple of people, you must not tarnish the cricketing fraternity and the tournament.”I hope the fans would understand that there are a lot of honest players out there who go out and slog and sweat it out and give their best. They try their best every single delivery, every single minute and you should have faith in them.”

Angelo Mathews has had his sights set on the World Cup for some time now, and as the build up begins in earnest, he hopes to make adaptability a cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s bid

Andrew Fidel Fernando29-Aug-2014Adaptability has been among Sri Lanka’s strengths in global competitions. Since 2007, they have put together their fine run of finals appearances by reacting quickly to the diverse challenges each new opposition and venue pose, during the competition. In recent years, Sri Lanka have achieved this with a clot of multi-skilled cricketers in the middle order.
Angelo Mathews has been chief among these, finishing innings with increasing aplomb, and maintaining economy with the ball when he can’t quite manage to penetrate. Thisara Perera has contributed in both disciplines as well, and in the past, cricketers like Jeevan Mendis and Farveez Maharoof have been part of good campaigns.Mathews has had his sights set on the World Cup for some time now, and as the build up begins in earnest, he hopes to make adaptability a cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s next bid for global-tournament silverware. He had hoped to experiment with his XI in this series, but after Sri Lanka ran up a total of 310 and defended it with some comfort at Hambantota, Mathews has begun to feel Sri Lanka are zeroing in on a unit that is well-equipped to deal with any situation.”The combination that we have can play on any wicket,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll have to change the combination for the Dambulla wicket. It might have a little bit more carry than Hambantota. It might get drier and drier as the day goes on. It might be effective for the spinners. You can never predict it 100%. I think the XI that played in the last game can handle any sort of pitch.”The advantage with that XI is that Mathews has a wide array of bowling resources to call upon. There are the frontliners in Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara and Rangana Herath, but then Mathews himself, Perera and Seekkuge Prasanna are almost frontliners themselves. In that core group of bowlers, Mathews has the best death bowler in the world, a swing bowler who can be a threat at the start of an innings, an experienced spinner who exerts control, and a more attacking slow-bowling option in Prasanna.Mathews and Perera themselves add variety. Both have cutters, slower balls and bouncers, but can also deliver line, length and seam. Beyond the bowlers and allrounders, Tillakaratne Dilshan is among the most reliable part-time spinners in limited-overs cricket, and Ashan Priyanjan also bowls finger spin. Although Malinga and Kulasekara had a poor outing in the second ODI in Hambantota, Mathews had the resources with which to pare back Pakistan’s chase, unlikely though it was that the opposition would run down 310. The buffer his support bowlers provide, means there is more margin for error for the frontline bowlers.”Not really worried about Lasith and Kule,” Mathews said. “For example, if Kumar Sangakkara or Dilshan or Mahela Jayawardene fail in a couple of innings, we’re not going to throw them out because we know the class that they have in themselves. Lasith and Kule know their mistakes and they will come back. We need to be patient with them because sometimes people can have rough patches and they will turn up and win you games. They are that quality. They’ve always been our pressure situation bowlers and we need to have faith in them. We don’t need to get panicked. We still have time. We’ll go with them.”On the batting front, Sri Lanka have twice made good scores despite few runs from the top three. A strong lower order gives the batsmen leeway as well. With batting down to Kulasekara at No. 9, Sri Lanka have rarely batted so deep.”We’re playing seven batters, and we expect at least a few to get the runs on that day. I’m pretty sure the top order will start getting runs, because they’re not out of form. It didn’t happen in the last two games, but I have faith in them. I’m sure if they get a good start they will carry on.”

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ICBT Campus breezed to a 43-run victory in the finals of the Sri Lanka leg of the Red Bull Campus Cricket, thus booking their place in the global event which features leading college cricket teams from different countries

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Feb-2014
ScorecardICBT Campus breezed to a 43-run victory in the finals of the Sri Lanka leg of the Red Bull Campus Cricket, thus booking their place in the global event which features leading college cricket teams from different countries. ICBT beat Royal Institute of Colombo to take the title, in a competition that featured seven teams.Royal Institute of Colombo chose to bowl, and ICBT powered to 172 for 8 in their 20 overs courtesy cameos from batsmen all through the order. Rishen Mathangaweera claimed five wickets – five of the top six, that is – to finish as the joint top wicket-taker in the tournament.But his efforts were in vain as Royal Institute of Colombo fell to 129 all out. They were dealt a blow early in the chase when opener Dinal James Fonseka had to retire with the score on 13. Fonseka returned later and went on to top score with 27, but the team could not really get the momentum needed to chase over eight an over. ICBT’s bowlers shared the wickets around and eventually bowled Royal Institute of Colombo out on the final ball of the 20th over.

James Vince, the 23-year-old Hampshire batsman has been appointed the county’s new T20 captain

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Apr-2014James Vince, the 23-year-old Hampshire batsman, has been appointed the county’s new T20 captain. It is a further rise in Vince’s responsibility after he was made vice-captain of both the County Championship and 50-over sides.Vince, an attractive batsman who toured Sri Lanka with England Lions in February, takes on the challenge of keeping Hampshire’s superb run going in T20.They have reached the last four finals days, lifting the trophy in both 2010 and 2013. Vince played in both successes under the captaincy of Dimitri Mascarenhas, who retired at the end of last season.Vince has a solid record in T20s with almost 1500 runs at 27.49 coming at a strike-rate of 127.24. 23 is a young age to be placed in charge but Vince has now been a fixture in the Hampshire dressing room for four years.”I’m looking forward to the challenge of captaining the side,” Vince said. “It will be a very proud moment to lead the lads out in our first game. I’m lucky that we have a very talented squad and one that has already had a lot of success in the competition.”I’ve played under some very good and successful captains who I’ve learnt a lot from so I will try and follow in their footsteps and hopefully we can have another enjoyable and successful T20 season.”Hampshire have been installed as favourites for this seasons NatWest T20 which will see group matches spread over the season in a regular Friday night slot, bringing in a new challenge for counties having to switch quickly between the longest and shortest formats.Hampshire director of cricket Giles White naturally thinks Vince is capable of leading the transition: “James has impressed both on and off the pitch and this is a great opportunity for him. He has the respect of the group and thinks about the game well and for those reasons I am sure he will do an excellent job.”

Sunette Loubser claimed two wickets and then struck 25 not out to guide South Africa to victory in the tri-series final in Doha

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jan-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSunette Loubser claimed two wickets and then struck 25 not out to guide South Africa to victory in the tri-series final in Doha. In a low-scoring match, 16 wickets fell for 189 runs but South Africa had enough contributions down the order to get home with 39 balls to spare.Having only managed to make 94, Pakistan fought hard with the ball, taking regular wickets. Sumaiya Siddiqi and Nida Dar both claimed two wickets in parsimonious spells but South Africa could afford to progress at just two runs an over. At 38 for 4 and with two new batsmen at the crease, there was a window of opportunity but Loubser and Shandre Fritz closed it during a 31-run stand.Having been put in, Pakistan began steadily and despite a couple of early losses were 56 for 2 after 20 overs. Two balls later, however, Loubser had top-scorer Javeria Khan caught for 30 and the pressure began to increase. Bismah Maroof and Dar were the only other batsmen to make double figures, as seamer Shabnim Ismail claimed figures of 3 for 25.Pakistan’s last six wickets fell for just 18 runs as the group-stage winners, in a tournament that also featured Ireland, lost to South Africa for the second time in three days. The same teams will now contest a T20 tri-series, with the first match on Sunday.

Nuwan Kulasekara, Sri Lanka seam bowler, will not be available for the remaining Tests against Pakistan, after having sustained a hamstring tear at the end of the ODI series

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Abu Dhabi04-Jan-2014Nuwan Kulasekara, Sri Lanka seam bowler, will not be available for the remaining Tests against Pakistan, after having sustained a hamstring tear at the end of the ODI series. Kulasekara was not considered for the first Test, and though he remained with the team throughout the match, further scans revealed he would not recover in time to contribute to the two remaining games.”They discovered the injury a few days back and Kulasekara won’t be part of the tour anymore,” captain Angelo Mathews said. “We haven’t decided when he will be leaving, but it will be some time in the next few days.”Sri Lanka had picked five seam bowlers in their 16-man squad, and Mathews said his team would not be flying in a replacement for Kulasekara. In addition to Shaminda Eranga and Suranga Lakmal, who played in the first Test, fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep and left-armer Vishwa Fernando are also in the squad.The pitches in Dubai and Sharjah, where the remaining Tests will be played, are also generally suited to spin, and Sri Lanka may play only two frontline seam bowlers in both matches.Sri Lanka’s next Test assignment, against Bangladesh, is scheduled to begin the week after the end of the ongoing tour, and it is unclear as yet whether Kulasekara will be available for that series.

Preview of the group A match between Otago Volts and Perth Scorchers in Jaipur

The Preview by Rohan Sharma24-Sep-2013Match factsSeptember 25, 2013
Start time 1600 (1030GMT)Big PictureWith their first match rained out, Perth Scorchers will be itching to get out on the field and prove their worth in the tournament. This, however, will prove a difficult exercise for the Big Bash League runners-ups, as they have arrived without their stars and match-winners, with players like Nathan Coulter-Nile, Shaun Tait, Alfonso Thomas, and the Marsh brothers not in the squad. Instead, Simon Katich leads a side which is a mix of youth and experience, with Ashton Agar, at 19, being their youngest player and Brad Hogg, at 42 years, their oldest. The side still has some international experience with the likes of Adam Voges and Marcus North in the fold.Otago Volts, on the other hand, have simply been on a roll. Led by Brendon McCullum’s bat, they went undefeated during the qualification stage, with their bowlers also clicking at vital junctures. Their first group-stage match against Mumbai Indians, which could have provided them a measure of how strong the opposition are going to be in the main draw, was also washed out. However, after playing the qualifiers, they are better prepared than most. The seamers were effective on the pace-friendly pitch in Mohali, with Ian Butler, Jimmy Neesham and Neil Wagner, all chipping in, and they are likely to find conditions in Jaipur in their favour again.Perth will be at a slight disadvantage as they have yet to play in Indian conditions, and as such, will need some time, potentially some matches, to get the gist of the pitches on offer. Katich will have to draw upon his own experiences as a Test batsman who has played in India, when he leads his team out on the field. Otago, however, will take inspiration from their results thus far, and the powerful show of Hamish Rutherford and McCullum at the top of the order.Players to watchWithout a doubt, Brad Hogg holds the key in Perth’s rather sparse bowling attack. He has been a part of the Rajasthan Royals squad for the past two IPL seasons, and also holds valuable experience at the international level. At this year’s Big Bash League, he finished joint-fourth on the wicket-takers list with 11, and has provided good returns during the IPL in recent times.Hamish Rutherford has shown how dangerous he can be in his brief appearances at the crease during the qualifiers. In the first match against Faisalabad Wolves, he smashed a 12-ball 25, which included three huge hits over the boundary. If he can find a way to stay at the crease, then he could become a real problem for the opposition captain.Quotes”The four teams in our pool are tough, but we don’t feel like underdogs. We feel we are good enough to match these teams; whether that means winning or not is a different story.”
“This tournament is about grabbing the opportunity. It might never come around again. We have to have an eye on the future as much as this just being about today.”

Two of USACA president Gladstone Dainty’s longtime allies have come out strongly against USACA vice-president Michael Gale’s claim that the solution to USACA’s current problems is to ratify an amended constitution

Peter Della Penna13-Nov-2014Two of USA Cricket Association president Gladstone Dainty’s longtime allies, Atlantic Region administrators Sheldon Mollineau and Shelton Glasgow, have come out strongly against USACA vice-president Michael Gale’s claim that the solution to USACA’s current problems is to ratify an amended constitution. Instead, they are withdrawing their support of the Dainty administration and are calling for all leagues to reject the proposed changes that are up for a vote at the coming weekend’s AGM.”If people were to read the document, there are some very disturbing elements in that document,” Glasgow told ESPNcricinfo. “The administration banks on the apathy of the leagues to get certain things through because a lot of people would not have read that document. If people approve that document, you’re going to have six more years of Dainty and company. I never thought I’d be saying this but we just can’t afford to have that for cricket. Cricket will surely die in this country by then.”Among the proposals put forth by a governance review conducted last year by TSE Consulting, were to cut down the total size of the board while adding independent directors to make up 50% of the administration, which would greatly reduce the current board’s power. Other recommendations were for athlete representatives to be added to make up 20% of the board and term limits be established.Instead, USACA is proposing to increase the number of people on the board while also reducing the number of proposed independent directors. Term limits would not be applied retroactively and the executive board member positions of president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer would no longer be voted on by all member leagues but would only be decided by a consolidated voting panel of 11 other board members.Mollineau said that although he considers Dainty a friend, he thinks the time has come for different administrators to have a chance after more than a decade under Dainty’s leadership.”I don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel with the current administration,” Mollineau said. “I can’t stay involved if Dainty remains. This administration isn’t taking cricket in the right direction. There’s no vision and this constitution has nothing to help the development of the game. It is only revised to ensure the current board remains in power.”It goes completely against what the TSE governance recommendations were and takes away any voting rights from the leagues. I can’t deal with this. I’ll take it to court if I have to. The one thing we have in US cricket is a vote from the leagues and they’re trying to take that away from us.”Glasgow acknowledges he was one of Dainty’s biggest supporters during the last USACA election in 2012, but that recent events have made him rethink his stance on the current administration. He says he had hope that the administration would turn a corner and demonstrate progress if given enough time, but based on USA’s recent relegation to WCL Division Four, he no longer has faith that things will improve unless someone else takes charge.”I was fully supportive of the current administration, there’s no question about that,” Glasgow said. “What I do not support is the non-improvement. There’s no vision there for cricket. I was optimistic that after several failures people would learn from their mistakes and their experience would have benefitted the sport. That has not happened. We keep doing the same things over and over. If you look at progress and use the national team as a yardstick, it’s not so much that we fail or lose. It is the lack of preparation, the way teams are selected, the way selectors are appointed. It’s ridiculous.”

Kyle Mills, the stand-in New Zealand captain, has termed the 3-0 series defeat to Bangladesh ‘extremely disappointing’

The Report by Mohammad Isam03-Nov-2013Kyle Mills found himself facing a situation he wasn’t supposed to when he arrived in Bangladesh couple of weeks ago as part of the ODI side. With regular captain Brendon McCullum and vice-captain Kane Williamson having returned home with injury it was up to him, as stand-in captain, to preside over New Zealand’s second successive series drubbing at the hands of Bangladesh.There is still a Twenty20 game on November 6 but with the Tests and ODIs over, New Zealand are yet to win a game on tour. This was their biggest chance as they set the home side a target of 308, a total never chased in this country by this team. Mills thought so too, until the Bangladesh batting line-up started to string together partnerships.”I thought we had a total we could defend,” Mills said. “The opening batters for Bangladesh played well and took the game away from us. Our spinners did a good job to bring it back for us somewhat, but the start they got created huge momentum for them to chase the total down.”We are all very disappointed with the outcome of, not just today’s match but the whole series. To go down 3-0 is extremely disappointing. It wasn’t our plan when we came out here but we have to hand it to the Bangladesh side, they played exceptional cricket today.”Mills was incidentally the last man out when Bangladesh completed the 4-0 win three years ago, and the memories are fresh. He said that they knew how dangerous Bangladesh were at home but were not prepared for such a result now or then.”This one’s pretty fresh and raw. I got over the last one [in 2010], but it’s still very disappointing. The last series we came in with expectations of winning the series quite comfortably. The scars from that series set us up for this series.”We were quite wary of the Bangladesh side. They’ve got some very good players in these conditions, and you have to admire that. But we are going to take a number of positives, because there are positives over the last three games, moving forward into the Sri Lanka series and our home summer.”One of those positives which they can’t actually take to Sri Lanka would be Ross Taylor’s unbeaten 107 because the experienced batsman has been summoned back home to prepare for the New Zealand international summer. But a forceful 85 from Colin Munro and contributions from Tom Latham and Anton Devcich would still encourage them.”Ross Taylor’s innings today was a classy innings of an international cricket batsman. He crafted it beautifully. Latham played a hand, Colin Munro got an opportunity today and he grasped it, he played a magnificent knock.”Throughout the series I think Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neesham really stood up as well. Young guys standing up is a great sign for New Zealand cricket, and definitely moving forward over the next 15 months,” said Mills.One of New Zealand’s problems has been the absence of Daniel Vettori, the allrounder with vast experience and a strong record against Bangladesh. “We’ve missed Vettori over the last two-three years really. It’s great having Dan on the side. When Dan walks out with us in the eleven we are a better side for it, but many a series we have played without Daniel Vettori.”