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The board has not begun planning the event yet, but it has taken the preliminary step of blocking out a three-week slot in August and September 2019

Andrew Fidel Fernando13-Dec-2017Sri Lanka Cricket hopes to revive the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) – or a similar showpiece T20 tournament – by the end of 2019.The board has not begun planning the event yet, but according to the latest version of the FTP, it has taken the preliminary step of blocking out a three-week slot in August and September 2019. This will give SLC the option of hosting such a tournament, should an array of other factors – a broadcast deal included – come together.”We have talked about having a tournament like SLPL, but there is nothing concrete yet,” an SLC official said. “It’s something we are looking at because in addition to giving our players a lot of exposure in T20, it can also help our finances. But we are just speculating at the moment.”The challenges that hosting a profit-making T20 tournament entail will not be lost on the board. The SLPL concept has already failed under a previous administration, which held a poorly-received tournament in 2012. That tournament was also beset by fixing rumours – Lasith Malinga having reported a suspicious approach at the time.The following year’s iteration of the SLPL was cancelled weeks before it was due to be played, and no similar tournament has been organised since.Among the particular difficulties SLC may face if it schedules a T20 tournament in August and September 2019 is attracting foreign talent. Not only are England and Australia set to be playing each other during that time, the Caribbean Premier League is also scheduled for those months.

The two fast bowlers recovered from injuries, but wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella was omitted in favour of Dhananjaya de Silva

Andrew Fidel Fernando28-Feb-2018Fast bowlers Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal have returned to the Sri Lanka T20 squad after recovering from injuries, but wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella has been omitted in favour of Dhananjaya de Silva for the upcoming tri-series at home.Legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay, who was with the T20 team in Bangladesh, was also left out, with Sri Lanka naming just two specialist spinners – Akila Dananjaya and Amila Aponso – in addition to Jeevan Mendis, the legspinning allrounder.Apart from Dickwella’s omission, Sri Lanka retained the bulk of their batsmen from the Bangladesh series, which they had won 2-0. Kusal Mendis is likely to open the batting again. Now that Kusal Perera is back, however, there is competition for the top spots, with Upul Tharanga and Danushka Gunathilaka also vying for places in the top three.The senior fast bowlers’ return to fitness meant that Sri Lanka also have a strong attack. Where in Bangladesh the quicks were inexperienced, Lakmal and Pradeep will be expected to provide control and reliability, while Dushmantha Chameera – if he plays – is a faster, more attacking option. Left-armer Isuru Udana was also in the squad.De Silva’s selection was something of a surprise, given his mixed performances in past T20 internationals. He was in good touch in the Tests against Bangladesh, however, and hit 55, 0 and 42 in Sri Lanka’s club-based T20 tournament over the past few days.Angelo Mathews, Asela Gunaratne and Shehan Madushanka were all unavailable through injury.The Nidahas Trophy begins on March 6 and will be played exclusively in Colombo.T20 squad: Dinesh Chandimal (capt), Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Amila Aponso, Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera, Dananjaya de Silva

Imam-Ul-Haq century impresses but Liam Dawson emerges on top with List A career highlight of 142

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay31-Aug-2025Hampshire are through to next month’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup final after a rain-affected semi-final win over Yorkshire at Scarborough, the visitors defending a revised 41-over target of 254 following Liam Dawson’s stunning List A best 142 off 116 balls.Hampshire, winners of this competition in 2018, will face Worcestershire at Trent Bridge on September 20 after the Rapids beat Somerset at home and the visitors won here by 18 runs on Duckworth Lewis Stern.In reply to Hampshire’s 304 for 6, which saw England Test all-rounder Dawson brilliantly recover his side from 78 for 4 inside 20 overs, Pakistani opener Imam-Ul-Haq impressed for 105.And Yorkshire were well placed at 171 for 3 in the 31st over chasing a revised 254-target in 41 overs following rain.But they lost two wickets in a Scott Currie over, including Imam run out, and Hampshire squeezed impressively, with the hosts 235 for 8.Currie, who struck twice with his seam, had earlier contributed his own List A best 61 not out off 40 balls. Dawson’s left-arm spin also accounted for two wickets, and Yorkshire have now lost 19 of their last 22 List A finals.Yorkshire started well, Matt Milnes dominating as Hampshire slipped having been inserted.Seamer Milnes, having claimed a career-best 7 for 38 in last Sunday’s group-stage win over Sussex at Hove, claimed the first three here, including forcing visiting captain Nick Gubbins to play on with his third ball in the day’s second over.He then removed Fletcha Middleton and Ali Orr before George Hill’s seam also forced Ben Brown to play on.Dawson came in at 53 for 3 in the 12th over and offered a sharp return catch to Ben Cliff on six, clearly a key moment.The 35-year-old was the glue which held the innings together before exploding late on.He shared 89 for the fifth wicket with 17-year-old Ben Mayes, whose 37 helped to turn the tide, before sixth-wicket partner Currie pressed the accelerator.Shortly after Dawson reached his fourth List A century off 103 balls, Currie’s maiden List A fifty came in 35 as Hampshire pushed on from 180 for 5 after 40 overs.Dawson finished with seven sixes and hit strongly down the ground and over cover and long-on, while both he and Currie improvised as they shared 136 inside the last 13 overs of the innings – 75 runs coming off the last five overs.Kyle Abbott and Brad Wheal then bowled very tidily with the new ball, restricting Adam Lyth and Imam to 43 for 0 in the 13th over when the rain arrived.A half-hour delay through to 4.25pm was followed by Lyth edging the second ball back behind off Eddie Jack.Imam, leaving for national commitments after this game, then calmly advanced the hosts to 98 for 1 after 20 overs with a 52-ball fifty.Strong off his legs, the left-hander then united with Will Luxton to share 99.Luxton pulled a couple of sixes, including one the first ball back after the second half-hour rain break. But he chopped on to Jack with the second, falling for 30.James Wharton holed out to Currie shortly afterwards before Imam reached his fourth ton of this season’s campaign off 96 balls.But Wharton and Imam fell, alongside Fin Bean, as Yorkshire lost a defining three wickets for 10 inside two overs to slip to 171 for 5 in the 32nd, still needing 83.Imam was run out by a combination of Jack from midwicket and bowler Currie after Bean pulled and non-striker Imam slipped.Yorkshire then lost Hill and Harry Duke in successive balls to Wheal and Dawson and, seven wickets down, needed 47 off 4.5 overs.From there, they subsided, with Dawson striking again.

King’s XI coach admits lapse in 17th over cost his side the contest at Eden Gardens

Sreshth Shah in Kolkata27-Mar-20193:32

‘Plan was to get Varun bowling at Lynn’ – Hesson

Kings XI Punjab and the ‘line’ seems to go hand-in-hand at the 2019 IPL. First, it was the Jos Buttler run-out on Monday, and after their 28-run loss to Kolkata Knight Riders, the head coach Mike Hesson spoke of the ‘fine lines’ they missed at Eden Gardens. The lapse in concentration that led to Andre Russell’s reprieve in the 17th over, Hesson reckoned, cost his side the match.Russell, who had been Man of the Match in Knight Riders’ opening game as well, was on 3 off five deliveries, when Mohammed Shami bowled a pinpoint yorker on off stump. Russell missed the glance, and the ball crashed into the stumps, much to the joy of the Kings XI players. But that was short-lived, as Kings XI were penalised with a no-ball for having only three fielders inside the circle, after which Russell mauled 44 more runs in the next 12 deliveries, pushing the home side to the highest IPL total posted at Eden Gardens.”The game changed in the 17th over,” Hesson admitted after the game. “I think, we had a plan to Russell that we executed well, and we weren’t quite alert enough in the field, and that’s where the game changed. It’s a fine line when you’re bowling to Andre Russell. He’s a gamechanger.”We had a little bit of jubilation and then things turned pretty quickly [with the no-ball]. And then we weren’t quite able to turn the last few overs for 12 or 14 runs. Instead, the four [three] overs went for 22 or 24 runs, and the game changed there.”Earlier in the day, Kings XI had handed mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy an IPL debut, one whose start wasn’t memorable for the right reasons. He was taken apart for three sixes and a four in a 25-run over – the highest among bowlers delivering their maiden IPL over – but Hesson believed Varun’s effort in his next two overs – conceding 10 runs in 12 balls – was commendable. Hesson said that bowling to pinch-hitter Narine (who has a Powerplay strike-rate of 259 in the IPL) wasn’t Kings XI’s plan, but instead they were trying to attack his partner Chris Lynn. But Lynn took a single off the first ball, and then Varun was forced to face Narine’s wrath.”It wasn’t so much Narine. Lynn was on strike at the start of that second over. That was the match-up we were going for,” Hesson said. “And then Narine got on strike and you know he was able to take toll.”Varun’s first game, he’s nervous like anyone else playing their first game. And I thought the way he came back in the second and third over was excellent. And it will give him and us a lot of confidence. You know, playing your first game in front of a crowd like this is difficult. And obviously, Narine’s going to hit from ball one. But I’m still very pleased how he came back. “ESPNcricinfo Ltd

As for Kings XI’s batting, KL Rahul failed for a second straight game, adding only one run to his first-match score of 4. But overall, Hesson believed that the team has the batting to chase any total put in front of them, especially since the rest of the batsmen have chipped in on different occasions. When asked whether their team was top-heavy with Rahul and Chris Gayle opening the batting, Hesson did not agree.”I think, in the previous years, you can say that [about our batting], but this year, I don’t think that’s right,” Hesson said. “The first two games we haven’t got a huge amount runs from the top, but we’ve got runs from the top six. Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz got runs in the last game. Gayle, Mandeep’s played a couple of cameos and obviously, David Miller’s come in and played a role.”I think that statement could be true for Kings XI teams of the past, I don’t think it’s true now. I think we’ve got power and ability right through the top six and even deeper.”Hesson also defended his decision to make four changes to the team that had beaten Rajasthan Royals by 14 runs on Monday. With a couple of regular Kings XI players returning from international duty, Hesson believed that the changes were unavoidable to fit them in, forcing Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman to miss out, and also the racey Kolkata surface offered more to a bowler with extra pace.”Nicholas Pooran was injured so that’s a straight swap, since David Miller’s a big player for us,” Hesson said. “And then on that surface, we felt that someone who can bowl back-of-a-length like Hardus Viljoen instead of Sam Curran was the way to go. And Hardus bowled really nicely, so those were two big changes.And with Andrew Tye coming back in, being a key player, we had to make a decision on overseas players. That’s why Varun Chakravarthy came in instead of Mujeeb.”

Gill confirmed Bumrah will play at Lord’s next week as India left out Thakur and Sai Sudharsan

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jul-2025

Ben Stokes and Shubman Gill at toss at Edgbaston•Getty Images

Ben Stokes has won the toss and opted to bowl first at Edgbaston, as England seek to exploit whatever movement there is on this Edgbaston surface to steal a march on India in the second Test, after taking a 1-0 lead at Headingley.The headline news is that Jasprit Bumrah sits out, ensuring he still has two Tests in the chamber to be used in the final three matches from Lord’s onwards. His resting is one of three changes for India, with Akash Deep, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar drafted into the XI.Those changes give India a decidedly different feel from the one that suffered the defeat at Headingley, with B Sai Sudharsan and Shadrul Thakur dropped. Karun Nair will bat at No.3.Explaining the decision to rest Bumrah, Shubman Gill revealed the India management felt Lord’s will offer Bumrah more than this track.”We did get a good break… but the third match of the series being at Lord’s, there might be a little bit more in the wicket so we thought we’d play him in the third one,” said Gill.While confirming he would have also opted to bowl first, Gill revealed Kuldeep Yadav came close to selection, only for Washington to get the nod because of his superior batting. Boosting the tail after numbers eight to 11 scored nine runs between them across both innings of the first Test was a priority.”We were very tempted to play him (Kuldeep). But looking at the last match, the lower order did not score many runs,” Gill said.All the intrigue over the last 48 hours was very much focussed on India after Stokes named an unchanged XI on Monday. The last time England fielded same XI across the first two Test matches of a home series was in 2017 against South Africa.Victory for the hosts would increase their superiority over India at Edgbaston. They have won seven out of eight meetings here, with one draw.England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Josh Tongue, 11 Shoaib BashirIndia: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Karun Nair, 4 Shubman Gill (capt), 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Akash Deep, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Prasidh Krishna

Oliver Hannon-Dalby claims five-wicket haul to give Warwickshire hope

David Hopps20-May-2019Dom Sibley is an imposing figure. Not quite Gregor Clegane, Cersei’s bodyguard in Game of Thrones, but you get the general idea. Tim Groenewald did not want to throw him to his doom, just get him out. But when he did, Somerset took a mighty step towards victory.With 209 to defend, Somerset had little margin for error, even though the ball had swung and seamed all day. Sibley had come into the match with hundreds in six successive first-class matches and was well set, with 26 from 84 balls. To add another he needed somebody else to hang around, but on a day when most batsmen had a short shelf life his presence was ominous.Four Warwickshire wickets had come easily, but there was a sense of Thou Shalt Not Pass about Sibley that did not auger well. He had been involved in a run out, too, which might have given him extra incentive to succeed, even if Will Rhodes had contributed to his own downfall by changing his mind after pushing the ball to Tom Abell in the gully; Sibley had already picked up momentum and was in no mood for a juddering change of direction.With 16 overs remaining, Somerset got the wicket they needed. Sibley pushed slightly across a full ball from Tim Groenewald, the sound of the nick rang around the County Ground as if importance of the wicket had somehow amplified it, and Craig Overton plunged low to his left to pull off a fast catch at gully. It was a very good catch on video; an even better catch in the context of the game.Overton had also played a central role in Warwickshire’s decline to 53 for four. He is very much England’s forgotten man, the last of his three Tests having come against Australia in Adelaide in December 2017, a series in which he took seven wickets at 42 and generally won a rating of “solid but unspectacular,” but he is an important cog in this Somerset side.He did not swing the ball markedly, but he swung it just enough in 12 overs of sustained menace. Robert Yates, a product of the Warwickshire academy (not the most reliable production line), is a left-handed batsman playing in his second Championship match, and he fell to a wicketkeeper’s catch. Sam Hain and Adam Hose, a former Somerset batsman, pushed forward in successive overs to be lbw.The late additions of Tim Ambrose, who dragged on an extravagant off drive at Lewis Gregory, and Henry Brookes, who fell to first-day turn from Jack Leach and was caught at slip, left Warwickshire 110 for 7 at the close of the first day, still 99 behind. Seventeen wickets in the day then, and Somerset have fallen foul of pitch inspectors before, but they have kept this surface the right side of the line.This a game between top and bottom – Somerset are already 47 points ahead of Warwickshire, who do have a game in hand – and it is being contested on the sort of surface that should bring about a result in three days, further Somerset’s ambitions of a first Championship title and allow them ample time to prepare for the Royal London Cup final against Hampshire at Lord’s on Saturday. All they then have to hope for is storms on the Solent and Hampshire arriving a little late and queasy from their sojourn on the Isle of Wight.Somerset were bowled out for 209 after an uncontested toss, and to get that they needed 47 extras and a top score of 36 for their No 9 Josh Davey, who had a bit of a punt and came off. Brooks is one of the most promising bowlers in the country. The ball that bowled George Bartlett, who was struck in the midriff after he was late on a pull, illustrated that he is picking up speed again after a stress fracture, although 20 no balls made it hard to suggest that he was finding his feet again – certainly not literally.Instead, Warwickshire’s cutting edge was provided by the spindly seamer, Oliver Hannon-Dalby, who conjured up the third five-for in first-class cricket, a career in which he has made 59 appearances in 11 seasons, initially with Yorkshire before they released him, and has won most plaudits in limited-overs cricket where he carries hidden perils.Oliver Hannon-Dalby of Warwickshire appeals successfully•Getty Images

Hannon-Dalby’s career-best 5 for 18 will delight all those who value his admirable and easy-going persistence. He began with the wicket of Marcus Trescothick, who edged him to second slip. Trescothick’s Championship scores this season (10, 5, 10, 4) sound like the instructions for a dance routine, but they have not quite got his feet moving yet. At 43, he is as old now as his Test average and there are young bucks like Tom Banton awaiting an opportunity. Treasure him while you can.On an extraordinary morning, in which Somerset reached 143 for 6 in 29 cavalier overs, Hannon-Dalby also had Tom Abell lbw to one that left him late and Lewis Gregory caught at second slip which one that curled away from an early juncture. Two tail-end wickets completed those exemplary figures, his first five-for for nine years, although it will take quite an effort for Warwickshire to turn his grand day into victory.

The Canterbury captain, who was hit in the head in his follow-through by a ball that pinged away for six, said he was more frustrated about conceding the boundary than about the blow

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Feb-20180:13

WATCH – Raval’s drive hits Ellis on the head, goes for six

Canterbury allrounder Andrew Ellis wants New Zealand Cricket to be “proactive” in offering protective gear to players, in light of the bizarre incident in which he was hit on the head in his follow-through by a ball that then pinged away for a six.Ellis was bowling his first over in the third preliminary final of the Ford Trophy when Auckland batsman Jeet Raval’s lofted drive struck him on the head before soaring across the ropes.”I’m fine, there was no need to bounce back, it was business as usual,” Ellis told . “[But] I think it’s a wider discussion for New Zealand Cricket and the Players Association to be proactive about things.”He said he “couldn’t believe it went for six” and was more frustrated about conceding the boundary than about the blow. According to , the ball had gone about 70 metres after deflecting off his head at Colin Maiden Park.”Obviously, with a head knock, the physio has to come out and go through the concussion tests. He asked me the questions and I was able to give the right answers and carried on,” the Canterbury captain said.He continued bowling even after the incident, picking two wickets for 52 runs off seven overs.Last December, Otago fast bowler Warren Barnes had trialled protective headgear during a Super Smash T20 match. The headgear was designed by Barnes and Otago coach Rob Walter, to protect him from injury due to his unique follow-through (head goes down in his follow through, meaning his eyes are off the ball after release).Nottinghamshire seamer Luke Fletcher was struck on the head by a ball on his follow-through during a NatWest T20 Blast game against Birmingham last July. Fletcher was concussed but did not lose consciousness, and play was suspended for half-an-hour while he received treatment.Ellis said he might consider innovative gear this season but wants NZC to take the bigger step. “For guys like me who tend to bowl at the death and try to bowl yorkers, it’s probably a prudent move. It’s better to try and be a little innovative here, and be the world leader around this issue.”

Fast bowler is confident England can turn their fortunes around as the games begin to come thick and fast in the Women’s Ashes

Valkerie Baynes13-Jan-2025England are looking for a Melbourne re-set after dropping the first game of their Ashes battle on Sunday with Australia.Faced with defending a below-par 204 after being bowled out inside 44 overs amid poor shot selection and some smart Australian bowling led by Ashleigh Gardner’s 3 for 19, England fell short by four wickets as Gardner and Alyssa Healy mowed down the bulk of the target with 67 balls to spare.Lauren Bell, the England seamer who was economical in taking 1 for 25 in her nine overs, believed her team deserved “a lot of credit” for making Australia’s run chase a little harder than the hosts would have liked in the first ODI at North Sydney Oval. It might have been even tougher were it not for a couple of dropped catches at crucial moments.Alice Capsey put down Ellyse Perry off the bowling of Lauren Filer and was probably relieved to see Bell dismiss the allrounder a short time later. Sophie Ecclestone’s bizarre fumble, meanwhile, when Gardner was on 31 and Australia needed 22 more runs with six wickets down was impossible to quantify.”We got 200 on a pitch that I think the par score batting first was about 250, so putting in an effort to almost defend that was, I think you can take a lot of confidence from it,” an upbeat Bell said. “There are a few things that we could definitely work on moving forward. Obviously Australia caught very well and we dropped a few in at important moments. Moving forward, there’s a few places we can work on and really focus on the next game, but I think as a whole we can take a fair amount of confidence from the game.”Filer started England’s defense well with the early wicket of Phoebe Litchfield for just 4 and had in-form allrounder Annabel Sutherland caught in the deep to end the match with 2 for 58 from eight overs. Ecclestone accounted for the key wickets of Beth Mooney and Tahlia McGrath to finish with 2 for 38. But England will need an improved performance all-round if they are to avoid going four points down in the second ODI at Junction Oval on Tuesday.”We’re one game into a pretty long series and we’re two-nil down, but we’re going to have to start the next game and imagine it’s nil-nil and go again,” Bell said. That is the beauty of these series. We can come back and we’re just going to have to reset and go with our plan and just go again.”We’ll sit down as a team and review. Our batting group will get together and it will obviously be different conditions over in Melbourne, so we’ll have to adjust to them. But we’ll get together as a group and work out the little bits we can tidy up and hopefully put on a better performance.”With such a tight turnaround between matches a theme throughout the series which consists of three ODIs followed by three T20Is and a four-day Test match in the space of 22 days, any adjustments will need to be made almost on the fly.”It’s definitely tough,” Bell said. “We’re just going to have to adapt really quickly, communicate with the girls that maybe have played at Junction Oval and try and get as much information as we can about the pitch. Then the opening batters, if we bat first, or the opening bowlers, it’s just really important to communicate what the pitch is doing as soon as we get there.”One lesson Bell can take from Sydney is having the courage to stand by her convictions. Her determination that she had trapped Perry directly in front of the stumps was crucial after England had burned a review earlier.Bell managed to convince captain Heather Knight and wicketkeeper Amy Jones to again call upon the DRS, which confirmed that she had Perry plumb.”I was obviously really happy to get her and I had to stand my ground a little bit and tell Heather and Amy that I thought it was out,” Bell said. “It was two v one. I really, really thought it was out. Heather and Amy weren’t sure and I didn’t want to be the one to lose our last review, but yeah, I’m really glad I stood firm.”A batting performance in which Knight and Danni Wyatt-Hodge top-scored with 39 and 38 respectively combined with a bowling attack that struggled to combat Healy’s smart innings of 70 from 78 balls and needed more support in the field suggests that if England are to overturn the deficit in this campaign, they will need to stand very firm indeed.

There is a serious rain threat over the entire game, with bad weather forecast for the whole week

Ashish Pant15-Oct-2024Persistent and occasionally heavy rain in Bengaluru has forced the cancellation of India’s training session the day before the first Test against New Zealand at the city’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The session, originally slotted for 9.30am, was first postponed by an hour and then cancelled altogether with the rain showing no signs of relenting.New Zealand ‘s training session, slotted for 1.30pm, did take place*, but in the indoor facility at the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy, also in the Chinnaswamy premises.The Indian Meteorological Department has forecast rains for the rest of the week, which could seriously affect the Test match. There is a 70% to 90% chance of rain on the first and second days of the Test, and a yellow alert has also been issued for many places in the state of Karnataka (of which Bengaluru is a part).Bengaluru has experienced a lot of rainfall for the past week. It rained on Monday as well, two days before the game, but both teams managed to finish their respective training sessions. India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma also had time to get a good look at the surface, which was followed by a long discussion with the pitch curator.There was rain in Bengaluru all through Monday night and Tuesday morning, and the covers at the Chinnaswamy stayed in place. There was some activity when the rain stopped for a bit around 1pm, and the covers were being moved a bit, but within half an hour the clouds opened up again and the covers were back in place.