Toby Roland-Jones, the Middlesex seamer, will make his Test debut against South Africa at The Oval after Mark Wood was ruled out with the heel soreness he picked up at Trent Bridge

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jul-2017Toby Roland-Jones, the Middlesex seamer, will make his Test debut against South Africa at The Oval after Mark Wood was ruled out with the heel soreness he picked up at Trent Bridge.Steven Finn has been called into the squad as cover but Joe Root confirmed that Wood’s spot would go to Roland-Jones who has been part of the squad throughout the series. Wood had managed just 1 for 197 in the opening two Tests of the series.Roland-Jones, 29, made his ODI debut earlier this season, also against South Africa, at Lord’s where he made an unbeaten 37 and took 1 for 34.In the County Championship this season he has taken 22 wickets at 35.63. Last season he took 54 wickets at 28.22 which included a hat-trick to seal the Championship title for Middlesex.Roland-Jones’ call-up means England will have at least debutants with Tom Westley having previously been confirmed as Gary Ballance’s replacement. There could be a third, too, with a decision to be made on Thursday morning between Dawid Malan, the Middlesex batsman, and allrounder Liam Dawson after the pitch remained covered during England’s training session due to rain.”I think it’s important to look at the surface and decide what’s going to be the best side to play South Africa in those conditions,” Root said. “So, we’ll turn up tomorrow, take a look at the wicket and make a decision.”

Matt Pillans defended seven off the final over against a Notts side already certain of a home quarter-final

ECB Reporters Network18-Aug-2017Cameon Delport shows aggressive frame of mind•Getty Images

A century from Cameron Delport led Leicestershire Foxes to victory over their near-neighbours and a place in the quarter finals of the NatWest T20 Blast competition.Delport made an unbeaten 109 as the Foxes inflicted a narrow two-run victory over Notts Outlaws at Trent Bridge.The opener scored his runs from just 59 balls, hitting nine fours and six sixes as the Foxes scored 203 for five, after being asked to bat first.Notts, who had already secured top spot in the North Group and a home match in the knock-out phase, lost both Alex Hales and Riki Wessels inside the first five overs of their chase but were powered back into contention by a scintillating blitz from Dan Christian, who made 73 from 32 balls, with five fours and five sixes.His departure left the Outlaws needing eight from the final over but Matt Pillans held his nerve and finished with the plaudits and figures of three for 24 as the home side closed on 203 for eight, taking the Foxes into the quarter finals for the first time since 2011.With runs on the board Leicestershire struck two significant blows as Hales fell to Aadil Ali for 17, having hit the spinner for four consecutive fours previously. Wessels hit Clint McKay to cover and when Tom Moores fell to Pillans, the hosts slipped to 44 for three.Samit Patel, playing his 150th T20 match for the Outlaws was reprieved on 13 when given run out; keeper Luke Ronchi admitted to not having removed the bails cleanly as he gathered a return from the deep. Delport picked up the wicket of Brendan Taylor and when Patel fell for 39, half the side had fallen for 100.Christian swung the bat, to good effect, and put his side in with a real chance when he took 20 off the 17th over but it was Delport who ended his fun, taking a juggling catch on the midwicket boundary.Earlier, Notts restricted the visitors to just 48 for one in the opening powerplay, with Ronchi falling cheaply to a fine boundary catch by Hales off Harry Gurney.Ish Sodhi ended a second wicket stand of 60 by bamboozling Mark Cosgrove into miscuing to short third man for 37. The New Zealand leg spinner then persuaded Colin Ackermann to chip a simple return catch straight back to him.Delport reached his 50 in the thirteenth over, getting to the landmark from 36 balls and he celebrated by hitting Sodhi for two sixes and a four in the next over.His hundred, the second of his T20 career came from 59 deliveries and the left-hander went past the 103 he scored for Dolphins against Knights in 2013.Ned Eckersley helped the 28-year old South African add 99 for the fourth wicket and the pair remained together until the penultimate over when Jake Ball speared one through Eckersley’s defences and into the off stump.Tom Wells trod on his own stumps as he looked to work Gurney to leg, leaving Delport to walk off to the applause from the appreciative Foxes’ following.Almost 11,000 saw the contest and the Trent Bridge administrators can look forward to another huge gate when the Outlaws host their seventh quarter final in eight seasons, next week.Leicestershire Foxes, three times T20 winners, must travel to face the winners of the South Group.

The India Red spinners claimed five wickets as the India Blue middle order crumbled on the second day of the final

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Sep-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
At 17 years and 199 days, Washington Sundar had the IPL’s third-youngest debutant•BCCI

The Duleep Trophy final continued to elicit strong performances from youngsters, with 21-year-old left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil and 17-year-old Washington Sundar flattening India Blue on the second day of the day-night fixture in Lucknow.A day after Prithvi Shaw became the youngest centurion in a Duleep Trophy final, Sundar – who is 35 days older than Shaw – came close to grabbing second spot. The Tamil Nadu allrounder faced the first ball of the day for India Red after joining overnight batsman Ishank Jaggi at 317 for 5; almost 44 overs later, he would play the last ball of their innings, falling 12 short of a hundred. He had partnerships of 37 with Jaggi, 48 with Gohil, and 43 for the final wicket with Basil Thampi to lift India Red to 483. Sundar hit six fours and five sixes in his 118-ball 88.India Blue’s senior bowlers, Ishant Sharma and Pankaj Singh, found no control, while Jaydev Unadkat picked up a wicket after going at 4.58. Spinners Bhargav Bhatt (4-154) and Akshay Wakhare (3-95) did most of the bowling.Their senior batsmen didn’t fare well either. Manoj Tiwary, coming in at No. 3, put on 42 for the second wicket with Bengal team-mate and opener Abhimanyu Easwaran, who was fluent in a first-wicket stand of 51 where his partner KS Bharat made only 8. Tiwary played a loose shot however, chasing a length ball from Gohil that turned away and nicking behind. India Blue captain Suresh Raina faced four balls and was beaten three times. On his fourth delivery, he went down the track and was stumped against Sundar, who had been brought on specifically to bowl to the left-hander. Deepak Hooda then sliced Gohil to deep extra cover.Through all this, Easwaran was solid, blocking the good balls and using sweeps and reverse-sweeps to alter the spinners’ lengths. He found an unlikely partner in Unadkat (27*) and took his team to 181 for 5 at stumps. Easwaran ended the day 13 away from a fourth first-class ton.

Kusal Perera and Asela Gunaratne are also expected return to the national set-up when Sri Lanka fly to India for a full tour

Madushka Balasuriya31-Oct-2017Angelo Mathews will be fit for Sri Lanka’s tour of India in November, while Kusal Perera and Asela Gunaratne are also expected to return to the national set-up.

SLC to name head coach by end of the year

Sri Lanka Cricket expects to announce a new head coach by the end of the year, though it is unlikely to happen prior to Sri Lanka’s upcoming tour of India in November.
SLC confirmed that they were in conversations with a couple of coaches about the vacant position. Interim coach Nic Pothas, who has been in charge since the abrupt departure of Graham Ford in June, is also in the running.
“We are discussing with about three or four coaches, including Nic Pothas. We hope to finalise the decision by the end of the year,” SLC CEO Ashley De Silva said.
“When it comes to recruiting a new coach, we have to be sure to select the right one, therefore it takes some time. As for the names, some of them are still working in other places so if it gets leaked they won’t be happy. We’ll reveal it when the time is right.”
It means that Sri Lanka will head into arguably their toughest tour this year without a permanent head coach. De Silva refused to confirm if Pothas would retain his role as interim coach for the tour of India.

All three were unavailable for the recently concluded Pakistan tour, but will be welcomed back warmly following Sri Lanka’s recent struggles in limited-overs contests. Sri Lanka have lost their last 16 white-ball matches, including both ODI and T20I series whitewashes against Pakistan and India.Their next assignment is a full tour of India starting with the first of the three Tests on November 16 in Kolkata, followed by three ODIs and as many T20Is.”Angelo and Kusal Janith [Perera] have both recovered and they will be considered for selection for the Indian series. Asela Gunaratne is fit as well,” SLC CEO Ashley De Silva said.Sri Lanka’s interim head coach Nic Pothas, who was speaking alongside Sri Lanka’s three captains for the Pakistan tour, hinted that after a string of such negative results change in personnel might be the best way forward.”It’s pretty obvious what the mood will be like when you’ve lost 16 games,” Pothas said. “With respect to new faces, that’s a conversation that we need to have with the selectors. But I think it stands to reason that in any walk of life, when you’ve had negative results for a period of time you need to see some change somewhere.”While Sri Lanka ended the series with eight straight defeats, they had started it on a much more promising note, becoming the first team to win a Test series against Pakistan in the UAE, since Australia in 2002. Pothas was keen to point this, as he stressed on the other positives derived from the tour.”On the Test series, let me remind you that we made history,” he stated. “We did something that no other nation has ever done in the UAE. It tends to have been forgotten due to the fact that ODIs follow the Tests. But we have to give huge credit to the team and to the captain.”Overall across the whole tour we can certainly glean a lot of positives. The fielding has improved out of sight and certainly was one of the shining lights throughout the month that we were out there. And the bowling as well was of a very high standard; the execution of the plans was very pleasing.”Obviously, some of the batting didn’t go according to plan, but that’s the cricket world and other teams are allowed to play well. It was also one of the best bowling attacks in the world so it’s always going to be tough, but I think on the whole the series started off very well with that Test win. Certainly the attitude, the character and the fight shown by that team was very, very pleasing.”The tour also saw a Sri Lankan team return to Pakistan for the first time since 2009, when their team bus was attacked by armed gunmen in Lahore. The decision to play a match in Lahore resulted in several players pulling out of the game, but also provided opportunities for several fringe players.Sri Lanka’s limited-overs captain Upul Tharanga was among those that pulled out, which gave Thisara Perera the opportunity to captain the T20 side. Despite losing all three matches, Perera was full of praise for his young charges.”In truth when speaking about the Lahore visit, it was a much changed team to the one we initially expected to take part,” Thisara said. “Even though it was a young side, when captaining them I realised that they were much more mature than I had thought. The support they gave, their attitude, as a captain it was a great help in terms of handling the team.”The team didn’t have many players with international experience. Most were inexperienced, including me as captain. Nevertheless the players had the drive to play and win. Although it was a youthful side, a lot of them had experience playing domestic cricket. Their attitude was also right. That’s the attitude we need in the team. Although we didn’t perform as we would have liked with the bat, the bowlers did us proud.”The second match, we had the match in our hands till the last ball, I think we lost the victory as we didn’t have the experience to handle it. If these players are given a chance they can do a lot more for Sri Lanka cricket.”

India’s first-class circuit has become the centre of the triple-hundred universe of late, and here are the numbers to prove it

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-2017ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Jamaica captain Nikita Miller took a 13-wicket match haul and put on a ninth-wicket partnership of 141 runs with Fabian Allen as Jamaica wrapped up their second win in five matches

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2017Jamaica captain Nikita Miller’s 13-wicket match haul and ninth-wicket partnership of 141 runs with Fabian Allen consigned Windward Islands to a 10-wicket defeat at Sabina Park.Chasing 35, openers Trevon Griffith and Campbell wrapped up Jamaica’s second victory in five games, after Miller’s 8 for 54 rolled Windward over for 186 in the second innings. Only two batsmen – Devon Smith and Roland – got into the 40s.Smith had also top-scored in Windward’s first innings, with an unbeaten 116 after they elected to bat. However, Jamaica’s bowlers – led by Miller’s 5 for 60 – chipped away at the wickets. Such was the dearth of support for Smith that the next best score was Taryck Gabriel’s 23, while only two other batsmen made double-digit scores. While Miller ripped through the middle and lower order, John Campell opened the gates by accounting for captain Tyron Theophile and Cato, which sent Windward packing for 200.Griffith (37) and Campbell (71) started off strongly, putting on 96 for the first wicket in Jamaica’s response. But after Audley Alexander broke through, offspinner Shane Shillingford nipped out five Jamaica batsmen to reduce the hosts to 209 for 8. But Miller dug deep to raise his tenth first-class fifty that complemented Allen’s unbeaten 105 and stitched together 141 for the ninth wicket with Allen that took Jamaica to 350. Shillingford wrapped up the innings by dismissing Miller (52) and Reynard Leveridge to finish with 7 for 44. But the partnership had ensured Jamaica finished with a substantial first-innings lead of 152.

The Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) sent its doctor on call to the Sri Lanka dressing room for a medical check-up during the lunch on the fourth day, but the purpose of the test and its methodology was lost on the Sri Lanka camp

Sidharth Monga in Delhi05-Dec-20171:32

Vallabhji: Poor air quality will affect cricketers in the long run

The Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) sent its doctor on call to the Sri Lanka dressing room for a medical check-up during the lunch on the fourth day, but the purpose of the test and its methodology was lost on the Sri Lanka camp. Apart from the wicketkeeper and the bowler at that time, all nine Sri Lanka fielders wore masks, and Suranga Lakmal vomited on the field. This came after Sri Lanka were left with only 10 healthy mean to take the field on Sunday as they struggled to cope with the pollution in Delhi.A BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo that “the Sri Lankan players have been checked by a senior doctor and they are all well”, but reports quoted DDCA sources as saying that the players refused to take the test after three of them returned good readings. According to these reports, three players underwent tests for oxygen concentration levels, which returned readings pretty close to the optimum ones. Then the other players allegedly refused to take the test.It was clearly a surprise visit for the team, which was left wondering how such a test would tell them what the events on the field didn’t. “There was some test done,” Sri Lanka coach Nic Pothas said at the end of the fourth day’s play. “I have no idea what that test does or doesn’t tell you. You saw today at the end of the day, Mohammed Shami was also struggling (He vomited on the field as well). I thought the guys did superbly well. We said the situation is the situation. Let’s just get on with it. The guys did fantastically well through the day.”I am not a doctor so I have no idea what these tests tell you. What were we testing? Why were we testing? It doesn’t make anything go away. But I thought the guys did brilliantly. Great attitude through the day.”Sri Lanka have been under fire from a few of the commentators and fans both in the stadium and on social media. The genuineness of their concerns has been questioned every day, including some people wondering why their players didn’t wear the masks when batting and wore them only while fielding. Pothas was asked if he felt the doctor had been sent to discredit their claims and his answers remained non-committal.”It has nothing to do with me,” Pothas said. “We made a pact as a team that we will get on with it. It is what it is. It is not going to go away. I thought the guys showed great attitude through the day.”The bottom line is we have got to play a Test match. There is a professional bunch of people in that dressing room. We are very positive about our talk, and the way we behave, and the way we adapt to situations. We made a pact this morning that we are not going to discuss it, we are not going to talk about, we are going to go out and do our job.”Asked if the situation ever reached a stage where the team might have questioned the health risk was too much to take, Pothas said: “That is not for us to decide. Are people in discomfort? I think it speaks for itself. The rest we cannot control. We are professional. We stopped talking about it. It is not going to make a difference talking about it. The only thing we can do is go out and play. As I said, the guys brilliantly today.”About the questions asked of their wearing masks only when fielding, Pothas chose not to go into the nitty gritty of how calling for runs and concentrating can be hindered by them. “I think (commentator and former Sri Lanka cricketer) Russell Arnold’s reply to that was the best reply I have ever seen,” Pothas said.” In that some people wear sunglasses when they field, and the same people don’t wear them when they bat. I think when you read in newspapers today some of the reports from medical experts from around India, that will answer your question.”The newspapers have been quoting medical experts on the dangers of outdoor exertion in this air quality. “Players from other countries will not be able to breathe in the current situation,” KK Aggarwal, national president of Indian Medical Association, told . “Our players might be accustomed to it, but they still should not be exposed to such air quality. It is dangerous and medically not advisable. The Sri Lankan players were right to protest.”Aggarwal was quoted by the as saying: “This match should not have taken place in the first place. It is time the ICC comes up with a policy on pollution. You have fast bowlers, batsmen and fielders out there exposed to these very harmful pollutants over five days at a stretch. It takes a serious toll on your health in the long run.”Over in Pakistan, which shares the problem with India, former captain and legendary allrounder Imran Khan used the Delhi Test as an example for his compatriots. “This should be a wake up call for Pak,” Imran tweeted. “Our children are at a huge risk because of dangerous pollution levels.”Pakistan’s entire National T20 Cup was shifted out of Faisalabad because of pollution. A few days’ play in the group stages of the first-class tournament, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, was also abandoned for the same reason. One of the many reasons Pakistan was reluctant to host West Indies last month was the smog in Lahore.

Dhananjaya Lakshan’s 120-ball 101 and captain Kamindu Mendis all-round show took Sri Lanka to a win over Ireland in their opening match

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jan-2018
ScorecardDhananjaya Lakshan celebrates his century•Getty Images

Dhananjaya Lakshan’s 120-ball 101 and captain Kamindu Mendis’ all-round show took Sri Lanka to a seven-wicket win over Ireland in the rain-reduced 48-over Under-19 World Cup match in Whangarei.Electing to bat, Ireland were off to a strong start, with openers Jamie Grassi (75 off 117 balls) and Mark Donegan (36 off 53 balls) adding 73 runs, before Mendis (3 for 35) broke their partnership in the 20th over. A collapse followed, with no one from No. 3 onward making more than 25.In reply, Sri Lanka were reduced to 9 for 2 within four overs, but a subsequent 42-run stand between opener Lakshan and Krishan Arachchige resurrected their chase. Mendis (74 off 73 balls) then joined Lakshan at the crease, to add 157 runs off 154 balls to take Sri Lanka home. Not only was their partnership match-winning, it was the highest fourth-wicket stand for the team in Under-19 ODIs.

Australia vice-captain says ICC sanction won’t cramp his on-field aggression as new footage emerges of bust-up with Quinton de Kock

Daniel Brettig in Port Elizabeth07-Mar-20180:49

Start of Warner-de Kock clash revealed

Australia’s vice-captain David Warner is as repentant about his wild reaction to alleged “vile and disgusting” comments about his wife from Quinton de Kock as he is unrepentant about the way he behaved on the field in Durban. He insists that he will not change the way he plays, despite spending the next two years only a single disciplinary infraction from an ICC suspension.Speaking for the first time since accepting a fine of more than A$13,000 for “conduct bringing the game into disrepute”, Warner said the fact he had not been sanctioned a single time by the ICC since 2015 was a strong indicator that, apart from the Durban lapse, his behaviour has been more than acceptable.At the same time, he conceded he had not shown enough restraint in his reaction to de Kock’s comment, which Warner said had been muttered quietly as he and Tim Paine began to mount the stairs from the players’ race at Kingsmead up towards the two dressing rooms. While saying he had been called “every name under the sun”, Warner said that disparaging comments about family members were out of bounds, and strongly denied claims from the South African camp that he had mocked de Kock’s sister or mother.”I think you guys are well aware that I cop it left, right and centre, especially off the field from spectators. I am used to that and it doesn’t bother me,” Warner said in Port Elizabeth. “But in the proximity of my personal space and behind me, a comment that was vile and disgusting and about my wife and just in general about a lady was quite poor, I felt, and as I said my emotional response, you saw, was just something that I don’t believe should have been said.”I will always stick up for my family. And in that case, my team-mates as well. I just would have liked him to say the comment a little bit louder, instead of muttering it under his breath next to me and Tim Paine, and then walking up the stairs and saying ‘I didn’t say anything’ as soon as the rest of his team came out. At the end of the day, we’re all men, and if you’re going to say something, you look someone in the eye and say it.”I’ve always felt that when it comes to family or racism comments or anything like that, that’s just a no-go zone. I’ve been called everything under the sun out the field and that, quite frankly, doesn’t bother me. Each individual is different, of course, but if we are going to jot down everything that is in that sort of spectrum, whether it is calling me a slowcoach on the field or whatever it is, it is up to the individual, but at the end of the day, the other day was, I felt, was probably out of line. I’ve seen the footage and I regret the way it played out but, for me, it is how I am and I responded emotionally.”Fresh CCTV footage of Warner and de Kock has provided a link between pictures capturing the two teams walking off the field of play at tea on day four and the stairwell footage that showed an irate Warner being kept at a distance from de Kock by several team-mates, including Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith and Tim Paine.”There was probably three different camera angles and you’ve probably seen the only one at the top of the race,” Warner said. “So, at the end of the day I can only speak for what was shown on the footage. But look, where it was said was literally at the top of the stairs before the first set of stairs to the changerooms. And that was where you saw my emotional response. Yeah, from there you probably would have seen me turn around.”After it happened that night we didn’t really speak about it because we honestly thought there was not a lot in it until there was a bit of video footage leaked and we had to explain what happened. I’m just relieved to be able to get back on the park and move on.”As for the way Warner celebrated the run out of AB de Villiers – essentially using it as a stick to beat Aiden Markram – and pursued other members of the South African side in the middle, Smith’s deputy said he would continue to seek a competitive edge wherever he could.”For me, it was a key moment in that game,” he said. “The way we celebrate or other people celebrate should never be questioned, I don’t think. We were excited, it was a big moment in the game, he’s one of the best players to ever play the game and to get him out with a guy at the other end who hasn’t really played much Test match cricket, we’re going to celebrate those moments.”I play with aggression on the field and I try not to cross that line and it has been in the past that I have sort of been fiery, but I don’t think whatsoever there on the field that I have ever crossed that line. But that’s how I play my cricket, I live by the sword and die by the sword, so I’ll keep playing with that energy and making sure I am the voice in the team to keep our guys motivated on the field, that’s for sure.”You guys have seen the past 18-24 months how I conduct myself on the field. What happened the other day was not appropriate and I responded a tad emotionally. But I think I’ve been fantastic the last 18-24 months. I’ve played with aggression, it’s just the cameras haven’t been on me for the last two years.”Looking ahead to the Port Elizabeth Test match, Warner said he did not expect to face similar barbs to the one allegedly delivered by de Kock. However if he did, he insisted he would handle it differently. “I’d find it quite poor if similar comments were said,” he said. “I’d take an appropriate stance and make sure that matters are taken off field away and spoken about in a quiet room, and make sure we can deal with it that way.”But I can’t see anyone else making comments the way that he made them, which were outright disgusting. As I said, it’s a thing you wouldn’t say about any lady, especially someone’s wife or a player’s wife. I’ve accepted that the way it was played out was regrettable, I’ve stated that, and hopefully in the future if I’m going to respond emotionally, I would try to do it in a more appropriate manner and walk upstairs.”

Trevor Bayliss, England’s head coach, has suggested getting rid of T20 internationals and leaving the format to the various leagues around the world

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Feb-2018Trevor Bayliss, England’s head coach, has suggested getting rid of T20 internationals and leaving the format to the various leagues around the world, following the culmination of a disappointing tri-series for the tourists.England beat New Zealand by two runs in Hamilton to finally register a win but failed to qualify for Wednesday’s final because of an inferior net run rate.Asked about England’s performances in the tri-series, where they lost three out of four T20s, Bayliss suggested they had had to make do without a full-strength side because of the packed nature of the calendar. He went on to reiterate his view that the format should only be played internationally in the run-up to World T20s.”Look, I haven’t changed my opinion on it. I wouldn’t play T20 internationals,” Bayliss told Sky Sports. “I’d just let the franchises play. If we continue putting on so many games there’ll be a certain amount of blowout, not just players but coaches as well.”If you want to play a World Cup every four years or whatever it is, maybe six months before you get the international teams and let them play some T20 internationals.”England were without first-choice T20 players such as Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes in the tri-series – the latter because of a police investigation – as they gave opportunities to the likes of Dawid Malan, Sam Billings, James Vince and Liam Dawson. Malan was England’s top run-scorer, with three fifties in four innings, but they struggled for consistency overall.Debate about the schedule has increased in recent days, after Adil Rashid announced his decision not to play first-class cricket for Yorkshire in 2018. With lucrative T20 leagues continuing to proliferate, players are increasingly required to make decisions about how to best manage their playing commitments in different formats.Bayliss, who has previously coached in the IPL with Kolkata Knight Riders, said that the likelihood of coaches also going down the route of specialisation was increasing.”If you go to a swimming tournament you’ve got 1500m specialists and 100m specialists,” Bayliss said. “I think it’s definitely the way it’s heading, not just with the players… but when that happens I’m not sure.”England are actually set to increase the number of T20s they play during home summers from 2020, with three-match series becoming the norm alongside a reduction in ODIs. Bayliss will no longer be in the England job by that stage, having already indicated he will step down after the 2019 World Cup.