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Willie Basson, CSA’s acting president, has been convinced not to step down from his post with less than a month to go before the body’s AGM

Firdose Moonda08-Jan-2013Willie Basson, CSA’s acting president, has been convinced not to resign his post with less than a month to go before the body’s AGM. ESPNcricinfo understands Basson had already typed his resignation letter after local media alleged that he was involved in the Aparthied-era chemical warfare program, but a board member persuaded him not to step down.Vincent Sinovich, president of the Northerns Cricket Union, confirmed Basson was about to quit before the two spoke. “I begged him not to resign, and I’ve been on edge waiting to see what he would do,” Sinovich said. “He certainly was thinking very seriously about resigning.”No-one else would have achieved what he has achieved in the time he has been there. We all have a past. Whether he was involved or wasn’t involved [in the government] he doesn’t need to explain himself. It was 30 years ago.”Despite Basson’s change of heart, a source close to CSA’s board said some members will still ask Basson to resign at their meeting on Wednesday. It is at this meeting that CSA will iron out the details of the new board, which must be put in place at their AGM on February 2.The board restructure was put in place after the conclusion of the Nicholson commission – the ministerial authority set up to investigate Gerald Majola’s financial wrongdoing and CSA’s corporate governance structures. Nicholson instructed CSA to reconstitute their board to an 11-member panel (down from 22) and include five independent directors.While CSA’s nomination committee has decided on the independent component of the board, there is dispute over the chairmanship. The committee chose former CSA president Norman Arendse but the current board vetoed that decision. Arendse then took the matter to arbitration and won only to have the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) raise an objection to independent chairmanship. Wednesday’s board meeting will decide whether CSA will honour Nicholson or obey SASCOC.Whichever route they take, Basson will not sit on the board so his resignation does not have much effect on the presidency. However, if Basson stays on, he will continue in his role as head of the transformation committee, which the disgruntled board members are unhappy with.Their reasons for objecting with Basson continuing in a development role relate to his prior involvement with the old South African government. Although Basson has not elaborated on exactly what he did while involved in the program, his association with it is thought to contradict strongly with the values of democratic South Africa.Those members also blame him for the lack of transformation in South Africa’s Test squad, which is another item on the agenda at the Wednesday meeting. There has been talk that the board is considering legislating the number of black Africans who take the field at all levels.

Steven Finn was confident of a smooth transition between the England captaincy regimes of Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook

George Dobell30-Aug-2012If there were any doubts about the smooth transition between the captaincy regimes of Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, they should have been largely dispelled by the comments of Steven Finn ahead of the third ODI of the series between England and South Africa at the Oval.Finn, in many ways, represents the new England. Aged just 23, he has the talent to represent the international team in all formats for much of the next decade. While still perceived as a relatively junior member of the attack, he is quickly emerging as the most dangerous bowler and, having come through the England system from Under-16 level, he is well-placed to speak about life as part of the England development programme.Finn’s experience as an England player also reflects that of many of the next generation. Like Jonny Bairstow and James Taylor, Finn has played under the captaincy of Strauss and Cook and understands that, while the personality of the captain may have changed, the policies and principles that have governed this side for some time have not.Finn actually made his Test debut under Cook, called into the England squad for the tour of Bangladesh in early 2010. But, as a county colleague of Strauss at Middlesex, he has known him for even longer.”The first time I met him was when I was 14,” Finn said. “I was bowling in the indoor nets just before he was going off to the West Indies for a one-day tour, I think.”I jagged one down to him, he ducked under it and fell over. I remember the coach shouting from the back of the net, ‘You just got put on your arse by a 14-year-old!’ That was the first time I ever met him. It was quite a surreal scenario: a 14-year-old bowling to an England player and eventually being in the same team as him.”But Cook was the one who told me I was making my Test debut, so that always holds a great place in my heart. He made it very easy for a young player to come into an England team and just settle in, go about my business. That was the first experience I had of being in an England dressing-room and Alastair was excellent at welcoming me in and making me feel like one of the boys.”I think the transition between the two will be smooth. Alastair has been used to working with Andy Flower as one-day captain. Alastair may have his own plans to introduce to the Test team but I would imagine the fundamentals will be very similar. We won’t see a drastic change and I think that’s good for us as a team.”Finn, like most of the England players, was only informed of Strauss’ decision to retire after the ODI on Tuesday night. He was also among those to be given a letter from Strauss.”It was a surprise,” Finn said. “There were some shocked faces in the dressing room when we were told. Obviously it’s a disappointing time when somebody who has been so great and inspirational for us as a team and a sport steps down from their position. Yes, there were some sad and disappointed people.'”He’s been a massive part of my career. It’s been great to have him there at first slip when he’s come back to Middlesex and to have him there to bounce ideas off and talk about different scenarios has been fantastic.”He didn’t want to be influenced by other people. That’s part of the reason he didn’t talk to the players before his decision. The letter just said he’d had a great time leading us and has been very proud leading us. We’ve been very proud to have him as our captain.”But Cooky is a similar sort of leader to Straussy. He leads from the front as an opening batsman. He goes out and sets the tone, which is very good for a captain. He’s grown into his role as a one-day captain and we’ve played quite aggressive cricket, especially with the way we’ve attacked people with ball and bat. I have a slip quite a lot when I’m bowling, which you don’t always see in ODI cricket. That can only bode well for the future.”While the end result of Tuesday’s ODI was a thumping win for South Africa, Finn made the perfectly reasonable point that the margins between the sides were perhaps not quite as big as might be presumed from the scorecard. England’s opening bowlers, Finn and James Anderson, beat the bat frequently in the early overs and might, with a little bit of luck, have claimed several early wickets.”Amla had a couple of lives,” Finn said. “We could have had either him or Graeme Smith quite early. I thought we bowled well up front and we could have taken a couple of wickets, but it wasn’t to be. Amla is obviously in very good form at the moment and people are allowed to play well against us and we have to find a way to counteract that.”As an opening bowler who has played a fair amount of county cricket in recent times, Finn might be expected to have well-informed views about the potential top-order replacement for Strauss in the Test team. While he was reluctant to be drawn on the issue, it was interesting to note the two names he mentioned: Nick Compton, who is enjoying a prolific season for Somerset, and Michael Carberry, who enjoyed a brief taste of Test cricket alongside Finn in 2010.”There are some excellent guys out there,” Finn said. “Nick Compton has had an excellent season, Michael Carberry has played international cricket as an opening batsman in Bangladesh. We made our debut together. So there are definitely guys out there are more than capable of coming in and playing Test cricket.”

New Zealand had given themselves a platform at 159 for 2 in the 38th over but the borderline stumping of Amelia Kerr set in motion a collapse of 8 for 53

Andrew McGlashan04-Apr-2021Australia secured a world-record 22nd ODI win in a row with a powerful batting display in Mount Maunganui as half-centuries from Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry and Ash Gardner carried them to victory with more than 11 overs to spare.The match was finished, and record secured, when Gardner pulled her third six which also brought up 41-ball half-century. Perry had anchored the innings after the early losses of Rachael Haynes and Meg Lanning briefly suggested New Zealand might find a way back into the game.After a watchful start Healy, one of four players to appear in all 22 victories, took the chase by the scruff of the neck with her first major innings of the tour. However, at 136 for 4 the game wasn’t entirely secure, but any notion of it being a problem was quickly dispelled as Gardner found her range, much as she had in the first T20I, and dominated an unbroken stand of 79 with Perry.Earlier, New Zealand had given themselves a platform at 159 for 2 in the 38th over but the borderline stumping of Amelia Kerr set in motion a collapse of 8 for 53. Lauren Down, recalled to the team for the series, made a career-best 90 but the tempo at the top of the order left too much pressure on others to accelerate. Megan Schutt and Nicola Carey shared seven wickets between them.Schutt had struck with her first delivery of the day when a wicked inswinger snaked between Hayley Jensen’s bat and pad to take leg stump. It was slow going in the opening exchanges with Down taking 19 balls to get off the mark but a second-wicket stand of 69 with Amy Satterthwaite gave a foundation.After Satterthwaite lofted to mid-on – Lanning kept fielders inside the ring as long as possible to build pressure – Down and Amelia Kerr added 90 in an 18-over stand that occasionally threatened to break free against a disciplined Australia attack.The Australia squad after their world record 22nd ODI win in a row•Getty Images

Tayla Vlaeminck, whose first four overs cost just four, had 21 taken off a two-over comeback spell while legspinner Georgia Wareham went for a run-a-ball. Down, who had scored 75 runs in her previous 10 ODI innings, reached a maiden fifty off 90 balls.However, the innings lost its way when Amelia Kerr was given out stumped off Schutt – it was a very tight decision by the third umpire and from the replays broadcast hard to say it was clearly out. With the innings having been built at a largely sedate pace, the remaining batters had little time to play themselves in and the pressure told. Katey Martin was run out from cover and Down’s innings ended with a leading edge back to Carey whose wicket-to-wicket medium pace was tough to score off.Maddy Green and Brooke Halliday both managed sixes to suggest they could provide the late power but fell shortly after each of their boundaries.The first over of the chase from Jess Kerr cost 11 but she and Rosemary Mair tightened their lines and were rewarded when Haynes chased a drive in the seventh over. New Zealand were then buoyant when Lanning, who has a phenomenal record chasing and an even more so at this ground, edged Hannah Rowe to the keeper to leave Australia 37 for 2.Healy had reached 25 off 38 balls when she upped the tempo with a six over midwicket after Perry had eased into her innings with consecutive boundaries off the returning Lea Tahuhu. Healy was dropped on 46 – by Tahuhu long-on – with the resulting six bringing up her fifty from 57 deliveries and another life came her way on 61 when Jensen missed a low return catch.Next over, though, she got a leading edge back to Amelia Kerr and when Satterthwaite lured Beth Mooney into driving to cover there was just a glimmer for New Zealand if they could strike again.But Australia’s batting order oozes confidence and Gardner stamped her authority on the chase with two early boundaries against Amelia Kerr who she had also targeted in the first T20I. As her innings progressed she added off-side sixes against Mair and Tahuhu while Perry ticked over to a 73-ball fifty to show her batting is in fine fettle.The job, though, for this tour is not yet finished with the Rose Bowl series – which Australia have held since 2000 – still up for grabs. It would be a brave person to suggest that task won’t be completed in the second game by a side that has taken the one-day game to a new level.

A decision to allow a further 10% will be taken after the group stage of the tournament

Umar Farooq04-Feb-2021Following the government’s official go-ahead, the Pakistan Super League 2021, which starts on February 20, will not be a closed-door event. Spectators will be allowed up to 20% of the ground’s seating capacity, meaning Karachi can accommodate 7,500 people per match and Lahore 5,500.”Fans are the PCB’s biggest asset and we are delighted that no matter a small number, but some will be able to have access to the matches,” board chairman Ehsan Mani said. “Their presence will add flavour and excitement to one of the biggest and most challenging leagues in the cricket calendar. We understand not everyone will get an opportunity to watch the matches due to the limited number of seats, but these are baby-steps and considering that most of the sport events are being played in empty stadium, this is a positive achievement and a step in the right direction.”In September, Pakistan’s National Health Centre gave a green light for sporting activity to resume at grassroot and recreation level provided adequate safety measures were in place. In that same update there was a provision which read: “Spectators should be allowed for sports/games with outdoor pavilions while ensuring six feet of distancing between them.”Related

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It was then that the PCB approached the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) to discuss how many people could safely be allowed to watch the upcoming season of the PSL from the ground. Although the board had asked for 30% capacity initially, it eventually settled for 20%.The PCB and NCOC will continue to monitor the situation and a decision to allow a further 10% will be taken after the group stage of the tournament is complete.”I am optimistic that if we can maintain strict protocols during the PSL 2021 matches we will have a strong case for more fans in the 2021-22 season in which we have to host high-profile internationals teams such as New Zealand, England and the West Indies as well as quality domestic events, including the National T20 Cup, Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the Pakistan Cup,” Mani said.Pakistan did experience a surge of Covid-19 cases over the winter, though they began to track downwards after the closure of schools last month. The government has urged people to take necessary precautions, but enforcement remains low and most public places – shopping malls, marriage halls and public transportation – are fully open.The cricket season in Pakistan resumed in September, after a 24-week hiatus due to the pandemic. It began with the National T20 Cup – played over two legs in Multan and then Rawalpindi – followed by the first-class tournament Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, held fully in Karachi. Four games of the fifth edition of the PSL were also held in Karachi followed by a home series against Zimbabwe. The National T20 Cup and the home series against Zimbabwe were not open to crowds. Nor is the ongoing Test and the T20I series against South Africa. The PSL is scheduled to start on February 20 with 34 matches in total, divided between Karachi and Lahore.

Misfiring batsmen can get better says wicketkeeper, after captain stands apart from rest

Andrew Miller24-Jan-2021Jos Buttler has hailed Joe Root’s performances in the last two Tests in Sri Lanka as “a masterclass”, and believes that everyone in the England squad – not to mention those watching back home – can learn from his example after a superb display of technical and physical prowess in Galle.Root was unluckily run out by a direct hit from short leg off the final ball of the third day’s play for 186, his second hundred in consecutive Tests after making a match-winning 228 in last week’s series opener at the same venue. And Buttler, who was England’s next-highest scorer with 55 in a fifth-wicket stand of 97, was confident that the captain’s example would rub off on his dressing room, as they build towards both the climax of this match, and the forthcoming four-Test series in India.”It was a quite amazing innings,” Buttler said. “To back up his double-hundred in the first Test, both physically and mentally, and to show the application to go and do it again. Today it’s been a masterclass in batting against spin, and it has been a great education for all of us, watching from the sidelines. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching him and we’re gutted for him to get out in that fashion at the end of the day.”Nevertheless, the gulf between Root’s performances in this series and the rest of the England batting line-up has been stark – aside from Buttler, only Dan Lawrence with 73 in the first Test has so far passed fifty, and in England’s first innings of this match, Lawrence was one of three top-order batsman to fall in single figures to the left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya – alongside the openers, Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley, who have made 28 runs in six innings between them.But Buttler insisted that the work that all the players were putting in, plus the lessons that they could glean from watching a batsman such as Root at the top of his game, could still stand them in good stead for the rest of the winter.”Not just young players but older players and people watching from home can learn a lot from watching Joe Root bat against spin,” he said. “The dressing room is right behind those guys, it’s only a couple of innings and starting against spin is a different proposition.”They are putting in an immense amount of work in the nets and it’s important those guys continue to trust their game. Once you get through that initial period it does change and become more comfortable. We’ve seen in both sides, once you get in, there are runs to be had on these surfaces. Those boys are working hard and everyone is right behind them. I’m sure everything clicking is just around the corner.”Joe Root and Jos Buttler’s partnership steadied England•SLC

A focus on conditioning, Buttler added, had been a significant part of Root’s durability in the first two Tests – particularly given the sapping heat of Galle – and he praised the efforts of England’s nutritionist, Emma Gardner, who has been present in Sri Lanka to help the team with their preparations.”Sri Lanka is as challenging conditions as we face,” Buttler said. “So, again, that just adds to the magnitude of the efforts of Rooty’s innings, really. For the eight days of cricket so far, he’s been pretty much on the field. It seems a lot hotter, a lot more draining, than the first game, which had rain breaks as well, so we have to not just praise the tactical and technical aspects of his game, but the physicality and concentration to apply himself for so long.”Fuelling correctly is a big part of that,” Buttler added. “We are very lucky that Emma [Gardner], our nutritionist, is out here and she’s brilliant at getting the right information to people about what they need to eat and drink; what things they need to take on and when.”That’s been a big part of the performance so far and a great help for everyone to have her here guiding that side of things. We know the effects it can have on performance.”Asked if Root’s motivation had been redoubled by a relatively lean 2020, in which he failed to make a Test hundred for the first full year of his career, Buttler acknowledged that he had seemed especially determined during their brief warm-up phase in Hambantota.Related

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“You can talk about his under-performing, but it’s pretty good for others,” Buttler said. “He certainly sits at the top table of cricketers in the world, and the standards he sets himself and drives on to achieve is what makes him so good.”That hunger to back up a double in the first game, to go and score another massive hundred, just shows where he is at with his game. Knowing how much he loves batting, having not been able to bat for a while and with the ODI tour in South Africa getting cancelled, he looks hungry in the middle.”England will link up with significant reinforcements when they depart for India on January 27, ahead of the first Test in Chennai on February 5. On Sunday morning, the three absentees in Sri Lanka – Ben Stokes, Rory Burns and Jofra Archer – all touched down in India, where they will undergo six days of quarantine – with the prospect of individual gym work from day three onwards – before commencing full training next Saturday, five days out from the start of the series.Buttler himself, however, will be heading in the other direction after the first Test. He has been rested for the final three Tests of the India tour, given his importance to England’s white-ball fortunes, with the five T20Is and three ODIs against India in March replicating the conditions that England can expect to face in the T20 World Cup at the end of the year.”Like most people, there have been discussions with the selectors and the coaches, because it’s important to try and find gaps,” Buttler said. “No one wants to miss games but the ECB are looking after player welfare in such a strange time with the pandemic, and in such a busy calendar for English cricket. This year is important so that’s why.”

“I don’t think I can bear such torture. Enough is enough,” he says

Danyal Rasool17-Dec-2020Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir has retired from international cricket, the PCB has confirmed. Amir represented Pakistan in 36 Tests, 61 ODIs and 50 T20Is, and recently played in the inaugural Lanka Premier League for runners-up Galle Gladiators.”Pakistan Cricket Board chief executive Wasim Khan spoke with Mohammad Amir this afternoon following reports that the fast bowler had announced his retirement from international cricket. The 28-year-old confirmed to the PCB chief executive that he has no desires or intensions of playing international cricket and as such, he should not be considered for future international matches,” a PCB statement said. “This is a personal decision of Mohammad Amir, which the PCB respects, and as such, will not make any further comment on this matter at this stage.”The statement serves as another reminder of the extent to which relations between Amir and the current team management have broken down. It came off the back of an interview he gave to Samaa TV earlier on Thursday, in which Amir claimed he had been “mentally tortured” by the team management, taunted frequently and was being deliberately sidelined by them.”I am leaving cricket for now because I’m being mentally tortured. I don’t think I can bear such torture. I’ve borne lots of torture from 2010 to 2015, for which I served my time. I’ve been tortured by being told the PCB invested a lot in me. I’ll just say two people invested in me a lot: [former PCB chairman] Najam Sethi and [former Pakistan captain] Shahid Afridi.”They were the only two. The rest of the team was saying, ‘we don’t want to play with Amir’. Recently, the atmosphere that’s been created means I get taunted all the time by being told I don’t want to play for my country. Who doesn’t want to play for their country? Every two months, someone says something against me. Sometimes the bowling coach [Waqar Younis] says Amir ditched us, sometimes I’m told my workload is unsatisfactory. Enough is enough.”Discontent had been simmering for a while before finally coming to a head on Thursday. Amir, who retired from Test cricket last year, had found himself excluded from the PCB’s list of central contracts earlier this year, and omitted from Pakistan’s 35-man squad to New Zealand last month.Upon that squad announcement, Amir said on Twitter “only Misbah” could explain why he hadn’t been included, before criticising bowling coach Waqar Younis for talking about his workload. That, coupled by Amir’s frequent praise of former Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur, at one point saying he would “love to play under Arthur for any side in the world”, offered insight into how he viewed his relations with the current coaching staff. That he singled Sethi out for praise in his statement is unlikely to have played too well in front of his successor Ehsan Mani or CEO Wasim Khan, further condemning Amir to international exclusion.The 28-year old is still widely sought after in T20 leagues around the world, which his complete international retirement should allow more time for. Though his specific attacks on this management suggests he would be open o a return should things at the board change, for now Amir appears to have put to bed a tumultuous international career that appeared to have been sabotaged just as it began in 2010, before a promising second coming following a five-year ban that ended up fizzling out.Even so, the highs Amir enjoyed in a curtailed international career would exceed most complete careers. Bursting onto the international scene in 2009, he played a pivotal part in the 2009 T20 World Cup final against Sri Lanka, dismissing Player of the Tournament Tillakaratne Dilshan in the first over as Pakistan clinched the title. He would go on to take five wickets in the Boxing Day Test later that year, and continued to torment Australia in England in 2010, taking seven wickets at Leeds as Australia were skittled out for a first innings 88, and Pakistan won their first Test against that opposition in 15 years. Five wickets at Lord’s against England were next before the spot-fixing scandal erupted.Following his comeback, he was never quite at that scintillating best, though glimpses of that outrageous talent were obvious from time to time. The spell with the new ball in the 2017 Champions Trophy final may be his most famous, as he removed Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan to set up a romping 180-run win. Largely, however, he had reinvented himself as more a white-ball specialist than an out-and-out swing bowler, affording him more opportunities to play in T20 leagues across the world.Amir last played for Pakistan in the T20Is in England in August this year. He ends his international career with 259 wickets – 119 in Tests, 81 in ODIs and 59 in T20Is.

Sri Lanka took a significant step in their attempt to thwart Pakistan from levelling this rain-affected series, through a combination of dogged batting on a testing pitch, a fair amount of luck, and aggression

The Report by Siddhartha Talya10-Jul-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Tharanga Paranavitana and Thilan Samaraweera fought hard for over three hours•Associated Press

Sri Lanka took a significant step in their attempt to thwart Pakistan from levelling this rain-affected series, through a combination of dogged batting on a testing pitch, a fair amount of luck, and aggression. Pakistan contributed much to that luck through sloppy fielding, when an urgent quest for wickets was the need of the hour after a rained-out second day.A century-stand between Tharanga Paranavitana and Thilan Samaraweera included a period of survival during a hostile morning spell from Pakistan’s seamers, as the two overcame their lean runs in this series. Thisara Perera’s counterattack against the second new ball restored a sense of security for Sri Lanka – it stretched their lead to 111 – and gave them a strong opportunity to force a win.Pakistan’s two crucial lapses in the field occurred in the slips, from two unlikely candidates. Younis Khan spilled a straightforward chance at second slip when Samaraweera was on 49 – that partnership with Paranavitana was to last another 38 runs and 16.1 overs – and Misbah-ul-Haq dropped a simple catch off Perera, on just 22. Umar Gul was the aggrieved bowler on both occasions, and was left dispirited when the batsman his captain reprieved returned the favour with what could be a game-changing onslaught.Gul bowled one half of Pakistan’s incisive, though wicketless, morning spell; from the other end Junaid Khan threatened, probed and eventually picked up his third five-for – all of them have come against Sri Lanka.In conditions where the advantage to fast bowlers was not as pronounced as on the first day, but with enough swing and movement to trouble the batsmen, Junaid’s battle against Samaraweera was exciting to watch. Junaid, with his round-the-wicket angle, tried hard to beat Samaraweera through the gate by moving it back in, but the batsman countered that by stepping outside the line and moving forward. He was beaten on occasion and struck high on the pads once, but the ploy was largely effective – except when Junaid slipped in the away-going delivery after angling it in, confounding the batsman completely.Paranavitana, possibly competing for his place in the side, needed the luck he got. He survived a close call for lbw against Gul on the first day, and was in for a stern test from the same bowler on the third. A sharp, pacy, incoming short delivery rapped him on the back of the bat and flew over the slips, and a couple of attempted drives to initiate a counter-attack went past the edge, immediately prompting his senior partner to calm him down.

Smart stats

• The 143-run stand between Tharanga Paranavitana and Thilan Samaraweera is the fifth-highest fourth-wicket stand for Sri Lanka against Pakistan. It is also their third-highest fourth-wicket partnership against Pakistan at home.

• Paranavitana’s 75 is his 11th half-century in Tests. It is also his fifth score between 72 and 76 against Pakistan. No other batsman has as many scores (between 72 and 76) against a particular opposition.

• Thisara Perera’s 75 is the fifth-highest score by a Sri Lanka No.8 batsman in Tests. It is also the highest score by a Sri Lanka No.8 batsman against Pakistan.

• Junaid Khan’s five-wicket haul is his third in Tests. All three have come against Sri Lanka. Only Shane Warne, Anil Kumble and Waqar Younis have more five-fors against Sri Lanka.

• The 84-run stand between Nuwan Kulasekara and Perera is the best eighth-wicket stand for Sri Lanka against Pakistan and their eighth-best for the eighth wicket overall.

• Sri Lanka have lost only eight times after taking the lead in home Tests. The last time this happened was against Pakistan in Kandy in 2006. Click here for a list of matches when Sri Lanka have bowled first and here for matches when they have batted first.

Gradually, though, the pair found their feet, painstakingly extending their partnership. Paranavitana finally managed to drive Gul through cover, Samaraweera played Junaid down the ground and the two were far more comfortable when Mohammad Sami and Ajmal were called on to bowl. Though he got a couple of doosras past the edge, Ajmal struggled to turn his conventional offbreak, often met with a full face from the batsmen. Sami was quick, but bowled short and provided too much width. Paranavitana smashed Younis Khan through point to reach his half-century, and appeared a more confident player after lunch, driving Junaid and Gul elegantly through cover for boundaries.It was after a brief rain interruption that Ajmal, ineffective up to that point, went round the wicket and got a ball to turn in from off stump. Samaraweera played forward, was beaten and trapped in front. A loose shot from Angelo Mathews off a wide ball from Junaid had him caught at gully, before Paranavitana dragged on a short ball from Ajmal three overs later. Gul struck first ball with the second new ball to remove Prasanna Jayawardene. Sri Lanka led by 10 at that point with seven down, but their depth in batting ensured they added 101 more.Nuwan Kulasekara is a capable batsman and thrashed Gul twice through the covers, one an imperious drive on bended knee. As Gul bowled length, Perera – also a beneficiary of a difficult, dropped return catch and a missed run out – launched him through mid-off and cover for fours before dispatching a slower one over the midwicket for six in the same over. Junaid returned to dismiss Kulasekara – by which time the stand with Perera was worth 84 – but Perera signed off by swinging Ajmal for two big sixes over midwicket and long-on before becoming Junaid’s fifth victim.A rare error from umpire Simon Taufel didn’t help Pakistan’s case when they came out to bat, as Taufeeq Umar was given out lbw to a delivery that pitched outside leg stump. It capped a day that began with much promise for Pakistan in helpful conditions, but their own shortcomings and a determined opposition left them targeting, at least for a good part of the fourth day, survival and not a push for victory.

Iyer said it was a welcome relief to get back to training after five months of lockdown

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Sep-20203:04

Ricky Ponting: ‘Will make sure we don’t overtrain’

“Go easy, not lazy”.These were the first words from Ricky Ponting, head coach of the Delhi Capitals, as the squad assembled for their first training session in Dubai over a week back. He instructed this over a video call, according to captain Shreyas Iyer, as he was restricted to reviewing footage of the team’s training session for the first few days because of quarantine restrictions.”When we finally got the go-ahead for our very first training session of the season, the excitement was palpable,” Iyer wrote in a column for the Capitals. “Ricky was still in quarantine, which means his opening talk of the season was going to be over a Zoom call. ‘Go easy, not lazy,’ he told us. “‘Slow and steady, short and sharp sessions to start with. And more intense as we go along.’ It’s amazing how much energy he manages to put into us even from across a computer screen.”Iyer felt just being out on the field made him nostalgic after he had spent a better part of the last five months indoors due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He said the seven days of quarantine and the wait to train and play had made him “absolutely restless”, but once he hit the nets, the wait for his turn to bat made him an “impatient child, full of energy.” With Ponting still in quarantine, the Capitals began training under supervision of assistant coaches Vijay Dahiya and Mohammad Kaif.ALSO READ: Shikhar Dhawan: Experience, batting depth of Delhi Capitals spinners a huge advantage“I can’t tell you how much I waited for the day of our first training session,” he wrote. “Before that, we were locked in our rooms for a week. I kept myself occupied with room workouts, as Rajinikanth, our strength and conditioning coach monitored me over a video call. In the evenings, I turned to Netflix.”On the first day of training, I was ready a whole hour before schedule. And once I stepped out, nostalgia hit me. The sight of the green outfield, and the white picket fence at the ICC Academy, our training venue, was a sight for sore eyes. How much we’d all missed this for the past few months.”Kaif , and Vijay had reached before us. And before we knew it, it was officially season time. I am frankly finding it hard to describe the feeling when I put my pads, gloves and helmet on, and walked into the nets. As I heard the sweet, sweet sound of bat hitting ball, I waited for my turn like an impatient child, full of energy.”Iyer admitted to feeling a little uneasy to suddenly train at full intensity in the hot and humid conditions. He said it took him a while to get into the groove but wouldn’t have it any other way after missing out on cricket for the majority of the year.”It wasn’t easy to get into the groove, to be honest,” he wrote. “And the humidity made things worse. But I’d pick this over the hotel’s air-conditioning any day. Two sessions in, I started finding my rhythm back, slowly but surely. You could see the intensity in the nets and the outfield.”The batters tonked the ball all over the park, the fast bowlers steamed in, the spinners got their trick deliveries out. It would be safe to say it was a case of ‘Absence makes the heart fonder’ for all of us. All this time away from the game only made us realise just how much we love it.”

Bowling to the Indian batsmen “another test for myself, and a challenge I can’t wait to get”

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Nov-2020Mitchell Swepson’s international career hasn’t quite taken off yet, and it might not get off the blocks this summer against India either, unless the pitches at home have turned more subcontinental than possible, what with Nathan Lyon the immovable object at the top of the spinners’ queue. The 27-year-old is fine with that, though, and is happy to be around the group and “be a bit of a sponge and soak it all in and hopefully learn a few more things”.”Gaz [Lyon] is obviously the premier spinner, has been for a while, and has proven himself time and time again in Test matches, so [I am] not counting my chickens too much to getting a go above him. But the way the ball is coming out at the moment for me, I feel like I am in a really good place,” Swepson told reporters on Saturday. “And if given a chance and opportunity, I feel like I am ready to go.”Obviously that opportunity has to be there, and if conditions suit…you have to be ready to go no matter what. I will be preparing to play all four games. If the chance comes, I will hopefully take it with two hands, and if not, then so be it. I’m sure there will be more chances in the future.”Swepson did get called up to the Test party late last year, when New Zealand went across, but didn’t get his baggy green. Then he was a chance to get a debut on the tour of Bangladesh, where spin-friendly tracks might have necessitated a partner for Lyon, but that tour was scrapped because of the Covid-19 situation.”There was a great vibe around the team last time and I just learnt a lot just by being around them, so to be included from the get-go this time will be great – be a bit of a sponge and soak it all in and hopefully learn a few more things,” he said. “I got to bowl alongside Gaz while I was down there last time, and he’s always been great to offer up his advice; I got to have a little session with Warney [Shane Warne] in Melbourne last year, and again, another learning experience. So it would be silly of me to say I didn’t take anything out of that and that didn’t help my bowling.”Proof of that is the form he has been in for Queensland in the first part of the Sheffield Shield season, with 23 wickets from three games putting him right on top of the wicket-takers’ list, eight clear of second-placed Jackson Bird.”I think that experience definitely helped my bowling. But where I am at now, it’s been a long grind, it’s been a long process, that’s not the sole reason why my bowling has gone to where it is now,” he said. “It’s been a long grind in Shield cricket for me for a while now. Just glad that I am sort of getting the rewards now for that hard work. So yeah, it’s been great.”With all the Shield games taking place in Adelaide this season, because of Covid-19, Swepson has had a greater role to play for Queensland than he would likely have back in Brisbane, where Queensland would normally have played their home games.Nathan Lyon is well ahead of the pack when it comes to Australian Test spinners•Getty Images

Swepson agreed with that, adding that the work he had put in on his fitness in the off-season had worked its magic too. “That physical aspect is always something you always work on as a professional cricketer, it’s something that the pre-season part of the year is when you work on that physical aspect, and for me, I think that it just comes down to bowling lots of balls,” he said. “We’re lucky to have the facilities we have in Queensland, so early in the year, up and running that I was able to come in and bowl so many balls during the pre-season.When it comes to the Indians, the Test touring party will get cracking with two three-day tour games against an Australia A squad, both in Sydney, in early December after the ODIs and T20Is. Swepson is a part of both ‘A’ squads, but might not actually get to play the second of those (from 11 to 13), since the plan is for the squad to travel to Adelaide with time in hand ahead of the first – day-night – Test, starting December 17.If that happens, and if Australia pick only one spinner in their XI for the first Test, and Lyon if good to go, not only might Swepson’s Test debut have to wait, he is unlikely to “test myself” against Virat Kohli either. The Indian captain will be on paternity leave after the first Test, and will miss the first tour game because the T20I series will still be on at the time.”Hundred percent, you want to challenge yourself against the best and no secret he [Kohli] is up there with the best,” Swepson said. “For me, it’s just another challenge and another thing that excites me, to be able to test myself against another great cricketer, and their whole batting is world-class, so the opportunity to bowl at those guys is just another test for myself, and a challenge I can’t wait to get.”

Rolling Report of the eighth IPL 2020 match, between the Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Sep-2020Welcome to ESPNcricinfo’s Rolling Report of the eighth IPL 2020 match, between the Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Knight Riders lost their first game, and in their camp are the likes of Dinesh Karthik, Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Kuldeep Yadav, Eoin Morgan, Sunil Narine, and others. On the other hand, are David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson and others. Which team will get its first win today?