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Seekkuge Prasanna has been picked in place of Jeffrey Vandersay, while fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera has also been omitted

Andrew Fidel Fernando11-Jan-20170:46

Who is Thikshila de Silva?

Uncapped batting allrounder Thikshila de Silva has been named in Sri Lanka’s squad for the T20 series against South Africa, which starts from January 20. Thikshila is yet to play international cricket in any format; the other new member of the T20 squad is the left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan, who has played three Tests and an ODI.Legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay, who impressed in the World T20 last year, has been left out in favour of Seekkuge Prasanna, who also offers hitting power. Fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera has been omitted as well, while seamers Isuru Udana and Nuwan Kulasekara have earned recalls. The other major omissions are wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Perera, and allrounders Thisara Perera (who is currently playing in the Big Bash League) and Dasun Shanaka.

Sri Lanka’s T20 squad

Angelo Mathews (capt), Dinesh Chandimal, Danushka Gunathilaka, Seekkuge Prasanna, Niroshan Dickwella, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Asela Gunaratne, Sachith Pathirana, Lakshan Sandakan, Thikshila de Silva, Nuwan Kulasekara

Thikshila, 23, has largely been picked on potential and on his reputation as a clean striker of the ball for Chilaw Marians. In 15 domestic T20 innings so far, he has hit 15 sixes and as many fours, collecting his 218 runs at a strike rate of 144. A left-handed batsman, Thikshila also bowls right-arm seam, and has six T20 wickets and an economy rate of 8.38. Though there has been no domestic T20 cricket in Sri Lanka since last February, he hit a run-a-ball 92 against SSC in the most recent round of the Premier League Tournament, which began on January 6.Though largely considered a long-format bowler, it is perhaps Sandakan’s ability to turn the ball away from the left-handed batsmen that has earned him his selection, with Prasanna already in the squad, along with left-arm spinning allrounder Sachith Pathirana. Sandakan made a promising start to his Test career last year, but only has 16 domestic T20 wickets and an economy rate of 8.74 across 15 appearances.Lakshan Sandakan made a promising start to his Test career last year but has only 16 wickets in 15 domestic T20 games•Associated Press

Kulasekara’s return to the T20 squad was expected, after he had appeared to reclaim some of his old rhythm and inswing in the recent ODI tri-series against Zimbabwe. He had had a long, ineffective run in 2015, and had been dropped from both limited-overs sides. Udana – a T20 specialist with a number of slower balls – Suranga Lakmal, and Nuwan Pradeep make up the remaining frontline seam options.Save for Kusal Perera’s omission, there were no major surprises on the batting front. Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Asela Gunaratne and Niroshan Dickwella are be among those who will be considered for top-order spots, with captain Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal likely to feature in the XI.Kusal Perera’s omission appears to be largely due to lack of form. In four ODI innings during the Zimbabwe tri-series, he had scores of 21, 4, 7 and 14. He also collected single-figure scores in the first Test against South Africa, and was subsequently dropped from the Test XI.A bout of dengue before Christmas slowed Lasith Malinga’s efforts to regain match fitness, leaving him unavailable for the T20Is and ODIs in South Africa. He will now only attempt to return in time for the three-match T20 series against Australia, scheduled to begin on February 17The first of the three T20s against South Africa is set to be played on January 20 in Centurion.

The rejigging of the senior selection committee, and the announcement of six new Test centres – Pune, Ranchi, Indore, Rajkot, Visakhapatnam and Dharamsala – were among the major cricket-related decisions made at the BCCI’s AGM in Mumbai

Arun Venugopal in Mumbai09-Nov-2015The rejigging of the senior selection committee, and the announcement of six new Test centres – Pune, Ranchi, Indore, Rajkot, Visakhapatnam and Dharamsala – were among the major cricket-related decisions made at the BCCI’s AGM in Mumbai. While former India wicketkeeper MSK Prasad replaced Roger Binny as the South Zone selector, Gagan Khoda was drafted in place of Rajinder Singh Hans from Central Zone.The BCCI president Shashank Manohar felt the shake-up was necessary as he did not want Binny’s son, Stuart, to be done “injustice”.

November 17 deadline for DDCA to host SA Test

The Delhi & District Cricket Association has been given a deadline of November 17 to keep Feroz Shah Kotla ready to host the fourth Test between India and South Africa starting December 3. BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said if the DDCA missed the deadline, newly-announced Test venue Pune would host the match.
“The DDCA has to give us the requisite permissions [from civic bodies and security] by the 17th, if we don’t have the permissions from the DDCA by the 17th, the match will be given to Pune,” he said.

“As I said, the perception [of conflict of interest] has to change. I said there should not be injustice on Stuart Binny also,” Manohar said. “If he is a deserving player he should not get not flak from media that because he is Roger Binny’s son he is playing. We can’t destroy his career also.”Prasad’s candidature, on the other hand, was strongly backed by his home body, the Andhra Cricket Association, and the only other person said to be in the running was former Tamil Nadu and India batsman WV Raman. The TNCA, it is learnt, did not aggressively push Raman’s case as Manohar had already zoomed in on Prasad. “[TNCA president] N Srinivasan was very clear that no favours should be sought from anyone at the AGM,” a TNCA source said.Prasad had put in his papers as ACA cricket operations director – a position he has held for six years now – close to a week ago to ensure that his nomination did not violate any conflict-of-interest norms. Prasad felt his elevation would “give hope to all those players coming from nooks and corners of the country”.”I am a representative of the minnows of Indian cricket,” Prasad told ESPNcricinfo. “When somebody from some state can rise to this position, then as a player also anybody can rise to that position.”On how he would approach his new job, Prasad said he would look to replicate what he had done in Andhra: “I am very clear that the systems we have adopted in Andhra – the clarity of selection policy – which if I can place in front of you or anybody, it will be appreciated.”The inclusion of Khoda, the former Rajasthan and India batsman, was a bit of a surprise. Manohar explained the decision to drop Hans in characteristically pithy fashion: “Looking at his performance we decided to go for a new one.”The decision to grant Test status to six new centres, Manohar said, was because of the glut of home Tests India were set to play in 2016. “Next year we are going to have about 12 Test matches in India and each stadium has all the facilities of hosting international games,” Manohar said.There was little discussion, however, on whether the NCA would stay in Bangalore or be moved out. Niranjan Shah, the newly appointed chairman of the NCA board, told ESPNcricinfo that a decision on this would be made after the committee was fully constituted. “We didn’t discuss this at the meeting,” Shah said. “After Diwali, our committee will meet and discuss the future course of action. The whole committee has to be formed.” Shah also confirmed that the BCCI did not discuss the issue of DRS.There was also no discussion on the Cricket Advisory Committee that includes Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. However, the board secretary Anurag Thakur confirmed that “all the three will remain”.Thakur also formally announced the introduction of contracts for women cricketers. “The women have also come under the contracted players. There will be two categories: category A and B. And they will paid Rs 15 lakh and Rs 10 lakh each,” he said.

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli said the team’s total against Kings XI Punjab was good enough to defend, and it is worrying that his bowlers are misfiring at this important stage of the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff15-May-2013The question mark over Royal Challengers Bangalore’s bowling remains, following their seven-wicket loss to Kings XI Punjab at the Chinnaswamy after posting 174. After the game, captain Virat Kohli said the total was good enough to defend, and it is worrying that his bowlers are misfiring at this important stage of the tournament.”The bowling has not been great. That’s something we need to look into,” Kohli said. “That was a bit of concern last year as well, so we thought bringing in more options would be helpful but the guys haven’t been able to execute in the last few overs.”One-seventy-five was a pretty good total to defend. But we didn’t hit the right areas.”Royal Challengers had bought four seamers at the IPL auction in February, in Ravi Rampaul, RP Singh, Jaydev Unadkat and Pankaj Singh. Their other three acquisitions were seam-bowling allrounders Moises Henriques, Dan Christian and Christopher Barnwell. Kohli had said in the lead-up to the season that he had specifically wanted to shore up their attack, but still the bowling issues persist.For the game against Kings XI, Rampaul, who has been one of the better Royal Challengers bowlers this season – with 12 wickets from nine games, he has the best average and economy rate for the team so far – was left out. Kohli said that was prompted by Kings XI’s line-up: “Ravi didn’t play because they had three impact left-handers [Adam Gilchrist, Shaun Marsh and David Miller], so we decided that [Muttiah] Muralitharan would be a better option.”When they batted, Royal Challengers had got off to a sedate start, with Kohli and Chris Gayle only scoring at around a run-a-ball until the 14th over. That, Kohli said, was because of the nature of the pitch: “The wicket looked pretty good to play on but that actually wasn’t the case. It was pretty slow, keeping low and the ball wasn’t coming on to the bat. That’s why Chris and I decided to stick around.”In the first five-six overs, the pitch was a bit different [to the usual tracks at the Chinnaswamy] and it was keeping low and slow. It settled down beautifully in the second half and we didn’t expect that. I thought it would remain slow throughout the game.”Royal Challengers now need to win their final game, against current table-toppers Chennai Super Kings, and hope other results go in their favour to progress to the playoffs. “It’s not a good position to be in, with a must-win game at hand. But we have to deal with it,” Kohli said. “We have to let the guys be themselves and not put pressure on them. They are professionals and know what to do.”

The preview of the match between Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Feroz Shah Kotla

The Preview by George Binoy16-May-2012

Match facts

Thursday, May 17, Delhi
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)AB de Villiers’ 64 off 42 balls was a match-winning performance for Royal Challengers in their first match against Daredevils•Associated Press

Big Picture

How rapidly prospects change in the IPL. Two days ago, Royal Challengers Bangalore were on a three-match winning streak, with healthy chances of making the playoffs. Then they lost to Mumbai Indians, one of their competitors for a top-four finish, and later that day another competitor, Chennai Super Kings, beat Kolkata Knight Riders, whose position is far healthier than that of Royal Challengers. Now Royal Challengers need to win their last two games, both away from home, to have a realistic chance of qualifying, but even that may not be enough if it comes down to net run-rates.It gets harder. The first of Royal Challengers’ two must-win games is against Delhi Daredevils, league leaders and the first team to secure a playoff berth. It’s at the Feroz Shah Kotla, where the pitch and conditions seem customised for the home side’s hard-hitting batsmen and battery of fast bowlers. Daredevils also have two games remaining and one victory will guarantee a top spot, which will give them a second chance of making the grand final should they slip up in the first.

Form guide

(most recent first, completed games)
Delhi Daredevils: WLWLW
Royal Challengers Bangalore: LWWWL

Watch out for

Daredevils’ team composition: There are several voices asking for Andre Russell to be included at Ross Taylor’s expense. But Daredevils don’t need a seam bowling allrounder because they already have Irfan Pathan and the strongest pace attack in the IPL. What they need is an in-form overseas batsman to act as ballast in a top-heavy batting line-up, which is why they are persisting with Taylor, desperate for him to shun the form that has brought only 107 runs at a strike rate of 87 in nine innings. Taylor made a duck in his previous innings, against Kings XI Punjab, and Daredevils have to decide between persisting with him and giving Aaron Finch, the only overseas batsman on the bench, a run before the playoffs.Royal Challengers’ misfiring bowlers: They have the longest tail in the IPL because they play five specialist bowlers – Vinay Kumar batted at No. 7 in the previous game. Yet their bowling attack, despite having Zaheer Khan and Muttiah Muralitharan, is the second most expensive of the tournament, after Deccan Chargers who are at the bottom of the league. That is largely because Royal Challengers’ home venue, the Chinnaswamy Stadium, has the best batting surfaces and some of the smaller boundaries in the tournament. However, even away from home, Royal Challengers have conceded 8.19 runs per over. Again, only Chargers fare worse. Perhaps the more helpful pitches at the Kotla will strengthen Royal Challengers’ weakest link.

Stats and trivia

• In 13 matches, Royal Challengers have taken only 12 wickets in the first six overs, when the fielding restrictions are in place. Their average of 50 per wicket and economy rate of 7.69 during this period both the worst in the tournament. Daredevils, on the other hand, have taken 21 at an average of 29 and economy of 7.33.
• Daredevils’ batsmen have the best run-rate in the first six overs this season – 664 runs at 7.90. Royal Challengers score at 7.00 in this period, but Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers have usually made up for that later in the innings.
• The head to head between these sides after nine matches is 5-4 in Daredevils’ favour. They lost the first match this season, in Bangalore, by 20 runs.

Quotes

“Obviously before playing RCB, we will make our strategies and plans. We need to get him [Gayle] out early. Our plan would be to restrict their scoring and bowl them out as soon as possible … Pressure would be slightly less but we will look for wins in remaining fixtures.”
“It gives me immense pleasure to announce that RCB is the first sports team in the world to officially become carbon neutral, without the purchase of carbon credits but through fan driven initiatives.”

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court has delivered a split verdict on a petition challenging BCCI secretary N Srinivasan’s right to hold a position in the board while also holding a stake in an IPL franchise

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Apr-2011A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court has delivered a split verdict on a petition challenging BCCI secretary N Srinivasan’s right to hold a position in the board while also holding a stake in an IPL franchise. The petition, filed by former board president AC Muthiah, questioned the motives behind the board amending their regulations in order to allow Srinivasan to have a dual role of board member and part-owner of Chennai Super Kings.Justice JM Panchal dismissed the petition, while Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra allowed it, holding that a BCCI officer bearer cannot have a stake in an IPL franchise. The split verdict means the petition has been referred to the chief justice for allocating it to a larger bench.The BCCI had amended clause 6.2.4 of the regulations for players, team officials, umpires and administrators in September 2008, shortly after the first season of the IPL. Before the amendment the clause read: “No administrator shall have, directly or indirectly, any commercial interest in the matches and events conducted by the board.” After the change, it read: “No administrator shall have directly or indirectly any commercial interest in any of the events of the BCCI, excluding IPL, Champions League and Twenty20.”Muthiah’s argument was that the exclusion of IPL and Twenty20 events was made specifically to benefit Srinivasan. In September 2010, Mishra had suggested Srinivasan resign from his position in the board .”You introduce an amendment where the IPL will be an exception. You are a prominent industrialist holding a key position in the board and have a stake in the bidding,” Mishra had told Srinivasan. “In order to avoid suspicion and be above board, you should have got your membership suspended.”Our nagging question is: can you continue in a dual capacity? That is the core issue.”Following those statements, Mishra allowed Muthiah’s petition on April 28, 2011, but Panchal’s decision to dismiss it means the amendment to the BCCI regulations will stand for the time being.

Harshad Mehta, the chairman of the Kochi franchise, claimed Modi attempted to discourage the consortium from bidding for the new franchise

Cricinfo staff13-May-2010The Dubai-based chairman of the Kochi franchise has said the team has sent a formal complaint to the BCCI about suspended IPL commissioner Lalit Modi.In an interview with the , an Abu Dhabi-based daily, Harshad Mehta claimed Modi attempted to discourage the consortium from bidding for the new franchise. “He told us that so many partners can’t handle a team. We listened to whatever he had to say. He is the IPL chairman. We listened and we kept our cool.”The consortium of practically unknown businessmen bid US$333.33 million to win one of the two new franchises, surprising everyone involved, including Modi, who subsequently set off a media firestorm by questioning the shareholding pattern of the consortium on the micro-blogging site Twitter. The ensuing controversy eventually led to Modi’s suspension as commissioner and the resignation of junior external affairs minister Shashi Tharoor, who was acting as a mentor to the bidding group.Mehta opened up about the shareholding fiasco, which centred on a 4.7% stake given to Sunanda Pushkar, a close friend of Tharoor’s, as “sweat equity”. He said Pushkar, a former sales manager of real estate company Tecom, was given a stake because the investors were convinced she could attract sponsors.”Sweat equity has been misunderstood by everyone,” Mehta said. “It has zero value initially. If I think an employee has potential and can bring money and support to the team, I can offer the person sweat equity. It is available in any part of the world. The BCCI says we can give 100% sweat equity if we want, to anybody. There was no need for him [Modi] to raise such alarm.”However, Mehta admitted Pushkar had probably been given a relatively high share, and even though she has returned her stake and no longer has anything to do with the team, the management decided to reduce the total amount of free equity in the franchise across the board. “We realised that the proportion we gave was too much, so we backed out. Now the team has only 11 to 12% of sweat equity.”While Pushkar is no longer associated with the team, Mehta said Tharoor would continue to play a part. “Shashi will still be our mentor. We require his help to run this team.”The Kochi team has now turned its attention to the running of the franchise. Mehta revealed the team’s interest in Sri Lankan cricketer Mahela Jayawardane, who currently plays for the Kings XI Punjab. “I like Mahela personally and have a very good relation with him,” Mehta said.”I was the first person to take him outside Sri Lanka to play in South Africa. My relation with him is over 20 years now. If he is available and if I have a successful bid, he will be part of the Kochi team.”According to Mehta, Kerala native Sreesanth, who also plays for Kings XI Punjab, has already committed to joining the team in 2011. “He is the best bowler but not very mature,” said Mehta. “He must have a target and everything will be good.”Meanwhile, the core of the team will be composed primarily of players from Gujarat and Delhi.
“We’ll take lot of players from Gujarat and mostly we are taking from Delhi,” said Mehta. “We are very keen on Delhi. They are very good fighters.”

This is the first time in four seasons that the final of the Women’s Premier League will not be played on a weekend

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-2025The 2026 Women’s Premier League (WPL) will have its final on a weekday (Thursday, February 5), and not over the weekend, for the first time, and feature two double-headers, both on Saturdays, after kicking off on January 9.The 28-day-long tournament will be played across two venues: Navi Mumbai, where India won the ODI World Cup in early November beating South Africa in the final, and Vadodara. The first 11 matches, including the two double-headers, will be played at Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium, and the remaining 11 matches, including the eliminator on February 3 and the final will be played at Vadodara’s Kotambi Stadium.The dates and venues were confirmed by the WPL’s chairman, Jayesh George, on Thursday, the day of the WPL auction. All games bar the earlier fixture on the double-header days will be evening affairs.The week of the final is a busy one for multi-team competitions, with the men’s Under-19 World Cup finishing the day after the WPL final, on February 6, and the men’s T20 World Cup starting the following day, on February 7.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Apart from having a weekday final, this is the first time the WPL will be played in the January-February window. The first three seasons were played in February-March just before the start of the IPL. This will also be the first time the WPL will not clash with major international fixtures.Mumbai Indians (MI) are the defending champions of the WPL and have won two titles in three editions so far, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) the other past winners. Delhi Capitals (DC) have been runners-up in all three seasons. The other two teams, Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz, have never made the title round.Ten days after the WPL ends, India will start an all-format tour of Australia, playing three T20Is, three ODIs and a Test from February 15 to March 9.

WPL 2026 schedule

Jan 9: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Jan 10: UP Warriorz vs Gujarat Giants
Jan 10: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals
Jan 11: Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Giants
Jan 12: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs UP Warriorz
Jan 13: Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants
Jan 14: UP Warriorz vs Delhi Capitals
Jan 15: Mumbai Indians vs UP Warriorz
Jan 16: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Gujarat Giants
Jan 17: UP Warriorz vs Mumbai Indians
Jan 17: Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Jan 19: Gujarat Giants vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Jan 20: Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians
Jan 22: Gujarat Giants vs UP Warriorz
Jan 24: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Delhi Capitals
Jan 26: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Mumbai Indians
Jan 27: Gujarat Giants vs Delhi Capitals
Jan 29: UP Warriorz vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Jan 30: Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians
Feb 1: Delhi Capitals vs UP Warriorz
Feb 3: Eliminator
Feb 5: Final

Skipper had passed fifty five times this season without converting any of those into hundreds

ECB Reporters Network25-May-2024Northamptonshire captain Luke Procter marshalled his side’s fightback in their Vitality County Championship game against Yorkshire with a tenacious unbeaten century – his first in almost two years.Procter, who had already passed fifty five times this season without converting any of those knocks into hundreds, remedied that as he sparked Northamptonshire’s recovery from 181 for 7 on day two at Wantage Road.The skipper finished 116 not out, sharing stands of 50 and 58 respectively with tailenders Ben Sanderson and Jack White to ensure the home side totalled 301, a deficit of 61 on Yorkshire’s first-innings 362.Sri Lankan left-armer Vishwa Fernando took 4 for 48 on his debut for the visitors, who lost nightwatchman Dom Leech to the final ball of the day without extending their lead any further.Related

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Yorkshire began the day on 312 for 7 and, despite a scare when Jordan Thompson edged onto his pad and just wide of the slips, they launched an early assault to secure another batting bonus point.Thompson thumped Sanderson over extra cover for six, following it with another boundary to bring up his first half-century of the season as he and Matthew Revis plundered 42 from the first five overs.The partnership reached 80 before the last three White Rose wickets went down in the space of nine balls, with Sanderson removing both Revis and Thompson leg-before and Leech castled by Rob Keogh for a second-ball duck.Fernando almost made a dream start to his three-match stint with Yorkshire, his second delivery finding the edge of Ricardo Vasconcelos’ bat but the ball whizzed past George Hill at first slip.Vasconcelos settled down to share a lively opening stand of 56 with Emilio Gay, who struck a series of sweet off-side boundaries and caressed Hill’s first delivery through midwicket for four more.Two balls later, Gay was out for 32, prodding to second slip but – after a brief but bizarre stoppage when a swarm of wasps descended, prompting several fielders to fling themselves full-length on the turf – Northamptonshire reached lunch at 84 for 1.However, Vasconcelos fell soon after the interval, with wicketkeeper Jonny Tattersall taking a skier to give Fernando his 300th first-class wicket and Yorkshire looked very much in the ascendancy when Revis claimed his first and second wickets of the season in quick succession.Karun Nair, who never looked settled at the crease, was neatly taken at first slip off a rising delivery and George Bartlett departed for a duck, hanging the bat out to the jubilant Revis just four balls later.Rob Keogh threatened to redress the balance with a bristling knock of 28 but, when he flicked Leech tamely into the hands of deep square leg, Northamptonshire’s reliance on their skipper intensified.Having lost both Lewis McManus and Justin Broad before tea, Procter needed Sanderson’s shrewd display with the bat to shepherd his side past the follow-on target.The 35-year-old looked accomplished for his 25 until he was trapped in his crease by Fernando, who also dismissed Siddharth Kaul to leave Northamptonshire nine down.But last man White proved obdurate, blocking 14 deliveries before emerging from his shell to bludgeon Thompson for three quick fours as Procter progressed to his ton from 183 balls by shovelling Hill to the midwicket boundary.The pair steered their side to a third batting bonus point before White holed out to long leg for 21, leaving Yorkshire to negotiate a single over in which Sanderson had Leech caught at fourth slip.

Cameron Green’s chances of playing have increased dramatically following a positive nets session

Alex Malcolm15-Feb-20231:24

O’Keefe breaks down difference between Australian & Indian spinners

Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc has admitted he is behind where he would like to be ahead of the second Test in India while Cameron Green’s chances of playing have increased dramatically following a positive nets session in Delhi two days out from the start of the match.Both players missed the first Test in Nagpur due to the respective finger injuries they suffered during the Boxing Day Test against South Africa late last year.Starc did not travel with the team to Nagpur and instead remained in Sydney to do four bowling sessions at home, some with a splint on his middle finger to protect his tendon injury while two were without.Starc has already had one bowling session in Delhi having arrived before the team did after flying in from Australia on Sunday. But speaking before Australia’s main session on Wednesday he admitted he was not as far advanced as he would like to be just two days out from the Test match.”There’s still a fair bit of restriction there,” Starc said.”Still lacking a bit of strength having been in a splint for six weeks. But it’s progressing – not as fast as I would have liked, but it’s as planned in terms of the medical stuff. There’s a few boxes to tick but it’s on track.”I’d like to be a little further down the road.”Still a good chance. It’ll come down to how it reacts by the end of the day, how the medical staff see it, how the selectors and Pat [Cummins] and Ronnie [Andrew McDonald] feel about it as well. I’ll do everything I can to be fully available for selection. Then it’s a discussion for the rest of the group involved.”Starc bowled two separate spells on Wednesday and batted in the nets for an extended period. He started the four-hour session with some outfield catching and then had a long bowl. It was only his fourth bowl without the splint. He bowled without the splint in Australia twice last week and then again on Monday. Prior to that he had been maintaining his bowling loads while bowling with the splint on and using his left index and ring finger to hold the ball.There was the odd sign of discomfort from Starc in his first spell but he appeared to look in decent rhythm. He batted without any discomfort before returning to have a second bowl to test it again after it had stiffened up. He was able to bowl again for a short period but his spell ended in some discomfort before holding a lengthy discussion with McDonald, Australia physio Nick Jones and selector Tony Dodemaide.How Starc recovers over the next 24 hours will dictate his availability. He is in line to replace Scott Boland as Australia would love to add some extra pace, left-arm variety and a greater exponent of reverse swing to their attack. He was an automatic selection and a key figure in their two-pace two-spin attack on the tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka last year. He will also create more rough outside the off stump for the right-hand batters which would help Australia offspinners Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy.”Nath [Lyon] gave me a big hug here,” Starc said. “We haven’t got too many right-handers. That’s always a discussion point being a left-armer. I’m a bit heavier on the crease than some of the other guys, who don’t make too many marks. That’s always going to come into play. If I do suit up for this second Test hopefully I can create a bit of havoc out there for the spinners.”Including Starc would come at the cost of the scoreboard control that Boland offered in Nagpur.Cameron Green at a training session•Getty Images

Green light for Cam?Green’s availability is vital to Australia although having both he and Starc at the selectors’ disposal does provide so many more options.Green had one of his best training sessions on tour so far. He caught hard balls in the outfield for the first time on tour having only caught soft balls in Nagpur. He had another long bowl in the middle and looked in good rhythm. There are no concerns about him being underdone from a bowling perspective.He also faced fast bowling throw downs in the nets for the first time and batted for well over an hour with batting coach Michael Di Venuto throwing to him the entire time with a side arm. The Arun Jaitley Stadium nets were incredibly low and slow and there weren’t any balls flung that reared up off a length to threaten his surgically repaired right index finger.Green did receive some sharp jabs of pain in the finger from balls that were struck off the toe of the bat, with the reverberation through the handle causing him to wince in pain. But he was able to push through and batted comfortably against both the pace throwdowns and spin bowlers. He still hasn’t faced an actual fast bowler since batting with the broken finger in the second innings of the Boxing Day Test where he made an unbeaten half-century while batting with a painkilling injection.But provided there are no adverse effects from his lengthy net session on Wednesday, and there is no concern that the bone still hasn’t healed properly, he is looking increasingly likely to play on Friday. His presence, even if not at 100%, adds so much flexibility to Australia’s line-up.It means Starc could play if they wanted to risk him given they will have a third fast bowling option. Or it could open the door for a third spinner to play with one of either Ashton Agar or Matthew Kuhnemann coming into the mix alongside Lyon and Murphy while Green plays as Cummins’ lone fast bowling partner.

Jamie Overton smashes last two balls for six each to make it five wins out of five

Aadam Patel24-Nov-2021It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster year for Phil Salt. After breaking his foot in a freak cycling accident before the start of the County Championship, he made the most of his brief opportunity to play for England for the first time over the summer. The powerful opening batter, however ended the 2021 domestic season without playing a red-ball game, before leaving Sussex to join Lancashire.Now with successive knocks of 63* off 28 and 56 off 23 for Team Abu Dhabi, Salt is finishing off his campaign in style, showcasing his fearlessness and class at the top of the order.After a player-of-the-match performance against the Chennai Braves on Monday, again Salt was the star for Liam Livingstone’s side as they pulled off another last-ball win.Chasing 122 against Delhi Bulls, he helped set the platform with an innings that included three fours and five sixes, before Jamie Overton, with 20 off five, smashed Dwayne Bravo for two sixes from the last two deliveries to make it five wins out of five for the Abu Dhabi outfit.In a side filled with renowned hitters like Livingstone, Chris Gayle and Paul Stirling, Salt has been the top scorer thus far for Team Abu Dhabi with 157 runs in five T10 innings, hitting 11 fours and 13 sixes, and striking at rate of 200+.Salt described the mood in the Team Abu Dhabi camp as “brilliant”.”We’ve got coaches that back us to the hilt and we’ve got a great group of lads that also back each other to the hilt, so as a player there’s not much more you can ask for,” Salt said.He and skipper Livingstone had got the equation down to 37 off 18, before both were dismissed by Dominic Drakes. Yet, such is the depth of their batting line-up, that it was left to none other than Gayle and Overton to take them home.No side had chased 18 in the final over of a T10 game, and when Gayle was run out with ten needed off two, it looked like it would be a first defeat for Team Abu Dhabi.But Overton ensured that their unbeaten run went on, by slogging Bravo over the sight screen then dispatching a slower ball over long-on for six more. He even had Gayle jumping out of his seat at the end.”If I was to get greedy, I’d say that I wanted to be out there at the end tonight, but I had to take the punt I did when I took it and Jama [Overton] played a great knock and won us the game,” said Salt.Paul Farbrace spoke earlier in the week about how far Salt’s keeping had come after working with Sarah Taylor, and Overton mentioned how well Salt has been striking the ball in the nets. “To be honest, the first net session I bowled to Phil I was like, ‘jeez, this guys in serious form’,” Overton said.The 25-year-old Salt joined Lancashire at the end of the season but his former Sussex teammate, Luke Wright, was full of praise for the man with whom he opened the batting at Hove. Unfortunately for Wright, making his first appearance since Finals Day, he was on the other end of a scintillating knock from Salt at the Zayed Cricket Ground.”I picked him out of the academy to come and open the batting with me years and years ago, so it’s great to see him develop the way he has and obviously he’s added the keeping to his game,” Wright said. “He’s hugely dangerous and he can strike sixes from ball one.”In this format of the game, if you don’t get it right, he’s going to punish you. It’s nice to see him continue developing. We were sad to see him leave Sussex obviously, but he’s a good player and hopefully one day he’ll be playing for England.”Salt’s appearances for England so far have been limited to three ODIs after a covid outbreak meant that a replacement squad had to be called up in the summer for the series against Pakistan and his brutal half-century at Lord’s, which included ten boundaries, was good enough to pass a Jason Roy impression contest.England’s white-ball depth is such that the line of top-order batters is long and filled with talent such as Roy, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, but Salt is doing a fine job of showing he is ready to seize another opportunity, if it comes along.