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Trevor Penney, former Sri Lanka assistant coach, is one of the first men Duncan Fletcher is likely to bring on board as fielding coach

ESPNcricinfo staff24-May-2011Trevor Penney, the former Sri Lanka assistant coach, is one of the first men India’s new coach Duncan Fletcher is likely to bring on board. A BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo Penney was likely to be appointed as India’s fielding coach. Penney, 42, worked in a similar capacity, albeit in a part-time role, with Fletcher for England in 2005 before moving to Sri Lanka to be Tom Moody’s assistant.India have been without a fielding coach since Robin Singh was relieved from the post two years ago. Mike Young, who till recently was Australia’s fielding coach, worked with India as a consultant for about a month in late 2009, but there were no permanent appointments made.If appointed, Penney is likely to join the squad from the West Indies tour, which begins on June 4.An excellent fielder during his 17-year playing career with English county Warwickshire, Penney remained fit enough to be named among England’s substitute fielders for the 2005 Ashes, when he was 37 years old. He sparked controversy by coming onto the field repeatedly for England’s fast bowlers.When Moody decided to move to Western Australia after his Sri Lanka stint, Penney joined him there and later worked as Moody’s deputy at IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab. Interestingly, Penney was named as one of the candidates for the post of Sri Lanka coach after Sri Lanka Cricket decided not to renew Trevor Bayliss’ contract after the 2011 World Cup.

Sreesanth, the Indian fast bowler,has said it is important for fast bowlers to maintain their focus in the wake of early success and fame

Cricinfo staff21-May-2010Sreesanth, the Indian fast bowler, has said it is important for pace bowlers to maintain their focus in the wake of early success and fame. Speaking to Harsha Bhogle on Cricinfo’s audio show , Sreesanth said it was difficult for India’s fast bowlers to make the transition from domestic to international cricket, especially when playing overseas, and added that fear of injury and the urge to play on a long-term basis could be reasons for many promising young seamers to cut down on their pace after the first few games.”Focus is surely important, but again everyone lives their own personal life as well. As long as he knows the thin line between foolishness and bravery, that is very important,” Sreesanth said. “If you have a mentor or someone is looking up for you, with so much of money and entertainment involved, if there is one coach or family member, who actually keeps an eye on the player and if the player is ready to listen to them, you are alright. If you are talented and hardworking, nothing should bother you.”India have used 12 fast bowlers in the 68 ODIs they have played since the start of 2008. When asked if immense pressure to perform was the reason behind many struggling to keep their places in the side, Sreesanth said: “Honestly, you need to be performing rather than complaining. There is stress and there is pressure, especially when you play in Indian conditions. It’s actually tough to get on and start performing. It’s a challenge for a fast bowler, especially in the Powerplay of a one-day game, but you must endure those stressful moments.”Maybe the bowlers are planning to play in the long term, maybe 10 to 15 years instead of doing the job that is given to you,” Sreesanth said of the reason behind bowlers dropping in pace. “Maybe it’s the fear of injury. It’s always better to give your best every single day. I think that may be the reason – trying to conserve your energy for the next game than giving your best today.”Sreesanth made his debut against England in March 2006 and starting off his international career in home conditions, he said, made his transition to the highest level easier than for others. “If you’re playing in the subcontinent it’s a little easier because you’ve actually played at the Ranji Trophy level,” he said. “To cope with the international standards of batsmen, especially with most of them who don’t play in the domestic circuit, it’s tough for youngsters to come in and do their job. It takes a lot of patience and hard work to make a strong impact in the international circuit straight from the domestic circuit.”I’ve been lucky. I remember the first series we played was against England in India. I was lucky enough to bowl on an Indian track and then go abroad.”A balance between both strength and skill is an important ingredient for bowling fast along with accuracy, Sreesanth said. “Gym is very important, strength is surely important. But if you forget your skill…..you’ve got to work on your wrists, on your bowling and spot-bowling. What we forget after playing for our country is the spot-bowling which we grew up with in the countryside.”Sreesanth’s eight-wicket haul in the Johannesburg Test in 2006, which helped India win their first Test in South Africa, is considered to be among his best performances. But he rated his 5 for 75 against Sri Lanka in his comeback Test in Kanpur last year as his best outing.”I’ll rate that performance surely, as it is the only Test we have ever won there,” he said of his spell at the Wanderers. “But I think the comeback match against Sri Lanka in Kanpur – that was the best I bowled. I was under a lot of stress and pressure, and I never thought I’ll play for India again. Upon getting a chance in Kanpur, on those flattest of tracks, I could get the ball to reverse…I rate that as my best spell.”

“If you look back at the short history of this team, I know for a fact that it brings out the best in our guys,” Australia captain said

Andrew McGlashan23-Jun-20241:16

Moody: Haven’t seen an Australian side field so poorly

Mitchell Marsh has backed Australia’s big-game mentality to come to the fore against India after their first-ever defeat to Afghanistan left their T20 World Cup 2024 hopes in jeopardy amid question marks over another lackluster fielding display.Australia have a very short turnaround as they play the day game in St Lucia on Monday – following a finish of close to midnight in St Vincent – and even a victory may not be enough to reach the semi-finals, which shows how quickly a campaign that had been running smoothly can be rocked: had they beaten Afghanistan, progress would have been confirmed along with India.What is close to must-win cricket in World Cups is not a new experience to Australia – they were effectively in that mode for much of the ODI edition last year after a poor start – and Marsh was confident they could dig deep again.Related

• 'Everything pointed towards Agar' – Marsh on Starc's omission against Afghanistan

• Naib orchestrates Afghanistan's historic win over Australia

• Naib after historic win: 'Thank god we at last beat Australia'

• 'Afghanistan continue to produce magical stories'

• Scenarios: How Afghanistan's win opens up Group 1

“We have a lot of belief in our group,” Marsh said. “We are a very good cricket team. Yes, tonight we had an off night, but I guess there’s also a positive in the fact that in 36 hours we go again. I think if you look back at the short history of this team, I know for a fact that it brings out the best in our guys, so the boys will certainly be up and about for it.””It’s all about trusting ourselves,” he added. “We’ve got a good bunch of people and I believe our best is up there with the best. So, we need to bring that on whatever day it is in a couple of days’ time and move forward pretty quickly.”For the second time in three matches, Australia were poor in the field with five missed catches – none of which were easy – and a stumping from Matthew Wade, plus some poor groundwork as they were put under pressure by Afghanistan’s running between the wickets.”We certainly pride ourselves on our fielding,” he said. “Can’t question the boys putting in the work. I think it’s no different to any other skill set. We put in the work, we didn’t execute in the field tonight and ultimately it played a part in us losing the game.”I think we don’t want to have too many off nights in the field but I also believe that at our best we’re an unbelievable fielding side so it’s easy to look at tonight and, yes, it was disappointing but ultimately, we have 36 hours to turn it around and I still believe that our best is very good in the field.”In contrast, Afghanistan were excellent, most significantly with Noor Ahmad’s superb catch to remove Glenn Maxwell when he was threatened to guide the chase home.”I think in T20 especially, a short format, where you make those small mistakes, it’s pretty hard for you to come back,” Rashid Khan said. “In ODIs, yes, you have 50 overs where you can have the comeback. But in T20…you don’t have any space where you can come back again into the game. I think fielding plays [as] crucial role as the batting and bowling.”

Mumbai Indians have started the WPL with a bang, while Royal Challengers will need to bounce back after a heavy defeat in their first game

S Sudarshanan06-Mar-2023

Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (or Harmanpreet Kaur vs Smriti Mandhana)

After locking in Smriti Mandhana in the WPL auction, Royal Challengers Bangalore also bid for India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who eventually went to Mumbai Indians.At a press conference, Mandhana was asked about face-offs with Harmanpreet, and she said, “We haven’t played a lot of domestic cricket in the last four-five years and so didn’t get opportunities to share our experiences with the domestic players. We have played the overseas leagues and know how the setup benefits. So I am sure I can help the RCB girls and she can help the MI girls.”And so, the seeds of some friendly WPL fire were sowed – Harmanpreet versus Mandhana.Related

• Opening act: Blue is the warmest colour as Harmanpreet, Mumbai carry WPL torch

• Stats – Harris and Ecclestone rewrite record books at the close

Royal Challengers are coming off a hammering against Delhi Capitals. Barring quick bowler Renuka Singh and left-arm spinner Preeti Bose, the other Royal Challengers bowlers had economy rates in excess of nine. Do they shuffle things up after one loss? Dane van Niekerk was on the bench and is eager to return to action. Although getting her to replace one of the four overseas players in the XI after just one outing might be rough. If at all, it could be Sophie Devine making way, which would then allow opening batter Disha Kasat to go up to her preferred spot at the top.Harmanpreet’s side, meanwhile, lit up the opening day of the WPL and showed what a side filled with allrounders could do. They were loaded with batting firepower till at least No. 9 and were not needed to tap into the full complement of their resources. It also allowed Harmanpreet to go through the bowling options at her disposal and she used seven out of the ten that could bowl on the day.A tough assignment then for Royal Challengers, as they look to turn around their campaign.

Players to watch

Disha Kasat batted at No. 4 in the opening game for Royal Challengers, but scored all of her chart-topping 300 runs at the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy at the top of the order at a strike rate of 114.50. Richa Ghosh had a quiet start to the competition but she showed what she could do at the smallish Brabourne Stadium against Australia late last year.Having her batting services largely under-utilised for India, Pooja Vastrakar came in at No. 6 and showed her wares with an eight-ball 15. She could have a larger role to play for Mumbai Indians given she is one of the experienced players in the set-up. And don’t be surprised if allrounder Jintimani Kalita is given more to do in her second outing as teams can afford to try the domestic players before the actual crunch games kick in. Kalita impressed with her athletic efforts and caught Harmanpreet’s eye at Mumbai Indians’ two intra-squad warm-up games.

Likely XIs

Mumbai Indians (possible): 1 Yastika Bhatia (wk), 2 Hayley Matthews, 3 Nat Sciver-Brunt, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Amelia Kerr, 6 Humaira Kazi, 7 Pooja Vastrakar, 8 Issy Wong, 9 Amanjot Kaur, 10 Jintimani Kalita, 11 Saika Ishaque
Royal Challengers Bangalore (possible): 1 Smriti Mandhana (capt), 2 Disha Kasat, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 Sophie Devine/Dane van Niekerk, 5 Richa Ghosh (wk), 6 Heather Knight, 7 Kanika Ahuja/Shreyanka Patil, 8 Asha Sobhana, 9 Megan Schutt, 10 Renuka Singh, 11 Preeti Bose

Quotes

“When I am in my zone, I am clear in the areas I have to pick, and it becomes easy for me. I need to just watch the ball and react instead of thinking about too many shots.”
“Obviously it [Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers] is a huge rivalry in the men’s game. They have set a brilliant win in their first game; they are a dangerous side.”

Glenn Maxwell also became the 13th Stars player to test positive

Tristan Lavalette05-Jan-2022The BBL has been thrown into more chaos with Wednesday night’s match between Brisbane Heat and Sydney Sixers postponed after 12 Heat players and a coach returned positive PCR tests to Covid-19.Heat were unable to find enough replacement players in time forcing the clash at Metricon Stadium to be called off and rescheduled at a later date.They were originally due to take on Sixers on Tuesday before Perth Scorchers were swapped in at the last minute when Heat’s Covid issues first emerged.”We acknowledge the wholehearted efforts of the Brisbane Heat to field a team tonight,” BBL general manager Alistair Dobson said in a statement. “However, in the time available it was not possible for them to secure the 13 players required, hence the decision to postpone the match.”Heat’s game against Melbourne Renegades in Geelong on Thursday remains scheduled to go ahead with remaining players and staff to take a charter flight from the Gold Coast tomorrow morning.”We are working hard now to finalise preparations for the next week for the squad, including those who are currently isolating or ill, and to secure a playing group to compete in matches in that time frame,” Queensland Cricket chief executive Terry Svenson said.Wednesday’s earlier game between Adelaide Strikers and Hobart Hurricanes at the Adelaide Oval will start an hour later.Heat have become the latest BBL team ravaged by Covid-19, which has raised the possibility of the entire competition being moved to a hub in Melbourne.Earlier on Wednesday, Melbourne Stars confirmed captain Glenn Maxwell returned a positive rapid antigen test for Covid-19 following their loss to Melbourne Renegades on Monday night.Maxwell has since undertaken a PCR test and is currently isolating while awaiting the result. Maxwell is the 13th Stars player to contract Covid-19 after 12 others and eight staff members were also struck down.Maxwell captained a depleted Stars team in their last two fixtures against Scorchers and Renegades with the team supplemented by replacement players and coached by a stand-in coaching staff.Up to 10 players and eight coaching staff are set to come out of isolation for Stars’ next match against Adelaide Strikers on Friday.Renegades also confirmed on Wednesday that a member of its squad returned a positive rapid antigen test to Covid-19 and as a precaution the team’s afternoon training session was cancelled.

ECB chairman Graves claims the BCCI has been asking him about the Hundred on a regular basis

Nagraj Gollapudi21-Aug-2020Is the BCCI exploring staging a tournament modelled on ECB’s Hundred? That is what the ECB’s outgoing chairman Colin Graves appeared to hint at, saying on Friday that the BCCI had been in touch with him to find out more about the Hundred, whose launch was postponed this July to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.The Hundred, the ECB’s brainchild, was created as an eight-team 100-ball competition, which Graves said is meant for a “new audience” comprising mainly “women, children, families, which really had not come to cricket.” The ECB believes the Hundred has the potential to create “millions” in revenue which in turn would be utilised to help develop the grassroots game in England.Although the Hundred has polarised opinion, Graves claimed that it had created a buzz abroad and countries like India were curious about it.”I know that some of the countries abroad, India in particular, are looking at their own,” Graves told Sky Sports, on the first day of the final Test between England and Pakistan in Southampton. “They have been talking to me about it for the last year on a regular basis. So around the world it has created a lot of excitement.”The BCCI has never commented on the tournament and ESPNcricinfo received no response from BCCI president Sourav Ganguly when asked about it on Friday. Outside of bilateral cricket the BCCI has in the past focused on exploring ways to expand the IPL, which has become a global tournament with its own window in the cricket calendar. In the past the BCCI has explored the possibility of staging a mini-IPL, but an increasingly crowded calendar has made that difficult.In 2018, Indian captain Virat Kohli told the he “cannot think of one more format” adding “I feel somewhere the commercial aspect is taking over the real quality of cricket and that hurts me.”Talking on BBC’s on Friday, Manoj Badale, the majority owner at IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals, said that the ECB should pursue getting Indian players to feature in the Hundred as a “priority”.”For the Hundred to maximise its potential in this country participation from Indian players would have to be top of my list of things to try and achieve,” Badale said. “It might take some, but it is a huge strategic priority. If we can embrace India and get those Indian eyeballs, watching the tournament here in the UK it is fantastic for the game here.”Although the Hundred is currently owned completely by ECB, in the wake of the hit the economy has taken from the pandemic, there is a possibility of the board revisiting the topic of private investment. If that happens, Venky Mysore, the chief executive officer at Red Chillies Entertainment, which owns the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise in IPL, said he could look at “evaluating” the prospects of owning a stake in one of the teams in the Hundred. “[Private investment] would make the tournament much bigger,” Mysore had said.

The batting revival was led by Stirling and Porterfield, before the bowlers came up with an inspired defence

The Report by Shashank Kishore19-May-2019
World Cup-bound Afghanistan were tripped up by Ireland, who made excellent use of cold and blustery conditions in Belfast to defend a modest 210 in style.First, William Porterfield and Paul Stirling added 99 for the third wicket to lend sheen to an otherwise ordinary batting display. Then, Tim Murtagh’s robotic wicket-to-wicket lines nipped out Mohammad Shahzad and Rahmat Shah to expose the middle order early. It helped that offspinner Andy McBrine kept things tight to finish with outstanding figures of none for 17 off ten overs.Former captains Mohammad Nabi and Asghar Afghan counter-attacked with Afghanistan tottering at 40 for 4 in the 21st over. The pair doubled the score in a five-over passage after that to put the pressure back on Ireland, but the hosts weren’t to be denied as Afghanistan were eventually bowled out for 138 in the 36th over, with medium-pacer Mark Adair finishing with a career-best 4 for 19. The collapse was so steep later on that Murtagh wasn’t even needed to build on his 2 for 12 off six overs.As convincing as the result seemed, it wasn’t as if Ireland sailed smoothly all along in the second innings. The game seemed to be tilting Afghanistan’s way as Boyd Rankin, Ireland’s most experienced bowler, started poorly after being introduced in the 23rd over. He leaked three boundaries and struggled with a leg-side line to concede 19 off his first two overs. Porterfield could have taken him off, but persisted with him and Ireland reaped the rewards soon after.First, a lifter from Rankin rapped Nabi on his right index finger as he tried to fend a delivery. This resulted in a lapse in concentration and perhaps the need to hit out as Nabi fell in the next over to Kevin O’Brien to stall Afghanistan’s recovery.In his fifth over, Rankin truly left his mark in the game by dismissing the well-set Asghar Afghan for 29 to leave Afghanistan at 104 for 6 in the 31st over. This wicket came on the back of a key moment, when Gulbadin Naib, the captain, survived a close run-out appeal after George Dockrell’s underarm flick from midwicket at the striker’s end couldn’t be referred to the third umpire because of the absence of technology.As it turned out, Ireland didn’t have to rue the miss, as Afghanistan’s lower order gifted wickets away in an attempt to hit their way out of trouble. Rashid Khan got the dressing room briefly interested by tonking O’Brien for two huge sixes, but fell soon after to a miscue to effectively end Afghanistan’s hopes.An Ireland victory seemed unlikely for most parts of the first half. They were put in to bat and had to deal with relentless pressure from Afghanistan’s pacers first, before their spin trio of Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rashid and Nabi took over. From 35 for 2, Porterfield and Stirling led a superb revival with sensible cricket, milking runs and not looking to over-hit the ball. In the process, they did let a few boundary balls slip up, but held their own to launch a comeback.Stirling looked in control, though, building on from the 130 he made against Bangladesh only four days ago, by using his long stride to smother Rashid’s googlies. He swept well and picked him comfortably off the pitch. This confidence allowed Ireland to chug along with Porterfield playing himself in to make a second successive half-century after a barren run over the last 12 months. Once the stand ended, Afghanistan hit back as Ireland lost 7 for 70 to end with a score Porterfield later felt was “30 or 40 below par”.However, Murtagh and Adair kept things tight, as Afghanistan managed just two boundaries in the first 16 overs. Shahzad was denied any width he loves to cut and pull, and he was soon consumed by the pressure of dot balls, falling on the back of successive maiden overs.Hazratullah Zazai, who has the reputation of being a biffer that even has him titled ‘Afghanistan’s Chris Gayle’, scratched around for 14 off 40 balls before being done in by Adair’s length. Between overs nine and 12, Ireland conceded just one single to pile up the pressure on the visitors. This led to the downfall of both Zazai and Hashmatullah Shahidi. Things could have yet turned pear-shaped for Ireland, but their discipline and use of conditions helped them secure their first win of their home summer.

Joe Root, England’s Test captain, has said he blames the system, not the individuals, for the growing trend towards white-ball specialisation

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2018Joe Root, England’s Test captain, has said he blames the system, not the individuals, for the growing trend towards specialisation that has tempted the likes of Alex Hales and Adil Rashid to accept white-ball-only county contracts.But, Root added, there could still be a future for such players to help reinvigorate the fortunes of England’s Test team, so long as the game’s authorities can find a way to restructure the international schedule to enable all three formats to co-exist more easily.Hales and Rashid both confirmed earlier this month that they would not be turning out for Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire respectively in this year’s County Championship, effectively putting their Test careers on indefinite hold. Rashid, who was overlooked for the Ashes squad despite being England’s leading wicket-taker in India and Bangladesh last winter, admitted this week that he had lost the “buzz” for playing red-ball cricket.However, Root – who has himself had to sit out of England’s T20 side in recent months in a bid to balance his own priorities in Test and 50-over cricket – believes that the current trends in international cricket suggest that players who stand out in the shorter formats should not be discounted from making an impact in the five-day game.”Players like Alex and Rash, who get pigeon-holed as white-ball specialists, I think there’s a future for them in Test cricket,” Root told Sky Sports. “You look at how the game has changed in the last five years – with scoring rates and the things you now need to do with the ball – the skills you have to have, a lot of them have come from white-ball cricket.”That cross-over, I think, can be there if guys have the attitude and determination to play Test cricket. There’s no reason, if you are suited to the white ball, you can’t tailor yourself into a red-ball cricketer. It’s just about having that want and drive, and to have enough opportunity to play red-ball cricket in the county system and around the world for that to develop.”At present, however, there is very little opportunity for any elite cricketer to excel in all three formats concurrently, with India’s Virat Kohli perhaps the exception that proves the rule. Australia’s Steve Smith, for instance, joined Root in missing the recent T20 tri-series in the wake of a busy winter in which his Test form invited comparison to the great Donald Bradman. He now faces a struggle to regain his place among a team of specialists who took that competition by storm.”It’s very difficult to stop guys doing it,” Root said of the temptation to specialise in white-ball cricket. “You can’t place blame on individuals, there’s an issue higher up than that, and I think schedules will have to be tampered [with] and changed slightly.”If you’re playing all three formats, somewhere down the line you’re going to have to miss some cricket. Personally, mine’s been in T20 series – I’m obviously not going to miss any Test cricket now and, with a 50-over World Cup next year, there’s a big focus on playing that.”So it can feel like a long time until you play that next format, and guys want to be playing everything as much as possible. Maybe there is something that needs to be looked at there. Give guys a chance to play all three formats and not have to make that decision.”As for the long-term viability of Test cricket, Root remained optimistic about its future – even if Eoin Morgan, England’s white-ball captain, believes that the time to save the format may already have been and gone.”I really hope [it will still be played], it’s called Test cricket for a reason,” said Root. “It challenges you, you find yourself in every scenario you can do in cricket. It would be a real shame if it was not there.”I think the challenge is to make sure you keep it current, and make sure people want to turn on the telly, come to grounds, and watch it. Day-night Tests are great ideas, not necessarily in England but around the world, because you’ve seen the impact it’s had. If we can find ways to keep people interested and excited, we need to do it.”

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.