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Mahela Jayawardene is confident Sri Lanka can take plenty of positives from the tri-series even if they fail to beat Australia at the MCG and qualify for the finals

Brydon Coverdale in Melbourne01-Mar-2012Mahela Jayawardene is confident Sri Lanka can take plenty of positives from the tri-series even if they fail to beat Australia at the MCG and qualify for the finals. However, the Sri Lankans have by no means given up on the tournament, despite a loss to India in Hobart that could have left them demoralised.In his first series back in the captaincy, Jayawardene has the chance to guide Sri Lanka in to the best-of-three finals against Australia. To get there, they need either to beat Australia or share the points through a tie or an abandoned match, and while there will be showers in Melbourne on Friday it is unlikely there will be enough to force a wash-out.Jayawardene said the loss on Tuesday, when India picked up a bonus point and stayed in contention by chasing 321 within 37 overs, was less a result of poor Sri Lankan bowling than wonderful Indian batting, which was a good sign for his side. And with two wins from their last two games against Australia, Sri Lanka have a strong chance to progress.”Going in to the last game it’s in our control, what we need to do,” Jayawardene said. “It’s a good position for us to be, rather than depending on someone else to do some favours for us.”From where we started on this tour, I think we’ve improved as a team and maintained a consistency. That’s very important for us going forward. Whatever happens tomorrow we will definitely get a lot of positives out of this. Our challenge will be to try and keep this consistency going, because if we play the way we’re playing now … we’ll win more matches than we lose. We’re quite happy with that.”One of the most impressive aspects of Sri Lanka’s series is that it has not just been the veterans who have stood up, although Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara were the centurions in the last match. Dinesh Chandimal has continued to develop as a dangerous middle-order batsman and Thisara Perera, 22, is second only to Lasith Malinga on Sri Lanka’s wicket tally, which pleased Jayawardene.”Going forward we’ve always wanted to have two or three allrounders in a team,” he said. “These guys are taking responsibility. Angelo [Mathews] in the long run will probably be more of a batting allrounder than a bowling allrounder. We’d like Thisara to be more of a bowling allrounder so it fits in well.”Plus [Farveez] Maharoof is a guy who can bat as well and he’s bowling pretty well, he just needs to have a bit more confidence in his batting. All these three guys will be good options for us going forward. We just need a couple of spinning allrounders to come through and we’ll have a really good balanced team.”Sri Lanka won’t have Maharoof for Friday’s game, however, after he suffered from lower back pain during the Hobart loss. His absence was a factor in Sri Lanka failing to defend their big total and Jayawardene said, while Virat Kohli had taken the match away from Sri Lanka, there were things his bowlers could learn from the experience.”The [fast-bowling] guys did go to their strength, which is yorkers and stuff like that, but I think they [Indian batsmen] handled that pretty well,” he said. “We didn’t try too many things, that was probably due to the way the Indians were batting as well … we probably just went with the momentum rather than trying to change it in the middle.”Those are areas in which we can improve as a team … bowlers taking a bit more time and maybe having a bit more of a plan about what they want to do. Even if it’s something out of the box, something totally different, there’s no harm in trying something like that – which we didn’t do. That’s something we’ve spoken about with the bowlers because you have to expect these kind of situations in the future, we have to be prepared. Every game is a learning curve for everyone.”

Fast bowler Chris Wright has made his move to Warwickshire permanent, signing a full-time contract with the county

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2011Fast bowler Chris Wright has made his move to Warwickshire permanent, signing a full-time contract with the county. He had spent some time with them last season, on loan from Essex, and enjoyed some success with the ball as Warwickshire fell agonisingly short of clinching the County Championship Division One title.”Chris made a tremendous impact during his short time in our bowling attack,” said director of cricket Ashley Giles. “His five-wicket hauls against Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire were crucial in our late-season charge.”Finishing as runner-up in the 2011 County Championship was a great achievement for this team, despite the final day heartache against Hampshire. However, that experience and signing of a player of Chris’ calibre will make us a stronger unit in 2012.”Wright, 26, claimed 22 wickets in four matches at an average of 24.31 in his part-time spell with Warwickshire last summer, having joined them on a one-month loan in August before his contract with Essex expired.Taking the new ball, he played a crucial role in Warwickshire’s ascent to the top of the Championship table, his five-wicket haul against Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston putting the county in pole position going into the final week of the season before Lancashire squeezed past them in a dramatic finale.

An impressive all-round performance by West Indies Under-19s saw them beat Australia Under-19s convincingly in Dubai and level the three-match Youth ODI series 1-1

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-2011
ScorecardAn impressive all-round performance by West Indies Under-19s resulted in them beating Australia Under-19s convincingly at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai, to level the three-match Youth ODI series 1-1. Australia won the toss, but surprisingly chose to field despite having won batting first in the opening match.West Indies took advantage, putting up a score of 267, which proved 102 runs too much for Australia to chase. It was a team effort from West Indies with the bat. Each of their top seven batsmen went past 20, and though only Kavem Hodge went on to get a half-century, the string of contributions ensured a big total. Australia’s bowlers found the going tough; seamer Jeremy Allison was the most successful in terms of wicket with 4 for 52, while legspinner Ashton Agar was the most economical going for just 27 runs in his 10 overs.Australia’s reply got off to a dreadful start as they slipped to 13 for 3. Opener James Peirson and captain Sebastian Gotch then built a 77-run partnership, but once Peirson fell for 45, the rest of the batting did not put up much resistance and Australia were bowled out for 165 in 39.1 overs. Seamer Jerome Jones finished with three wickets, and there were four run-outs in Australia’s innings.The teams play the third ODI on April 21.

India selectors deny that there was any pressure to pick Anirudha Srikkanth for the Emerging Players tournament

Sharda Ugra09-Jul-2011A section of the BCCI selection committee was unaware, while picking the squad, of the major changes in the format of the Emerging Players tournament in Australia in August. That may have led to a few contentious choices in the 15-man squad, the most controversial being Anirudha Srikkanth, the son of selection committee chairman Krishnamachari Srikkanth.For the first time in its six years, the Emerging Players Tournament has moved from being an event featuring Twenty20 and 50-over games to exclusively three-day matches. This information was not available to some selectors during their meeting when they believed they were choosing the second rung of India’s limited-overs talent, and in so doing added in a couple of misfits.Eyebrows were raised over Anirudha’s selection but those selectors ESPNcricinfo spoke to stressed there was no pressure to include him, and one of them denied that Srikkanth senior had proposed the son’s name. The selector said that during a previous meeting, when Anirudha’s name had come up for discussion, Srikkanth had volunteered to leave the room. The current selection meeting however was conducted over the telephone as two of the selectors were in the West Indies when the team had to be picked.”Anirudha’s name has been up for discussion for a while now, not so much as a three-day specialist but as someone who is good in limited-overs, T20 and 50-overs. The records of both Saurabh Tiwary [another surprise choice] and Anirudha are similar – we need to see if they have the X-factor in T20. They can both hit a long ball and we believed they needed an opportunity to see how they do at the Emerging Players level.”The selector said of Anirudha: “We know that he is not consistent enough in four-day cricket, but he is an impact player in T20 cricket. The format in itself is inconsistent and we believe that he has the capacity to get you a win every five or six matches. He’s done well at the Champions League, which is one level higher from the IPL; he won a match for Chennai.”When asked whether he was aware that the tournament format had changed from limited-overs to three-day cricket, the selector said, “that’s news” yet believed that the squad was “covered”.The Emerging Players tournament began in 2005 as a T20 event, but for the last four years has consisted of Twenty20 and 50-over matches. The change of format was approved by all participating nations and formally announced on May 28, 2011. Cricket Australia general manager Michael Brown is quoted as saying, on the ICC’s official website, that the format change would give players, “a good competitive taste of all formats with this longer series complementing the T20 tournament that will be hosted by the Malaysian Cricket Association just beforehand.”The Malaysian T20 tournament was to be held in early July but was cancelled on June 12. The Emerging Players tournament will be played in Townsville for the first time with Brown saying: “We feel it’s important to provide a variety of conditions for the development of the players and the new facilities at Endeavour Park with multiple grounds will provide teams with first-class services.”

Plans are being put in place for a first-class structure in Ireland that could pave the way for the country to become a Test nation

Andrew McGlashan24-Aug-2011Plans are being put in place for a first-class structure in Ireland that could pave the way for the country to become a Test nation. Although still a long way from coming to fruition, possibly a decade, Cricket Ireland believes it is a realistic aim following the team’s rise in one-day international and Twenty20 cricket.Warren Deutrom, the chief executive, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that talk of a first-class game in Ireland wasn’t just a pipe-dream and that it is a major part of the road map for cricket’s future in the country. Though he was not willing to commit to a date or expand on details of any discussions that have taken place, there is a belief that the game in Ireland is becoming strong enough to support a first-class system.”Do I think it can be achieved? If I didn’t I may as well not be in the job,” Deutrom said. “There is no time frame to it, but it is certainly something we want to achieve.”While Bangladesh gained Test status without a first-class competition in place – that was all to do with the Asian bloc vote and is a major reason why they have struggled to adapt to the long format – Ireland would need to prove their game could sustain a decent standard. The development of 12,000-seater ground at Malahide, a suburb of Dublin, is a sign of Ireland’s serious aims.”I think don’t anything should be ruled out,” William Porterfield, the Ireland captain, said when asked about Test cricket for Ireland. “It might not be in my playing career, but it could be if you see the steps we’ve taken in the last four years. We have everything in place to push on.”Seven of the current squad for the match against England at Clontarf make their living in county cricket and one of the driving forces behind trying to expand the game in Ireland is the continued loss of players to the English game. It is being highlighted this week with Eoin Morgan leading England for the first time, while Boyd Rankin, who will open the bowling for Ireland, is on their radar and George Dockrell has been noted as one to watch.Cricket Ireland now offer contracts to their leading players but young cricketers who want to reach Test level still have no choice but to follow the England route. Although Ireland can continue to play them until they are selected by the full side – not the Lions as in Rankin’s case – the moment they play an international they can’t switch back if their career stalls unless they spend four more years qualifying, as Ed Joyce did before the 2011 World Cup.”In the last few years we’ve produced a lot of good cricketers and in an ideal world we’d be playing at the highest level ourselves,” Porterfield said. “We want to become a Full Member, even if that’s just to be a part of the FTP for one-dayers, we have to keep progressing. We have shown we deserve to be there. In an ideal world everyone would be based at home and we’d have a first-class structure in Ireland and wouldn’t have to rely on England. I think that’s the direction it’s moving in and hopefully plans will be put in place over the next few years.”In the shorter term, though, the challenge for Ireland is to increase their exposure to top-level ODI cricket. Matches such as Thursday’s against England are a key part but the team needs regular contests against the Full Members and Cricket Ireland are hopeful of having a visit from Australia next year.However, the international schedule is crammed. In recent times plans have fallen through for series against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh due to their other international commitments which now include Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket. The Irish board are likely to accept an invite to join the Hong Kong Sixes for the first time this year, but while a welcome addition to their profile, it isn’t proper cricket and there is hope that a trip to West Indies might materialise.Early next year Ireland will take part in the World Twenty20 qualifiers to try and secure their place at the full tournament in Sri Lanka next September. There are places for two Associates at that event after the ICC’s decision to revert to a 14-team 50-over World Cup for 2015 instead of a 16-team Twenty20 although Associate nations are still considering how to challenge that. While Test cricket is the dream goal for Ireland, the pressure is on them to keep qualifying for the major limited-overs events and build on the successes of the last five years.

The PCB has offered central contracts to 19 women cricketers for 2011, who were part of the gold-medal-winning squad in the inaugural women’s cricket tournament at the Asian Games last November

ESPNcricinfo staff17-May-2011The PCB has offered central contracts to 19 women cricketers for 2011. The cricketers were part of the gold-medal-winning squad in the inaugural women’s cricket tournament at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, last November. The board had announced its intention of contracting women cricketers in December 2010.The one-year contracts have been afforded in four categories, with Sana Mir, Javeria Khan, Nain Abidi, Bismah Maroof and Batool Fatima falling in the top bracket, Category A.One of the members of the Asian Games squad, Sania Khan, has not received a contract due to an injury. “Sania Khan’s contract has been withheld due to medical reasons as she is currently undergoing a rehabilitation programme in lieu of a shoulder injury,” a PCB release stated. “Once she is cleared by PCB’s medical panel, then her contract will be issued accordingly.”After the Asian Games victory, the board had also introduced match fees for the women players; previously the team just received a daily allowance for expenses, their only regular source of income being the jobs they held with companies that have first-class cricket teams.The list of players awarded contracts:Category A: Sana Mir, Javeria Khan, Nain Abidi, Bismah Maroof, Batool Fatima
Category B: Nida Dar, Asmavia Iqbal, Qanita Jalil, Marina Iqbal, Sania Khan
Category C: Masooma Junaid, Sadia Yousaf, Rabiya Shah, Sana Gulzar, Sidra Ameen
Category D or retainership: Kainat Imtiaz, Nahida Khan, Namra Imran, Faryal Awan, Areeb Shamaim

Lancashire have a 100 per cent record this season at their temporary headquarters in south Liverpool and it is hard to imagine that too many of the sizeable contingent of Durham supporters here would bet confidently against their maintaining it after two

Jon Culley at Aigburth28-Jun-2011
ScorecardLancashire have a 100 per cent record this season at their temporary headquarters in south Liverpool and it is hard to imagine that too many of the sizeable contingent of Durham supporters here would bet confidently against their maintaining it after two intriguing days here left the contest in the balance.Trailing by 102 on first innings after a freakish opening day in which both sides were bowled out, Lancashire looked to be heading towards an inevitable defeat when the departure of Gareth Cross just after tea had them just 104 in front at 206 for 6.But while the last session brought Durham the last five Lancashire wickets, they were not obtained without cost, notably in the shape of an industrious half-century from Luke Procter, who mixed a few edgy boundaries with some more authentic strokes to stretch Lancashire’s advantage just enough to cast doubt on the outcome.A target of 181 to win should not really be a worry to a side with Durham’s batting depth but it is amazing what an early setback or two can do to set nerves jangling. In the event, Durham surrendered three wickets for 24, the loss of Michael di Venuto and Gordon Muchall, both leg before to the in-form Kyle Hogg, compounded by the departure of nightwatchman Graham Onions, well caught at gully by Steven Croft off Saj Mahmood’s first ball.They are still favourites, just. But a couple more wickets early on day three will swing the balance back to the home side.There is plenty at stake. A win will put Lancashire nine points ahead and defeat would certainly be more damaging for Durham, who have played a game more. On the other hand, a win for Durham would stretch the gap between themselves and their opponents at the top of the First Division to 23 points – not enough to attach any guarantees to their quest for a third title in four years but one that would make them feel like favourites, particularly given that Warwickshire, in third place, would be 54 points behind.The first day, reminiscent of a club game as one batsman after another was easily undone by accurate swing bowling, prompted some to question the quality of this year’s championship, given that so far these have been the best two sides.It is a charge to which Geoff Cook, Durham’s director of cricket, would raise an eyebrow, prior to launching a considered counter-argument. But it was knocked back anyway by Peter Moores, Lancashire’s former England coach.”To say that would be grossly unfair,” he said. “It was strange to see 20 wickets fall in one day because some of the cricket played this season has been of very high quality. Look at the way Durham batted against Yorkshire, for example, scoring 400-odd in 70-odd overs. They have been solid all season, as we have.”Indeed, Durham have the statistics to back it up, their squad containing eight players with 15 first-class hundreds between them. Cook can chose from 12 batsmen with an average of 36 or higher, which is why you suspect that there will be someone who can master the conditions and subdue Lancashire’s zeal enough to get the job done here.They probably have the strongest hand of bowlers, too, and there was something impressive in the way they stuck to their task yesterday after Lancashire, in complete contrast to day one, had lost only one wicket, somewhat given away with a loose chip to cover by Stephen Moore, in the opening session.The rest of the day was altogether more productive. Paul Horton, again frustrated to miss out on a good score after starting well, was leg before to Callum Thorp just after lunch and three more wickets followed in the afternoon session. Stephen Harmison, still struggling with his radar in his first two spells, came good in his third as Mark Chilton played across one and Croft was well taken by Thorp at gully.Onions found a couple of inside edges to get rid of Gareth Cross and Mahmood and bowled Junaid Khan after the debutant had smashed leg-spinner Scott Borthwick over the top for six.Hogg hit three boundaries before he was caught at short leg off Scott Borthwick but the real thorn in Durham’s side was Procter, who followed the trend for chopping on but only after hitting eight fours in his second Championship half-century, which will be a valuable effort indeed if Durham do make a hash of it.

Tamim Iqbal, the Bangladesh opening batsman, has announced his intentions of top-scoring in every match he plays during the 2011 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Feb-2011Tamim Iqbal, the Bangladesh opening batsman, has announced his intentions of top scoring in every match he plays during the 2011 World Cup, which starts on February 19.”I want to score my first century at Chittagong in the World Cup,” he told the . “I will try to be the highest scorer in every match in the upcoming World Cup.”Two of Tamim’s three ODI centuries have come at Mirpur, while his only away century was against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. He has only played two matches in Chittagong, and narrowly missed out on a century in his last match there, in December 2010, when he smashed 95 against Zimbabwe. He will have two opportunities during the World Cup, with Bangladesh playing group games against England and Netherlands on his home ground.After a successful first half of 2010, in which he scored an ODI century against England and two Test centuries against them at Lord’s and Old Trafford, Tamim underwent surgery on his wrist in September and had to miss Bangladesh’s 4-0 home ODI series win against New Zealand. He returned for the series against Zimbabwe and the 95 he scored in the fifth ODI won Bangladesh the series.Bangladesh had a team practice in Chittagong on Friday, and Tamim said he was putting in long hours in the nets. “All of us are enjoying the sessions and the environment is also good. Now I am mentally relaxed and am practicing batting for a long time in the nets,” Tamim said. “You will have good or bad days but we are all prepared to give our best. If we all do well, the team will gain from the tournament.”Bangladesh will play a warm-up match against Canada in Chittagong, on February 12, and then another against Pakistan on February 15, in Mirpur.In the 2006-07 World Cup, Bangladesh stunned India in the first round, with Tamim scoring a half-century. Junaid Siddique, the left-hand batsman, hadn’t yet made his international debut then, but he is expected to be Bangladesh’s No.3 during this year’s tournament, and is aware of how important their first fixture, against India in Mirpur on February 19, will be.”As Bangladesh will play the first match of the World Cup with India, we are trying to develop our performance,” Junaid said. “I hope we will achieve the right result for the country.”Junaid started his career as an opener, but has shifted down to the No. 3 spot in recent times. “Last one year I am playing at No. 3 and feeling comfortable in this position,” he said. “I think those who are openers can suit themselves to any position.” Junaid averages just 16.72 in ODIs he has played in as an opener, while at No. 3 his average is 33.57.

Round-up of the fourth day’s play in the third round of matches of the Faysal bank Pentangular Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2011Federal Areas’ seamers Sadaf Hussain and Iftikhar Anjum were clinical in running through Punjab’s tail and secured three points for a first-innings lead for their team on the fourth day at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Punjab’s sixth-wicket pair of Kamran Sajid and Adnan Akmal were threatening to push their team past Federal Areas’ 361, as their 68-run partnership took them to 290 for 5. Sadaf struck first, dismissing Adnan, and then Anjum got into the act, as they took five wickets for just 15 runs. Umair Khan and Umar Amin got in some batting practice, getting half-centuries as Federal Areas reached 133 for 2 in what was a second innings of no consequence. The three points mean Federal Areas move on to 12 points and are looking good for a place in the final.Baluchistan’s Saeed Anwar junior helped himself to a century against Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province on the fourth day at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Baluchistan had already secured three points on the third day, and there was little chance of a result on the fourth. They did not take the risk of declaring early and tempting Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa into attempting a chase, batting for 34.3 overs instead and setting Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa an impossible target of 335 to win in just over half a day. Anwar junior reached 122 before he was run out, and Baluchistan added their runs quickly. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa then got in some batting practice of their own, with Adnan Raees following up his 88 in the first innings with 71 in the second. Baluchistan stay top of the table, while Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are yet to pick up points.

Newcastle United sealed their fourth consecutive Premier League win on Saturday afternoon, beating Norwich City 3-0 at Carrow Road in a fantastic performance – with the result seeing the Magpies break into the top half of the table.

Eddie Howe’s team have performed miracles since he joined the club – guiding a side who were rock bottom in the Premier League to being 15 points above the relegation zone, sitting ninth after their latest victory.

Newcastle dominated throughout the game away from home, enjoying 55% possession, hitting the target with seven shots and making more accurate passes than their opponents, which led to the side taking their chances to sail to a comfortable victory.

The scoring was opened in the 35th minute when Allan Saint-Maximin swapped positions with Joelinton only minutes before he assisted the Brazilian to make it 1-0, and the tactical tweak continued to pay off when Joelinton found the back of the net to double the lead just before half-time.

In the second half, Newcastle remained confident and dominant with Bruno Guimaraes killing the game by bagging the third in the 49th minute, and from that moment onwards, Norwich were unable to get back into the match.

And, while goalscorer Joelinton did highly impress in Norfolk, it was undoubtedly Guimaraes who stole the show at Carrow Road – with the Brazilian turning in a complete performance that will be giving the Norwich players and supporters nightmares.

Newcastle’s £120k-per-week midfield maestro – who was recently hailed as “magnificent” by Howe – enjoyed a whopping 72 touches of the ball, completed two key passes and, as previously mentioned, got himself on the scoresheet.

The January signing also made four interceptions and two tackles, in addition to boasting an impressive pass accuracy of 95% in the heart of the Newcastle midfield.

Since joining the club, the 24-year-old has featured in 13 Premier League fixtures, winning nine of those games and drawing one – something which clearly indicates that his arrival has had a massive impact on a side who were looking extremely likely to be relegated just a matter of months ago.

There is no doubt that the Newcastle manager, players, supporters and owners will be absolutely thrilled with the progress the team has made in the second half of the season, and there is definitely credit due to the club for identifying such an impactful player like Guimaraes back in January.

AND in other news: Huge boost: Newcastle handed fresh injury lift that will have Eddie Howe buzzing