BCB cricket operations chairman says CA “didn’t agree to Mushfiq entering quarantine two days after it began”

Mohammad Isam22-Jul-2021Mushfiqur Rahim will miss Bangladesh’s T20I series against Australia next month after he was unable to join the rest of the team in time for a ten-day quarantine in Dhaka.The quarantine was originally set to begin on July 22. Later it was brought up to July 20. Neither team would have been able to arrive in Dhaka by that date because Bangladesh were on tour in Zimbabwe and Australia were on tour in the West Indies. So the BCB and CA agreed that so long as their players remained inside a secure bio-bubble – Bangladesh in Harare and Australia in Gros Islet and Bridgetown – it could count towards their quarantine time in Dhaka.Related

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As a result, the BCB contacted Rahim and asked him to stay back in Zimbabwe for the entire duration of the tour. Initially, he he was meant to return home after the end of the ODI leg. But, complications arose when Rahim’s parents fell sick and he had to fly home early. In the end, he was unable to make the quarantine deadline due to family commitments and when he did report in, on July 22, he was told it won’t work.”Mushfiqur (Rahim) wanted to play the series,” Akram Khan, BCB’s cricket operations chairman, said, “But he missed the quarantine by a couple of days. His parents are sick, so he had to leave the Zimbabwe tour. But the [10-day] quarantine is part of our agreement with Cricket Australia, so we couldn’t include him. They didn’t agree to Mushfiqur entering quarantine two days after it began. It is disappointing but one can’t do much about these things.”The rest of the Bangladesh players, upon arrival in Dhaka from Harare on July 27, will go straight from the airport to the hotel. Match officials, liaison officers, hotel staff and drivers are among those who have already gone into mandatory hotel quarantine. Bangladesh and Australia will play five T20Is from August 3 to 9. The hosts are already without Tamim Iqbal, who is nursing a knee injury and is out of competitive cricket for at least eight weeks.

Taylor and Nation put together a 128-run stand as West Indies romped to a six-wicket win

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Nov-2021
Stafanie Taylor’s 117-ball 102 not out took West Indies to a 3-0 series sweep against Pakistan. Chasing 226 in the third ODI in Karachi, Taylor and Chedean Nation put together a 128-run fifth-wicket stand as West Indies romped to a six-wicket win.Put in to bat, Pakistan were off to a good start, with openers Muneeba Ali and Ayesha Zafar stitching together a 49-run stand. Aaliyah Alleyne drew first blood, dismissing Zafar for 13. Muneeba, though, stuck around, bringing up her half-century off 75 balls.Pakistan then lost three wickets in the space of 16 balls, following which Iram Javed and Aliya Riaz resurrected the innings with a 44-run stand for the fifth wicket. Riaz hit an unbeaten 57-ball 44 to take Pakistan to 225.In reply, West Indies got off to a shaky start, Anam Amin and Diana Baig reducing them to 15 for 3. But Taylor and Hayley Matthews lifted them with an 83-run stand off 104 balls. Sadia Iqbal provided the breakthrough by removing Matthews for 49, but Taylor kept the runs flowing, bringing up her half-century off 72 balls.Nation joined Taylor at the crease in the 22nd over and the two kept the scoreboard moving. Taylor got to her seventh ODI century in 113 balls, and on her way, she also brought up 5000 runs in ODIs, becoming just the third woman to the milestone. Nation also brought up a fifty of her own as the duo finished things off quickly, sealing the match in 44 overs.”I love scoring runs and I love batting and once the team wins I’m really happy about that,” Taylor said after the match. “It’s never happened before… and I’m hoping I get a hundred against one of the (higher-ranked) teams. It’s really nice to reach such a milestone and I hope I continue to do that for West Indies.”I think this is huge. seeing that we were coming off a (series) defeat to South Africa and to come here and win 3-0, we haven’t done that in a while and it’s really nice that we can do that and get ourselves match ready.”

England also have to deal with injuries to Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow ahead of the fifth Ashes Test

Andrew Miller09-Jan-2022Jos Buttler is set to fly home from England’s tour of Australia, after sustaining a broken finger that hampered his performance in the drawn fourth Test at Sydney.Buttler suffered the injury while keeping on the second day at the SCG, and struggled to grip the bat while making a duck in England’s first innings.He was replaced behind the stumps by Ollie Pope, who equalled the record for a substitute fielder with four catches in Australia’s second innings. Buttler fronted up for England’s rearguard on the final day however, making 11 from 38 balls before being trapped lbw by Pat Cummins, armed with the new ball.”Jos Buttler is going to be going home, it’s quite a bad injury,” Joe Root, England’s captain, said at the post-match presentations. “It’s a real disappointing shame for him and for the team. But it’s part and parcel of playing Test cricket. Sometimes you’ve got to take these things, but the way he stood up throughout the rest of the game, having taken that, and put in for the boys is a testament to his character and how much he cares about playing for this team.”The injury nevertheless completes a desperate campaign for Buttler, who made 107 runs at 15.28 across the four Tests, with his most significant contribution being an innings of 26 from 207 balls in England’s failed attempt to save the second Test at Adelaide.Related

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In addition to his poor form with the bat, Buttler endured an erratic series behind the stumps, with a number of crucial dropped catches, in particular off Australia’s centurion Marnus Labuschagne in that Adelaide Test.The ECB confirmed that Buttler will fly back to the UK on Monday and will be assessed on his return by the ECB Medical Team. A further update is expected later this week on his rehabilitation period.With Jonny Bairstow nursing an impact injury to his right thumb, albeit he was able to bat for a further two-and-a-half hours in the second innings at Sydney, Buttler looks set to be replaced behind the stumps at Hobart by Sam Billings, who completed a nine-hour drive from Brisbane on Saturday, from where he had been set to fly back to the UK to prepare for England’s white-ball tour of the Caribbean later this month. Billings has returned one negative PCR test after beginning his isolation period in Sydney, and will link up with the main squad subject to a secondary negative test this week.Meanwhile Ben Stokes, who sustained a left side strain while bowling on the second day, also battled through the pain to produce his second half-century of the match. Root could not yet confirm whether he or Bairstow will be involved in Hobart, with both players set for further assessment in the coming days, but he was proud of the character that England’s walking wounded showed.”A lot of the guys could see a number of players hurting physically and still putting in a huge amount, and in many ways it lifted the rest of the group,” Root said. “I’m really proud of the way that they stood up at times, clearly in a lot of pain to produce for England.”There was clearly a bit of pain relief required. It’s not just that, but also the psychological element. For them to perform the way they did shows a huge amount of character.”

Comilla continued to stay on top of the table, while Dhaka are now in second place

Mohammad Isam01-Feb-2022How the match played out
Minister Group Dhaka broke Comilla Victorians’ winning streak, beating them by 50 runs in Chattogram on Tuesday afternoon. Comilla lost their last eight wickets for 49 runs, collapsing from 82 for 2 to be bowled out for 131 in the 18th over, in response to Dhaka’s 181 for 6. Despite the loss, Comilla stayed top of the six-team table with three wins from four games, while Dhaka moved up to second place after their third win in six outings.Andre Russell changed the course of the match, which was in the balance, in the 11th over – his first – when he removed captain Imrul Kayes and the set Mahmudul Hasan Joy off the first and last balls.Cameron Delport was run-out in the next over, before Karim Janat, Ariful Haque and Nahidul Islam fell in the space of four balls. The last two wickets were mere formalities as Comilla fell well short.Big hit
Dhaka’s innings was built around a good start from Tamim Iqbal and an innings of controlled aggression from Mahmudullah, who top-scored with an unbeaten 70 off 41 balls. While Tamim missed his fourth 50-plus score of the tournament by just four runs, Mahmudullah got to his first in this BPL season, and his tenth overall fifty in the competition.Tamim got going in a style reminiscent of the time he scored a century against Sylhet Sunrisers, hitting a couple of sixes when he swung the ball over backward square-leg, a couple of fours through the covers, and a blast over long-off.Mahmudullah, too, hit his fours and sixes in his favoured zones, flicking two sixes over fine-leg, carving Nahidul Islam for a six over extra-cover, and another one over midwicket. Left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam took two wickets for Comilla, having Tamim caught at short midwicket, apart from clean bowling Russell.But Russell had a good outing with the ball, claiming three wickets. Legspinner Qais Ahmad and Ebadot Hossain took two each. Rubel Hossain, who bowled just the two overs, removed Litton Das in the first over to kick things off for Dhaka.Big miss
Not for the first time in the tournament, Comilla’s batters came up short, especially after Litton, Faf du Plessis and Delport fell cheaply. Even though captain Imrul got to 28, it was his wicket that triggered the batting collapse.

West Indies toil during unbroken 193-run second-wicket stand but rain cuts further time from the game

Valkerie Baynes11-Mar-2022Joe Root looked genuinely impressed by what he was seeing. As Zak Crawley drove Kemar Roach down the ground for a boundary – not exactly sweetly struck but with the momentum of his considerable levers behind it – the England captain met him in the middle of the pitch for a couple of fist-bumps and approving nods, chattering away in encouragement and eliciting a broad grin from his young charge.Given that it was boundary number eight of 16 and counting for Crawley, who was compiling the second Test century of his career, the exchange may not have been unusual but in the circumstances, it stood out.After a dirty day three when Root more commonly wore a look of anguish as his attack failed to capitalise on prior opportunity, not to mention a tumultuous start to the year, England turned the tables on West Indies with an unbroken second-wicket stand in Antigua worth 193, a century and fifty so far to its protagonists and a 153-run lead heading into the final day.Related

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The hosts failed to make further inroads after Roach removed debutant opener Alex Lees, lbw in single figures for the second time in the match, to put the tourists at 24 for 1, still 40 runs in arrears.On a pitch that had admittedly offered nothing for the bowlers all match, the West Indies bowlers leaked runs, Veerasammy Permaul particularly expensive in conceding 51 off his 10 overs.Fellow left-arm spinner Jack Leach, meanwhile, had been one of the brighter lights for England, bowling 20 maidens – almost half his overs – as he took 2 for 79, including West Indies’ last wicket with the third ball of the day as the hosts took a 64-run first-innings lead.Quick Jayden Seales was the man dismissed, and he did not enjoy much more success with the ball, 12 wicketless overs costing 51 runs.But Roach, who was getting considerable swing with the new ball on the fourth morning, set Lees up with a series of deliveries that moved away from the left-hander before banging one in full and straight to beat the inside edge and slam into the front pad. Lees reviewed, perhaps in hope after seeing Crawley successfully overturn an lbw decision from umpire Gregory Brathwaite in the first over, only to have it confirmed that the ball was crashing into leg stump.Crawley was yet to score when he was reprieved the first time, with Hawk-Eye showing the ball was missing leg stump by some way. He had moved to 18 when West Indies burned a review shortly after Lees’ dismissal, Crawley adjudged not out to a Roach inswinger that hit him high on the back leg outside off stump.He had to wait out a 10-minute rain delay and Alzarri Joseph maidens either side of it on 49 before he regained the strike from Root and flipped Roach off his hip for a single to bring up his fifty off 100 balls. Crawley peeled off his next fifty from 81 balls as he and Root hit full flow and West Indies floundered for ideas despite trying seven different bowling options.Joe Root celebrates his half-century•Gareth Copley/AFP via Getty Images

Caught behind off Seales for just 8 in the first innings, Crawley tightened up his defence but played expansively where it was warranted, pulling the short ball with authority, cutting anything wide and finding the boundary with the sweep and drive also.Root raised his half-century late in the afternoon session with a four off Permaul through third, and Crawley survived a hearty shout by West Indies, thinking he’d been caught at slip off the spinner, but for replays to show he had edged the ball into the pitch before it bobbed up to the fielder.Having scored 267 against Pakistan at Southampton in August 2020, his eighth Test, Crawley had made 12 single-figure scores – including two ducks – in 21 innings since.Called back into the side for the first time since the English summer for the last three Ashes Tests when England initially dropped Rory Burns and then Haseeb Hameed, Crawley scored a second-innings 77 in Sydney and survived the post-series clear-out, which also saw Lees called up to accompany him at the top of the order.Just like 19 months before, Crawley again lived up to the potential that put him there as he and Root gave England something to smile about before the intermittent rain that had punctuated play briefly a few times set in.

Jason Sangha and Chris Tremain gave New South Wales hope of saving the follow-on

AAP17-Mar-2022Some inspired seam bowling from Western Australia’s Matthew Kelly and Joel Paris produced a stunning New South Wales batting collapse at Bankstown Oval to turn a near-certain draw into a possible Sheffield Shield win for the visitors.With both teams vying for a spot in the final, the middle-session on day three of this rain-affected penultimate-round fixture may prove to be pivotal in the course of the season.Kelly picked up wickets in three successive overs leaving the home side limping their way to tea at 5 for 55, as a hitherto benign pitch seemingly turned into a minefield.Kelly’s swing firstly undid Blues’ skipper Kurtis Patterson without playing a shot before Jack Edwards and Hayden Kerr were also sent packing.At the other end Paris started the rot by picking up the crucial wicket of opener Daniel Hughes caught at second slip.Jason Sangha’s lone knock kept the innings together with the 22-year-old digging in to end the day unbeaten on 66.An injured Moises Henriques, who came in at No. 8, led a brief revival only to tickle a catch down the leg side off the bowling of rookie spinner Corey Rocchiccioli on 23.Chris Tremain swiped three sixes late in the day to reach 41 not out, and lift the home side closer to the follow-on mark of 207 in an unbroken stand of 67 with SanghaThe two sides are among five states with five wins apiece vying for a spot in the March 31 season decider.After the entire day two was lost due to rain, Western Australia resumed at 3 for 231 and continued on comfortably enough before closing their innings half an hour after lunch.Hilton Cartwright looked set for a ton but his watchful 209-ball innings ended on 81 when he was caught hooking a Tremain delivery while seeking to up the scoring rate.Tremain’s second wicket came a day and a half after his first with day two lost due to ongoing showers.
Cameron Bancroft had top-scored for WA with 117, before he was dismissed by Tremain late on Tuesday.The hard-hitting D’Arcy Short was the only Western Australia batter who failed to reach double figures when he was caught and bowled by Kerr for 1.Aaron Hardie remained unbeaten on 37, while allrounder Edwards was the pick of the Blues’ attack returning 3 for 58 off 21 overs.

Hosts’ last four wickets add 198 runs to make Lancashire bat again for ten-wicket win

Paul Edwards17-Apr-2022Just after eleven o’clock this morning there were, perhaps, a few dozen spectators on the Spitfire Ground. Whatever the stone-faced cynics might conclude, their presence was explained by more than free admission and blind loyalty. Some, to be sure, were Lancashire supporters who wanted to see their side complete a victory that was surely certain; others were hoping that since Kent clearly could not rescue a miraculous draw, they might, at least, bat nobly enough to take the day into, say, a second hour; others, again, were happy to observe the duels of which any cricket match is composed.By the time the game ended over six hours later, all three groups of supporters were satisfied yet their objectives had been achieved in a manner more glorious than any of them could have envisaged. For rather than submit quietly to what had seemed inevitable defeat, Kent’s last four wickets had added 198 runs this Easter Sunday and had ensured Lancashire would have to bat again.But this was one of those rare games in which individual achievement can be ranked alongside the outcome. For on this extraordinary afternoon, Ben Compton had completed his second century of the match and his third in succession for his new county since moving from Nottinghamshire. And only when an exhausted Compton was leg before wicket for 115 when attempting to pull George Balderson’s eighth ball after tea did the outcome of it all become clear. That was fitting. Only when Compton was out could Kent be defeated.Compton’s dismissal prevented him becoming only the seventh batter in history to carry his bat through both innings of a first-class game. But the combined statistics of his three centuries this season still boggle the mind. In 11 days he has made 345 runs, faced 918 balls and batted for 20 hours 35 minutes, all, more or less, when trying to secure draws against high-quality attacks. Over the past week or so Kent diehards have watched Compton bat much as couch potatoes binge on TV box sets. And do not mistake it; these have been innings in which his grandfather would have taken pride.But Kent had a best supporting actor on another day that said much for their prospects in the First Division. His name was Hamidullah Qadri and without his contribution, Compton’s efforts would have been merely extraordinary instead of truly heroic… But perhaps we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let us return to this Sunday morning in Canterbury. In the cathedral, the Archbishop is about to begin his Easter Day service; at the Spitfire Ground, Compton and Matt Milnes are going out to bat; in the Frank Woolley Stand a scattering of spectators are living in hope…At first, things went as Glen Chapple, Lancashire’s head coach, might have ordained. Milnes fell to the sixth ball of the day when his forward lunge did not prevent him being given lbw to a ball from Matt Parkinson that barely spun at all. That, however, was both the first and final breakthrough of Lancashire’s morning. Compton and his eighth-wicket partner, Qadri, batted with growing assurance for 33 overs until lunch. There were false shots but no obviously near things or spilled catches. Times beyond counting, Lancashire cricketers shouted “Here we go, boys,” but the problem was that Kent’s eighth-wicket pair wouldn’t go. Inevitably, someone extolled a bowler to go “Bang, bang” but this smacked of greed, given that, with luncheon approaching, Lancashire would certainly have settled for a solitary bang and let the other two look after themselves.Compton batted much as he has done in his three innings this season. Displaying exemplary concentration, he defended immaculately, worked the ball square on either side of the wicket and smacked any dross to the boundary. Qadri, meanwhile, played his shots so freely that he caught up his seemingly immovable partner early in the afternoon session. He brought up his maiden fifty with a boundary to third man off Balderson but was almost immediately dropped at second slip by Steven Croft off Hasan Ali. Lancashire’s fielders probably consoled themselves they would get another chance but by mid-afternoon, the stand between Compton and Qadri had gone far beyond irritation. Suddenly it occurred to home spectators that this great thing could be done and that what had begun as an act of loyalty was turning into something near to memorable witness.The pair set an eighth-wicket record for Kent against Lancashire when their partnership passed the 92 put on by Darren Stevens and Matt Coles at Old Trafford in 2010. The game drifted towards the scheduled tea interval and a wicket did not look like falling, this despite the best efforts of Hasan Ali who sprinted in as though escaping the tax man. And Kent were only 25 runs shy of avoiding the innings defeat when Hasan burst one through Qadri’s defences and bowled him for 77. His previous best first-class score was 30. As he returned to the pavilion something over a hundred people rose to applaud.Now, at last, Lancashire smelt blood. Compton tried to farm the strike but sharp fielding by Balderson prevented him. Left to face an over from Hasan, Nathan Gilchrist survived one ball before being bowled when barely playing a stroke at the second. One wicket to go.But even then, Kent were not done. Last man Jackson Bird batted with good sense and helped Compton take their side into the lead. Phil Salt missed a stumping when Compton was on 110 and at least four of Dane Vilas’s fielders threw themselves to the ground as if unable to cope with the pain of the moment. Parkinson completed his 47th over of the innings and his 78th of the match. Tea came and went. Kent supporters wondered if their side could possibly escape with another draw. Balderson bowled to Compton and it became clear they couldn’t.Lancashire knocked off the 33 runs they needed in 7.1 overs but it was a limp aftermath to the great drama of the day. And even when the match was done, people sat and mused about Compton. They marvelled at his achievements and the game he plays. Come the autumn, they will be marvelling still.

Bangladesh team director feels that the players shouldn’t be allowed to pick and choose the formats as they wish

Mohammad Isam07-May-2022Khaled Mahmud, the Bangladesh team director, feels Mustafizur Rahman should not have been allowed to pick and choose the formats he wished to play, as it has led to a fast-bowling vacuum in the Test side. Mustafizur is currently playing in the IPL for Delhi Capitals, having taken eight wickets in as many matches this season.Ahead of this year’s IPL, the BCB gave Mustafizur the clearance to play in the tournament even when Bangladesh were playing Tests in South Africa.It wasn’t a topic of particular interest at the time because Bangladesh had already won the ODI series, and they still had Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam around. While there has been debate about who decides on the format, the BCB president Nazmul Hassan has been saying since mid-2021 that the centrally contracted Bangladesh players will be allowed to pick and choose their formats, regardless of their experience.It started as a verbal promise last year, and the players have since signed the 2022 contracts by providing their choice of format in some cases. Mustafizur was given the IPL No Objection Certificate (NOC) this season after the Bangladesh selectors didn’t pick him in the squads for the South Africa and Sri Lanka Tests. Mustafizur has not played a Test since February last year, having taken just four wickets in the last four years.”(BCB president Nazmul Hassan) Papon said that the players can discuss which format they want to play but this was only applicable to the senior players, not all players,” Mahmud said in a press briefing at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Saturday.”Would it be okay if (Mahmudul Hasan) Joy said that he doesn’t want to play Tests? How old is Mustafiz? How long has he been playing for? He is not Shakib, Tamim, Mashrafe or Mushfiq. These players have provided service for many years. I don’t know why Mustafiz doesn’t want to play Tests. The board should decide which format a player plays.”Shakib and Tamim are 34-35 years old. They deserve breaks. But Litton Das doesn’t need breaks. When he becomes Shakib or Tamim, I will say that he deserves rest. Mustafiz must play Tests. It is his peak time. I am not saying he should play all the Tests but he should definitely be available for six to eight matches per year. I used to hear that he doesn’t want to play due to bio-bubbles, but now things have changed so that can’t be an excuse anymore. If Taskin and Shoriful can play (Tests), he should too.”Capitals are currently just outside the top four with four games remaining in the league stage, so Mustafizur will be available for them till May 21 at the very least. There’s still no movement from the BCB or the selectors to bring him into the Test side, but Mahmud said that with Taskin Ahmed already out of the Sri Lanka series due to a shoulder injury and Shoriful Islam’s availability still subject to a fitness test, the home side are missing out on their best bowler, regardless of the format.”With Taskin injured, one of our main bowlers is out. Shoriful could be injured any time soon. Both Taskin and Shoriful are injury-prone bowlers. In that case we need Mustafiz who, when you consider his experience, skills, technique and tactics, is Bangladesh’s best fast bowler. Mustafiz would have provided balance to the side.”There’s a lot of cricket in the three formats so everyone needs time off. Taskin and Shoriful also deserve rest. When we have enough bowlers, we probably won’t need Mustafiz in this format but till then he should provide support. He is dangerous in white-ball cricket but I also know that he can be a handful with the red ball too.”Mahmud came down strongly on Mustafizur’s commitment towards red-ball cricket and Bangladesh, but also felt that someone should have gotten in touch with him to clarify the situation.”He might get two or four crores in the IPL, but isn’t cricket bigger than the money? Isn’t the country bigger than money? We never played for money. Now a cricketer needs the BCB’s help when he is dying. (Mustafizur) won’t need the BCB (in that situation). They can themselves help others (financially). Why won’t I want to play for Bangladesh?”Cricket board means Mustafiz, and Mustafiz means the cricket board. They are both in the same place. There’s no distance. Maybe nobody spoke to him.”

Sunrisers never recover after leaking 81 runs in wicketless powerplay

ECB Reporters Network05-Jun-2022Bryony Smith struck a belligerent half-century as defending champions South East Stars headed into Charlotte Edwards Cup Finals Day on Saturday with a comfortable 56-run win over Sunrisers at Guildford.Smith pummelled exactly 50 from just 30 balls, sharing an opening stand of 87 with Aylish Cranstone as the hosts rattled up 183 for 9, their best score in the competition and just short of the overall record of 186 set by Thunder last season.The Stars’ skipper then returned 2 for 17 while Kalea Moore took 2 for 16 as Sunrisers were bowled out for 127 in reply despite 31 from Amara Carr for the visitors.Victory means Stars top the group ahead of Central Sparks who they will meet in the playoff game to start final’s day at Wantage Road.
Smith chose to bat on winning the toss and the allrounder and the tournament’s leading run-scorer Cranstone gorged on some loose powerplay bowling from Sunrisers.Related

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Smith swept viciously and played the pull shot to great effect to clear the ropes four times, while Cranstone hit four fours off the second over bowled by Naomi Dattani.The hosts reached 81 without loss in the powerplay and Smith raced to 50 before spooning a catch to Scarlett Hughes off the bowling of Kelly Castle.It was the beginning of a frugal spell from Castle of 2 for 14, during which she also caught and bowled Kira Chathli and Sunrisers’ skipper was sharp in the field too, running out Alice Capsey for nought with a direct hit from mid-off.Cranstone perished when she mishit an attempted scoop off Dattani to wicketkeeper Carr, but Emma Jones hit one six clean out the ground in a whirlwind 33 from 17, as, despite a late flurry of wickets, Stars posted a huge total.Sunrisers made the worst possible start when Hughes hit the first ball of their reply from Moore to Cranstone at cover and the spinner struck again in her next over, trapping Grace Scrivens lbw.The in-form Dattani also didn’t detain for long, skying a ball from Alexa Stonehouse to Capsey, leaving the visitors 23 for 3.Carr cleared the ropes to top score, but neither her enterprise or Mady Villiers’ cameo of 22 were enough to redress the balance and when Mia Rogers holed out in the deep off Phoebe Franklin the game was up for Sunrisers.

Visitors target back-to-back series win in Asia; Hosts drop Lasith Embuldeniya, with four others out after contracting Covid-19

Andrew McGlashan07-Jul-2022

Big Picture

There has been plenty of Test cricket recently that you don’t want to take your eyes off. England are changing the way people think of the game by charging their way to fourth-innings targets as though it was the most normal thing ever; while in Galle, the first match of the series was over in less than two days’ playing time as Australia adapted to conditions far better than the home side.The type of match we saw in the first Test was not a complete surprise – it was always likely the game would move quickly – but the way Australia bossed proceedings when it had been a pretty even contest on the second day, and barely 24 hours later secured victory, was somewhat unexpected.If they can do it again over the next few days – no one believes the second Test will go close to five – it will complete significant back-to-back triumphs in the subcontinent after the win in Pakistan, and set them up well for the challenge of India next year.Related

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Sri Lanka have plenty of problems to solve, and their difficulties have been exacerbated by a Covid-19 outbreak in the squad which has ruled out four players, although Angelo Mathews, the first case, is available again. Their bowling attack will look considerably different, although that may have been the case anyway after the spinners were unable to keep any control of Australia’s batters.But they also need their senior batters to step forward. There is no lack of experience in the top order but it was collectively a very poor performance in the opening Test, even though coach Chris Silverwood was not critical of their second-innings approach as conditions became even tougher, having also been able to bat first when conditions were, relatively speaking, at their best.The bare facts would suggest Australia have Sri Lanka’s number and should be comfortable favourites to take the series 2-0, but the nature of the pitch – if, as expected, it is anything like the opening game – means that form, perhaps, does not play the role it often does. One spell, one collapse, and things can change quickly.

Recent form

(Last five matches, most recent first)Sri Lanka LWDLL
Australia WWDDW
Can Travis Head now contribute with the bat?•Getty Images

In the spotlight

Travis Head left a mark on the opening Test… but with the ball. He bagged 4 for 10 in the second innings to hasten the game to its swift finish. When batting, he got a leading edge back to Dhananjaya de Silva early on the second day to continue a run in the subcontinent where he is the one member of the batting order yet to make a significant contribution after not getting going in Pakistan.Head acknowledged the technical mistake he had made, but is confident he can rebound. “I’ve played well on spinning pitches in Australia,” he said after the first Test. “These are different, I’ve never played on a wicket like that. So it’s another one to take into consideration over the next few days. Talking to the people closest to me, I just need to keep doubling down on that plan, and keep backing it in and try to execute it. When you second-guess yourself or try to change things for the next Test, you get yourself in more trouble.”With Lasith Embuldeniya dropped and Praveen Jayawickrama out with Covid-19, there appears a strong chance of a debut for 19-year-old Dunith Wellalage, the leading wicket-taker in the ODI series where he showed impressive composure and caused plenty of problems for Australia’s batters.There is also the intriguing prospect of a debut for Maheesh Theekshana, who has played just three first-class matches – all of them in 2018 – as Sri Lanka search for a way of controlling the run rate. It would be a fascinating look at how important first-class experience is when conditions are at the extreme end, and how specialist white-ball skills – much like Theekshana’s – can translate.Dunith Wellalage could make his Test debut•AFP

Team news

Dimuth Karunaratne said that the Sri Lanka squad had to get through round of rapid antigen tests before they would know who was available. There will be at least four changes and they will be hoping the Covid-19 outbreak doesn’t go further. Dhananjaya de Silva, Asitha Fernando, Jeffrey Vandersay and Lasith Embuldeniya – with the latter dropped – are out for certain. Although Oshada Fernando was Angelo Mathews’ Covid sub last week, allrounder Kamindu Mendis, who is an ambidextrous bowler, could come into the middle order to cover for Dhananjaya’s spin. There remains uncertainty over the combination of frontline spinners they could choose with Lakshan Sandakan and Prabath Jayasuriya also being considered.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Oshada Fernando/Kamindu Mendis, 6 Dinesh Chandimal, 7 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 8 Ramesh Mendis, 9 Dunith Wellalage, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Maheesh TheekshanaAustralia have kept the option open of bringing in Glenn Maxwell at No. 8 as another spin-bowling option in place of Mitchell Starc. But that will be decided on the morning of the game. That should be the only change.Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Glenn Maxwell/Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Mitchell Swepson

Pitch and conditions

More of the same – a turning pitch, of course – is expected, unless there is a significant change of heart from the home side. There is again the chance of storms interrupting play, but given the speed the game is likely to move at, it shouldn’t impact the prospect of a result.

Stats and trivia

• Pat Cummins needs two wickets to reach 200 in Tests.
• Nathan Lyon, who has moved in the top ten of the all-time wicket-takers, needs seven wickets to go above R Ashwin (442), which would leave him only behind Muthiah Muralidaran as a fingerspinner.
• The last time Australia won three consecutive Tests in Asia was in 2004, when they beat Sri Lanka and India in four successive matches. And between 2002 and 2004, they had won seven in a row.