Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lanka allrounder, will miss the upcoming IPL as he will be out of action for eight weeks due to the injury that also caused him to miss the World Cup final against India

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2011Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lanka allrounder, will miss the upcoming IPL because of the leg injury that also caused him to miss the World Cup final against India in Mumbai. He is expected to be out of action for eight weeks. Mathews has a $950,000 contract with Pune Warriors, having played for Kolkata Knight Riders in previous seasons of the IPL.”I have pulled a muscle,” Mathews said in Colombo after the Sri Lankan team returned from India. “I am finding it difficult to walk, it will take about eight weeks to heal.”Mathews left the field during the semi-final against New Zealand with a minor quadriceps muscle injury, and his movement was hampered when he came out to bat with a runner. He played a crucial role in Sri Lanka’s campaign, as back-up seamer and middle-order batsman, and Sri Lanka missed his all-round skills in the final, which they lost by six wickets. His place in the squad was taken by offspinner Suraj Randiv.Mathews will now aim to be fit in time for Sri Lanka’s tour of England from May to July, which includes three Tests and five one-day games.

Bangladesh officials have assured the West Indies team ‘state-level’ security during their World Cup quarter-final clash against Pakistan in Mirpur on March 23

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Mar-2011Bangladesh officials have assured the West Indies team ‘state-level’ security during their World Cup quarter-final clash against Pakistan in Mirpur on March 23. The extra precaution is an effort to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing incident on March 4, when angry locals pelted stones at the West Indies team bus following their thumping win against the home side at the same venue.”The West Indies are our valued guests and we will ensure the highest state-level security to them,” Dhaka police commissioner Benazir Ahmed told AFP. “They can be assured of fool-proof security. It’s a state-level commitment. We shall make sure that there is no crowd along the key parts of the road to the stadium.”Ahmed said the same security arrangement was provided to the South African team when they took on Bangladesh at the Shere Bangla Stadium on Saturday. Bangladesh slumped to another huge defeat in that game, bringing an end to their World Cup campaign ahead of the knockouts. This time, however, there was no angry reaction from the fans.Bangladesh’s early exit could have an impact on the attendance at the Shere Bangla Stadium, which will also host the quarter-final clash between New Zealand and South Africa on March 25.

Sri Lanka Cricket have confirmed the dates for the first edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League will be from July 19 to August 4, 2011

ESPNcricinfo staff12-May-2011Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have confirmed the dates for the first edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League will be from July 19 to August 4, 2011. The seven provinces will play 24 matches over the 18 days, all of which will be telecast live globally. That suggests a format in which all the teams will play each other once in a league stage, before two semi-finals and a final.Each team will only be allowed five overseas players in their squad, of which only four can be named in the XI. Several foreign players including Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Shahid Afridi and Herschelle Gibbs have already been signed for the tournament.SLC also unveiled the team names for the provinces. The seven teams will be: Basnahira Bears, Kandurata Kites, Nagenahira Nagas, Ruhuna Rhinos, Uthura Oryxes, Uva Unicorns and Wayamba Wolves. The board plans to add two more provinces to the tournament within three years.

Pakistan’s captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, is not getting ahead of himself despite his side’s powerful position in the second Test against West Indies

ESPNcricinfo staff24-May-2011Pakistan’s captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, is not getting ahead of himself despite his side’s powerful position in the second Test against West Indies. Pakistan need only five more wickets to beat West Indies and level the series 1-1, while the hosts require 297 runs for an unlikely victory, or to bat all day to salvage a draw.”Until the time you’ve taken the last wicket, the match is still not finished,” Misbah said after stumps on the fourth day in St Kitts. “It’s a game of cricket and you have to finish the game otherwise it’s really half the job done.”Pakistan had Misbah to thank for giving them an excellent chance at victory, after he and Taufeeq Umar both made centuries in the second innings. It was Misbah’s third Test hundred and he was unbeaten on 102 when he declared with a lead of 426, a fine effort for a 36-year-old in his sixth Test as captain.”It’s really, really good to have a hundred, especially when you are captain,” Misbah said. “For your own confidence and for the sake of the team, it’s really important that the captain chips in and perform at all stages in the game.”West Indies made a poor start to their chase, with two of the top four out for ducks, and by stumps they were 130 for 5 and relying heavily on the vice-captain Brendan Nash (30 not out) to salvage something on the final day. Abdur Rehman caused the biggest problems with three wickets, all of which came soon after the tea break and shattered West Indies’ hopes of ending the day in a reasonable position.”At tea, my coach [Waqar Younis] and my captain came to me and said, ‘Go back there and go back to your normal bowling,” Rehman said. “Don’t give them flight, just tight, tight, contain and you’ll get the wickets’.”To rescue West Indies, Nash will need not only a major innings himself but also help from the lower order, including Carlton Baugh (7 not out) and the next man in, the captain Darren Sammy. West Indies won the first Test in the two-match series.

The ICC will look for sponsors for the DRS to overcome the financial hurdles that less wealthy cricket boards will face in implementing the cost-intensive referral system

Sharda Ugra in Hong Kong30-Jun-2011The ICC will look for sponsors for the DRS to overcome the financial hurdles that less wealthy cricket boards will face in implementing the cost-intensive referral system now mandatory in international cricket.”There is the possibility that we could raise a sponsor to cover the cost of the DRS,” ICC CEO, Haroon Lorgat, told ESPNcricinfo. The chief executives’ committee agreed on Monday to make a modified version of DRS mandatory in all internationals, with the use of the ball-tracking technology made optional, and Lorgat said he could see a situation “where we may well cover all costs of the technology”.The cost of the DRS is currently estimated at $5000 per day, with broadcasters, technology providers and home boards in a constant debate about who should bear the cost.The minimum requirements for the tweaked DRS are the expensive infra-red cameras and the audio tracking devices, and Lorgat said the resulting uniformity – which doesn’t exist in ball-tracking technology – was adequate to seek commercial support for the system. “It is still sufficient to be able to commercialise it and find a sponsor that would be interested.”The uneven acceptance of the DRS in the past, with the BCCI resisting its implementation in bilateral series involving India, had made financial backing for the system difficult, Lorgat said. “You cannot sell a product if there’s uncertainty around its use and that was a stumbling block in the past.”Lorgat said he did not believe that the new ruling, which omitted the ball-tracker technology from the list of mandatory requirements, would make the system inconsistent. The ICC, he said, had worked its way through a process that had begun with differences over an aspect of the review system and was keen to address the concerns of its doubters, in this case the BCCI. “It is incumbent on all of us who are trying to implement (it) and trying to find agreement to work towards getting there … if that means we have to convince certain people who are unconvinced about the accuracy and the reliability of the ball-tracking technology, that’s what we have agreed to do. But where we have got absolute agreement, we’ve all agreed to install that.”The question of using only one part of the ball-tracker technology, like the pitch mat to check where the ball had landed, was not raised, Lorgat said, “There wasn’t complete satisfaction with the use of the ball-tracking technology and we’ve just left that out.”The use of the ball-tracker based on bilateral agreements between boards, Lorgat said, would let those who believed in its veracity use the system. Over the next few months, he said the ICC would carry out an independent assessment to provide the back-up of the ball tracker’s accuracy and reliability. “I think we must just be patient for the next few months until we’ve done that exercise and hopefully we come to a point where everybody is satisfied with its accuracy.”The assessment, he said, would be thorough, because “if there are people who are happy or unhappy about the technology, we have got to disprove that and so I’m not keen to take (only) elements of it (the ball tracker) before we come up with a scientific evaluation.” He said there was no time-frame for this assessment of the ball tracker.

Ed Joyce’s 89-ball century kept Sussex on course for a Clydesdale Bank 40
semi-final spot with an eight-wicket win against Group A strugglers
Worcestershire at New Road

24-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Ed Joyce’s 89-ball century kept Sussex on course for a Clydesdale Bank 40
semi-final spot with an eight-wicket win against Group A strugglers
Worcestershire at New Road.A two-month break since their last match in the competition proved to be no
handicap as Sussex chalked up a fifth straight victory to edge past Middlesex at
the top of the section.Although Worcestershire’s total of 217 for 7 was the best in three 40-over
matches on the ground this season, it proved hopelessly inadequate when Ed Joyce
and Chris Nash responded in a stand of 153. Nash was dropped at mid-on off Jack Shantry before he had reached double figures and the Royals were made to pay a high price as they slumped to a comprehensive defeat, their fifth in six completed CB40 games this summer.Sussex’s openers reached their fifties at better than a run a ball and it was
almost a surprise when Nash got himself out for 61, failing to clear mid-on off
Daryl Mitchell.The next over brought another wicket with Lou Vincent bowled by Saeed Ajmal
after taking two boundaries from the first three balls he faced, but Joyce
carried on much as he pleased with 10 fours and a six in a clinical exhibition.Murray Goodwin chipped in with an unbeaten 39 before a spanking off-drive took
Joyce to 101 not out and won the match with more than 10 overs to spare. Worcestershire also benefited from a good start as Vikram Solanki (51) and Jack Manuel, with a competition-best 48 from 44 balls, put on 97 for the second wicket, but Sussex were able to apply the brakes thanks to their trio of slow bowlers.Monty Panesar, Chris Nash and Michael Yardy shared four wickets in bowling 22
overs for 102 runs. Until then Worcestershire had scored freely against the seamers after losing
Moeen Ali to Naved Arif in the third over of the innings.Rana Naved-ul-Hasan felt the pressure in conceding 16 runs in an over and then
reacted with some petulance when umpire Jeff Evans turned down his agitated
appeal for a catch behind the wicket off Manuel.Left-hander Manuel and Solanki were both caught by Goodwin at midwicket and the
batting errors continued as Alexei Kervezee and Gareth Andrew perished in their
efforts to disturb Yardy’s control.Rana was easily the most expensive bowler with his eight overs costing 57 runs,
but there was belated compensation when he bowled James Cameron (33) and
Mitchell.

Glamorgan’s bid to keep in touch with the Clydesdale Bank 40 Group C was dashed by the rain at Cardiff

17-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Glamorgan’s bid to keep in touch with the Clydesdale Bank 40 Group C was dashed by the rain at Cardiff. Put into bat by their opponents the Unicorns, Glamorgan had reached 45 for 2 from 11.1 overs when a third rain interruption proved terminal with the umpires – Mark Benson and Neil Mallender – abandoning the match shortly before 5.30pm. Glamorgan and the Unicorns take a point each from the contest.The home side had an early scare when Gareth Rees was trapped lbw to the second ball of the match from Neil Saker. Glamorgan were in further trouble when Jim Allenby played a rash shot which saw him caught behind off Glen Querl for 16. Two short rain breaks reduced the game to 38 overs per side and then 37. But just as captain Alviro Petersen and Stewart Walters seemed to be launching a recovery the rain arrived for a third time.

Essex Eagles won a thrilling Clydesdale Bank 40 clash against Lancashire at Old Trafford by six wickets with two balls

14-Aug-2011
ScorecardEssex Eagles won a thrilling Clydesdale Bank 40 clash against Lancashire at Old Trafford by six wickets with two balls to spare thanks in the main to century-maker Mark Pettini and Owais Shah.It meant Essex kept their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals alive as they chased down 258, all but ending their opponents’ last-four hopes in the process. Essex always had wickets in hand as they chased but Lancashire’s bowlers squeezed well in the field to leave the visitors needing 114 off 66 balls with eight wickets in hand.Pettini and Shah, however, shared 111 in 14 overs for the third wicket, punishing Sajid Mahmood, Oliver Newby and Steven Croft’s offspin in particular. Pettini finished with 104 off 101 balls and Shah 75 off 56, hitting a combined total of 12 fours and three sixes.This was Lancashire’s first defeat in 12 one-day matches in both competitions but they were the team in the ascendancy at the halfway stage thanks to Karl Brown’s maiden one-day hundred. After James Foster had elected to bowl, Lancashire calmly built a platform on a good pitch as opener Stephen Moore scored 69 off 67 balls.He shared 84 for the third wicket with Brown before the latter and Gareth Cross (58 not out off 51 balls) added an unbroken 119 for the fifth wicket inside the last 15 overs of the innings. They also wreaked havoc in the last six overs, amassing a whopping 80 runs.Cross hit Graham Napier for two leg-side sixes, both parried over the fence by Chris Wright and Adam Wheater, and he and Brown reached their respective milestones in the last over, bowled by left-arm spinner Tim Phillips and costing 19. Brown finished on 101 not out off 86 balls, including 10 fours and a six.Ravi Bopara, fresh from the Edgbaston Test, took the two wickets of Croft and Moore with his medium pace. And he played a part in the Essex chase with 39 off 53 balls, sharing 88 inside 17 overs for the second wicket with Pettini.Despite the fact the Eagles, now level on 13 points with second-placed Nottinghamshire after 10 matches, had wickets in hand, they were dropping further and further behind by rate. But Pettini and Shah reduced the target of 114 off 66 balls at its toughest to nine off the last over with some power hitting and good running as the home attack unusually lost their way.Gary Keedy and Newby got rid of Pettini, stumped by Cross, and Shah, caught at cover by Tom Smith, within the last three overs. But it was not enough as Ryan ten Doeschate hit the winning runs to delight the home dressing room.

A round-up of the matches from the third day of the Faysal Bank T20, 2011

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Sep-2011Rameez Aziz and Hasan Raza pulled off a heist as Karachi Zebras beat Abbottabad Falcons off the last ball of the game and claim a six-wicket victory. Karachi had slumped to 28 for 4 in the fifth over and looked unlikely to threaten Abbottabad’s total of 158 that was built around Yasir Hameed’s 73. But Aziz and Raza first steadied the innings and then launched a counter-attack over the closing overs to stun their opponents. Raza was the more aggressive of the two; his 74 came from 50 balls and included 11 fours. Aziz ended the day on 67 from 53 balls, with 10 fours. Their 132-run partnership was memorably capped by Raza as he struck left-arm spinner Khalid Usman for the winning runs.Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar powered Lahore Eagles to their third win in a row at the National Stadium in Karachi. Farhat and Umar both made half-centuries as Lahore cruised past Quetta Bears by nine wickets with 23 balls to spare. Quetta struggled after choosing to bat, as Lahore’s bowlers proved difficult to get away. Umar was in the thick of the action in the field, running out Bismillah Khan and Abid Ali, the latter’s wicket setting off a Quetta collapse. It took a quickfire 26 from Saeed Khan just to push his side to 125. Lahore’s openers made short work of their target. Farhat was the dominant partner, striking six fours and a six in his 50, which came from 33 balls. Umar was a little more circumspect, his 50 taking 49 balls and containing five fours. The win consolidated Lahore’s position at the top of Group A.A collective bowling effort helped Sialkot Stallions win by five balls to spare against Lahore Lions at the National Stadium in Karachi. Seamer Naved-ul-Hasan bagged three wickets and was supported by Sarfraz Ahmed, Raza Hasan and left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman, each of whom took three. Lahore captain Abdul Razzaq made a quickfire 42 but the lower order crumbled and folded for 121. Sialkot lost their openers in quick time in the chase but wicketkeeper Shakeel Ansar (42) and Shahid Yousuf (47) got their team back on track. The pair added 72 and captain Shoaib Malik stayed through to the end with an unbeaten 15.

Ricky Ponting has revealed Shaun Marsh’s elevation to No. 3 in the Australian Test batting order was a “long-term plan” of the captain Michael Clarke

Daniel Brettig10-Oct-2011Ricky Ponting has revealed Shaun Marsh’s elevation to No. 3 in the Australian Test batting order was a “long-term plan” of the captain Michael Clarke. Ponting said he was happy to move down to No. 4 for as long as he keeps on playing.As he prepared for a rare Sheffield Shield appearance with Tasmania against Western Australia at the WACA, Ponting spoke frankly of the Test batting order, which has been shuffled to accommodate Marsh at three while Ponting, Clarke and Michael Hussey all slip one spot.Clarke’s vision for the team has so far been made clear, as he is equally adamant that the vice-captain Shane Watson will not be moving down the order from his demanding position as an opening batsman and allrounder.”It was a long-term plan of Michael’s to have Shaun move to No. 3 and me move to No.4 and Michael move to five and Huss to six,” Ponting told reporters in Perth. “So that wasn’t just something I don’t think as a one-off for that game. Michael sees that in the best interests of the team going forward for a period of time. So I’ll be three this week, probably three in the one-dayers in South Africa and then probably drop back to four for the Test matches.”When I first came into the Australian side, batting at six was hard. Waiting that amount of time to bat for me was something that was very foreign to me. But three to four I don’t think is as big a change as three to six, or it certainly wasn’t in the last Test because I was in pretty early both times. Slight adjustment. It just gives me a little bit more time once our fielding’s over to get my head around what I have to do to bat.”Ponting also spoke of the state of flux the team is presently in while Cricket Australia decides on a range of appointments recommended by the Argus review. The position of team performance manager must be finalised first, allowing the appointee to have a say in the choices of coach, national selector and part-time selectors.This means that Clarke will go to South Africa with plenty of weight on his shoulders regarding decision-making, for the interim coach Troy Cooley has flagged his lack of experience as a selector and also an unwillingness to make any lasting changes to the set-up run with mixed results by the departed head coach Tim Nielsen over the past four years.”Unfortunately at the moment the way things are working out a lot more of the responsibility is going to come back on the captain for this next tour,” Ponting said. “So it’s important that the captain, the vice-captain and probably the senior players do as much as we can around the group on this trip.”Troy’s been around the group for a long time and understands everyone really well, but he’s sort of been thrust into that selection role at the moment as well which is something very foreign to him. We’ll make do with the best we can. It’s probably not an ideal situation, but we knew that a long way out and the boys have been playing that way so everything should work out fine.”Ponting said many of the changes wrought by the Argus review were designed to lessen the load on the captain, but reckoned the short-term would be difficult for Clarke while the new positions were filled and settled into.”Having been there and done that in the past you want to be able to focus on your cricket and the team’s demands and probably not much outside of that if you can,” Ponting said. “That’s why a lot of these roles are changing, to take a bit of that strain if you like off the captain. It’s hard enough work when you’re just out there being the captain and worrying about your own game rather than everything else that goes with it. We’ll see how it goes, but he [Clarke] understands he’s got great support from all his team-mates around him.”Ponting’s appearances for Tasmania, who won the Shield in his absence last summer, would not be quite so rare if the schedule was balanced to ensure the strongest domestic competitions possible, something the Argus review also recommended.”With the Australian summer as packed as it is internationally-wise, it just makes it too hard for the international players to play state cricket,” Ponting said. “We’d all like the chance to be able to do that a bit more. I know the states and even our clubs would probably appreciate it if we can get back and spend more time around the next crop of potential international players.”While Hussey is missing the match after his time at the Champions League Twenty20, Ponting said he was never in any doubt for the fixture, and flatly rejected all reports to the contrary.”Some confusion’s probably happened as a result of our leave dates being changed, the coach at the time of the Australian team in Sri Lanka had ruled us out because the leave date was different than it is at the moment,” Ponting said. “As it turns out I only found out on Thursday that I was playing the game but I’ve been excited about the chance to play the game.”