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Sri Lanka need a review of their review technique after further day of blunders

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Sri Lanka’s profligate use of their reviews came back to haunt them as England edged the first-day honours

Andrew Fidel Fernando23-Nov-2018In general, umpires do not need an excuse to do their job badly in Sri Lanka. Over the last four years, there has been an abundance of botched decisions, over-officiousness, as well as a banning of bands in the stands while the over is in motion, so that the umpires can supposedly hear edges better. Not that stopping the bands has helped them. Replays have demonstrated several out decisions in which the bat has clearly been in a separate administrative district from the ball.In the umpires’ partial defence, they have it especially tough in Sri Lanka. The prevalence of spinners and dustbowls means there are faint nicks, bat/pad chances and lbw opportunities galore. In some games, there are almost more appeals than runs. And, although there have been none at the grounds in this series, it is possible there are wilfully insubordinate bands playing elsewhere on the island, despite being told repeatedly that they confound the umpires’ sensitive hearing, and generally confuse them. I mean, when there is a highly serious Test match being played, is it not time the ICC imposed a nationwide ban on fun?And yet, while it has been well known for some time that umpires are junkies for terrible decisions in Sri Lanka, the nation’s own cricketers have enabled them, routinely burning their two reviews early in the innings.If umpires were shoddy drivers, then Sri Lanka’s cricketers would still hand them the keys to new luxury cars and point them in the direction of the nearest power pylon. If they were known public urinators, Sri Lanka would ply them with gallons of soft drink and follow them around putting fire hydrants in their vicinity.On Friday, for the second consecutive innings, Sri Lanka lost both reviews at an unacceptably early stage of the game. In the second innings at Pallekele, they had waited with relative patience until the start of the 27th over to squander their second review. At the SSC, they were both spent before the end of the 22nd – the first on a prospective caught behind off Jonny Bairstow in the 15th over; the second being an lbw appeal against Joe Root, in which Root’s front pad was shown to be closer to his childhood home in Yorkshire than the line of off stump when it was struck.Party to both terrible review decisions was wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella. With the bat, in limited-overs cricket, Dickwella is the dynamic, hyper-energetic opening batsman, sending the third ball of the match over the wicketkeeper’s head, sweeping and reverse-slapping with abandon, and generally attempting to be the man who Dickscoops his way into a nation’s hearts (the Dickscoop being his particular version of the Dilscoop). But in whites, 24 Tests in, he is yet to step up as a batsman. Worse, he is prone to fits of acute DRS fancy. If there was a Dickwella DRS flowchart, all the arrows would ultimately point to the box that reads: REVIEW IT! At nightclubs, if he hears a song he doesn’t like, you can imagine him racing up to the DJ, making a “T” with his forearms, disbelievingly shaking his head.In a series in which Sri Lanka have had dollops of bad luck, losing their captain to a groin strain, losing all three tosses, and generally being on the receiving end of the umpires’ bumbling, of course the squandered reviews would come back to floor them. Ben Stokes should have been out lbw on zero off the bowling of Dilruwan Perera, but that appeal was wrongly turned down, and Stokes would go on to smack 57 off the next 75 balls, putting up a 99-run stand with Bairstow in the process. Later in the day, Bairstow would himself miss a sweep off Lakshan Sandakan to a ball that would have taken out leg stump, but was ruled not out. In the first two sessions of day one, it seemed it would have been easier to get the umpires to sign over deeds to their houses than get an lbw decision out of them, and Sri Lanka had no recourse to challenge.Towards the end of the day, Sri Lanka’s DRS misadventures were put into sharp relief by England. In between being dropped twice, by Dickwella and Dimuth Karunaratne at slip, Moeen Ali was given out lbw twice, and overturned those calls on both occasions. Unlike Sri Lanka, England had saved their reviews until the umpires’ inevitable mistakes actually came against them.

Dropped M Vijay adds voice to communication issue with India selectors

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The axed India opener said the selectors had not spoken to him after he was dropped from the Test squad, but MSK Prasad refutes the claim

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Oct-2018Batsman M Vijay is the latest India player to speak about a lack of communication between the selectors and players who have been dropped from the squad.Vijay had made 20, 6, 0 and 0 in the first two Tests of India’s five-match series in England. He was not picked in the XI for the third Test and was dropped from the squad for the last two matches.”Neither the chief selector nor any other person spoke to me in England after I was dropped from the third Test,” Vijay told . “None of them have spoken to me since. I did have a conversation with the members of the team management in England and that’s it.”Vijay was also not picked for the ongoing two-Test series against West Indies at home. His comments came in the wake of Karun Nair saying in the past week that he had “no conversations” with the team management or selectors after he was dropped from the squad without playing a Test in England. Former India offspinner Harbhajan Singh had slammed the MSK Prasad-led selection committee and questioned their methods.”I tend to agree with what Harbhajan Singh has said about parameters of selection,” Vijay said. “I think it is important that a player is told about the reasons for keeping him out so that he knows where exactly he stands in the team managements’ and selectors’ scheme of things.”As a player it is very important that you are going to get more than just one or two games, so that you can plan better. Stability keeps doubts away. Ultimately, one has to perform and contribute to the team’s cause.”Prasad, however, rubbished Vijay’s claims, saying that Devang Gandhi, his fellow selector, had spoken to the opener after he was dropped from the squad. “All these are baseless reports,” Prasad told PTI. “With regard to the non-communication with Murali Vijay after dropping him, I am equally surprised why he has said this while my colleague and selector on call Devang Gandhi had clearly informed him about the reasons why he was dropped.”Prasad also said he had spoken to Nair after leaving him out of the 15-man squad for the West Indies Tests, and told him to keep scoring heavily in the Ranji Trophy and for India A. India captain Virat Kohli , meanwhile, distanced himself from the issue when he was asked about it on the eve of the first Test against West Indies.After being axed from the Test squad, Vijay signed up with Essex to play in the County Championship, and made scores of 56, 100, 85, 80 and 2.India’s next Test series after the one against West Indies is in Australia, and Vijay hoped to make a comeback. “I will be preparing for the Australia series too in my own manner,” he said. “I know the conditions there well, having scored close to 500 runs during the 2014-15 series. I wish to be ready if the chance comes. Ultimately it’s the runs that matter when you are trying to make a comeback.”

Khaka, Kapp secure series for South Africa women

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Bangladesh women bowled out for their second sub-100 score as they go 3-0 down in the five-match series

ESPNcricinfo staff09-May-2018
ScorecardGetty Images and Cricket Australia

Bangladesh women are yet to bat out 50 overs on tour in South Africa. On Wednesday, they were bowled out for their second sub-100 score after which the dominant hosts, riding on an unbeaten 51-ball 44 from Lizelle Lee, cruised past the target of 72 in just 14.4 overs. The victory gave South Africa an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-ODI series.Barring Nigar Sultana, who occupied the crease for 122 minutes to make an unbeaten 97-ball 33, none of the other Bangladesh batsmen made much of an impression. Panna Ghosh’s 12 at No. 8 was the second-highest score of the innings that lasted 36.5 overs.The top four were blown away inside four overs by the new-ball pair of Ayabonga Khaka and Marizanne Kapp, who picked up two wickets apiece in their first spell. The 23-run stand that followed between Jannatul Ferdus and Sultana was the highest of the innings.Khaka, who was in line to record her ODI best, finished with her second successive three-for, while Kapp didn’t add to her first-spell tally. There was a wicket apiece for Masabata Klaas, Chloe Tryon, debutant Zintle Mali and Raisibe Ntozakhe.Bangladesh struck in the seventh over of the chase when left-arm spinner Nahida Akhter removed Andrie Steyn, but that would be their only consolation on the field. Trisha Chetty finished 15 not out to Lee’s 44, which contained five fours and a six.The fourth ODI will also be played in Kimberley on Saturday.

Australia counter strongly after Chandimal ton

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Dinesh Chandimal scored the seventh century of his Test career as Sri Lanka ground out the highest total of this series so far, posting 355 in the first innings in Colombo

The Report by Brydon Coverdale14-Aug-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details0:58

By The Numbers – Starc registers another five-for

As a sign of what was to come, the first hour of this Test was less accurate than a horoscope. When Sri Lanka collapsed to 26 for 5, nobody would have predicted they would go on to the highest total of the series. Nor, for that matter, that Australia would then bat as well as they have at any time on this tour. But that was the case, for after those first five wickets tumbled in roughly an hour, the next 11 hours of the Test have brought only five more.On the second day, Dinesh Chandimal scored the seventh century of his Test career, an innings of immense patience that pushed – sometimes at the pace of a boulder up a hill – Sri Lanka to 355. Australia, in reply, had moved to 141 for 1 at the close of play. Only once in this series had an Australian scored a fifty, but now two did so in a session. Steven Smith was on 61 and Shaun Marsh was on 64, and their unbroken 120-run stand was comfortably Australia’s best of the series.There still remained plenty of work for Australia’s batsmen, particularly considering their allrounders begin at No.5, but at least they had started impressively. Marsh, included for the first time in this series at the expense of opener Joe Burns, looked relatively comfortable against Sri Lanka’s spinners. He used his feet well, worked the ball through leg and punished through off when given width. And, importantly, he often picked the turn out of the hand.There were nervous moments for Marsh, balls that turned past the bat, a big lbw review late in the day that showed the ball pitching outside leg, an edge that flew just past Kaushal Silva at silly point. Smith had luck too, when he defended Rangana Herath, and Silva at silly point hurled himself onto the pitch to drop a hard chance. Smith was on 30, and went on to complete an 88-ball fifty, along the way becoming the youngest Australian to reach 4000 runs in Tests.Smith used his feet and was strong through cover, even lifting a six over extra cover off Herath. Sri Lanka relied heavily on their spinners, Suranga Lakmal coming on as third change for just four overs of pace. Dilruwan Perera had taken the new ball and lobbed up a full toss first delivery of the innings, which David Warner dispatched for six. But on 11, Warner danced down the pitch to Dhananjaya de Silva and under-edged a catch behind.Sri Lanka had started the day at 214 for 5 and added a further 141 runs for the loss of their final five wickets. Or, to be more accurate, four wickets, for Herath retired hurt on 33 when he was struck in the groin by Josh Hazlewood. Herath’s batting has frustrated the Australians throughout this campaign, and by the time he gingerly walked off, Herath had made more runs in the entire series than any Australian but Smith.On the subject of records embarrassing to Australia, Chandimal occupied the crease for 356 deliveries during his innings, nearly 100 balls more (at that stage) than any Australian had survived in the whole series. His century came up from 281 deliveries. Having walked to the crease on the first morning at 24 for 4, Chandimal had to show some fight. He did that, his patience an example to the Australians of what could be achieved on a dry pitch.Chandimal and de Silva had rescued Sri Lanka from their extremely precarious first-morning position with a 211-run partnership, the highest sixth-wicket partnership in Test history from a score of five down for fewer than 50. De Silva moved on to 129 before he was drawn forward by Lyon’s length, and, deceived by the dip, inside-edged a catch to bat-pad.After de Silva’s departure, Chandimal carried on in his patient method and eventually brought up his century with a single worked behind square leg off Lyon. It was a fitting way for Chandimal to register his milestone, for the nudged and nurdled ones and twos had been such a key feature of his innings. At times, though, he was more expansive, as when he reverse-swept Lyon for a six.When Chandimal did provide a chance to the Australians, on 100, they failed to take it, Smith grassing an edge at slip off Jon Holland. Smith took three catches for the innings, but spilled two: at slip, he also put down Herath. Chandimal continued to accumulate while the tail-enders kept him company. Dilruwan Perera made a quick 16 before he holed out to long-off from the bowling of Holland.Herath then joined Chandimal and frustrated the Australians with three boundaries during a 73-run partnership that ended only when Herath retired hurt. Chandimal eventually was caught behind for 132, Peter Nevill taking a sharp chance off Mitchell Starc, and the innings wrapped up with Lakmal caught at gully. That wicket also went to Starc, who finished with 5 for 63. Remarkably, it was his third five-for of the series. A little more help, and it could have been a contest.

Australia to trial day-night first-class cricket

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Cricket Australia plans to trial day-night first-class cricket with the longer-term aim of playing a Test in the country under lights

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Aug-2013Cricket Australia plans to trial day-night first-class cricket with the longer-term aim of playing a Test in the country under lights. The ninth round of the Sheffield Shield this season will be a day-night affair with pink balls in Queensland, South Australia and Victoria.If these attempts are successful, CA will look to schedule more day-night first-class matches in the 2014-15 season to further trial playing conditions and equipment. The matches are the first step towards a potential day-night Test being played in Australia in 2015-16, according to a CA release, and the board has been in talks with New Zealand Cricket about the possibility, with the neighbours slated to come visiting towards the end of 2015.”There is a lot of work to be done and nothing is guaranteed but this summer’s trials are our first serious effort to make day-night Test cricket a reality,” CA CEO James Sutherland said. “We’ve also had some discussions with New Zealand Cricket to gauge their interest in the concept over the past few weeks given they are due to tour Australia in late 2015.”This is all about the fans. Cricket can’t afford to sit on its hands and must keep working hard to ensure Tests remain the most popular form of the game. There isn’t a major team sport in the world that schedules the majority of its premium content during the working week. At least three days of a Test are played when adults are at work and kids are at school.”No doubt there will be some resistance along the way but for the sake of growing the game in the long term, cricket needs to address the hurdles standing in the way of day-night Test cricket in a rational, mature way.”Sutherland acknowledged the challenges in the way, specifically those relating to developing a ball that works under lights for the long format and about the peculiar problems night conditions would pose. “We acknowledge that one of the critical aspects is how the ball wears, behaves and is seen over the course of an innings. There are also some concerns about dew on the ground at night. There may need to be some flexibility and compromise to get to the outcome.”The ICC last year approved the idea of day-night Tests, a decision which was welcomed by Sutherland, but left it to member boards to decide on the hours of play and the colour of the ball. Pakistan’s offer to Sri Lanka to play a Test under lights in January 2014 on their tour to the United Arab Emirates was turned down by the latter, which cited its players’ lack of practice with the pink ball as the source of their reluctance. Day-night first-class matches have been trialled before in Pakistan, South Africa, England, West Indies, India and Bangladesh.”In encouraging teams to trial Test cricket as day-night matches, the ICC has said it will take a positive and flexible view of any proposed amendments to playing conditions that will allow such trials to proceed,” Sutherland said. “CA’s commitment to Test cricket does not just extend to our men’s team being the best in the world. We also have a responsibility to help grow interest in Test cricket around the world. To achieve this, we need to try and find a way to schedule our premium content at a time when the most number of fans are able to attend and watch.”The game needs to continue to evolve to meet the needs of its fans. We are not proposing all Tests should be played at night in the long-term, however, there are certain venues and times of the year where day-night Test cricket can potentially enhance and further promote and support the game.”

Faulkner, Watson swamp Sunrisers

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The match had almost all the ingredients of an absorbing Twenty20 match

The Report by Kanishkaa Balachandran27-Apr-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShane Watson gathered pace towards the end to finish unbeaten on 98•BCCI

The match had almost all the ingredients of an absorbing Twenty20 contest. Sunrisers Hyderabad lost their top order in a cycle-stand collapse, before Darren Sammy led a lower-order revival to push the score to 144. On a pitch assisting the seamers, Rajasthan Royals had to deal with a testing opening period of swing and seam, which the experienced duo of Rahul Dravid and Shane Watson negotiated. Watson, coming off a century in Chennai, paced his innings and powered Royals home with a blistering unbeaten 98.Watson wasn’t the only Australian making waves at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. James Faulkner demolished the Sunrisers’ top order during a five-wicket haul, the first of IPL 2013. Faulkner and the innocuous Ajit Chandila reduced Sunrisers to 29 for 6, raising expectations of early finish. The top six registered scores of 2,0,4,4,6,4 – leaving much responsibility on Sammy.Kumar Sangakkara had dropped himself for three games owing to his indifferent form, but his return made no difference as he joined the early procession of wickets. After Akshath Reddy fell off a leading edge against Chandila, Sangakkara chased a wide delivery from Faulkner and edged to second slip for 4.Though the pitch gave a lot of assistance to the seamers in terms of movement and bounce, the shot selection by the Sunrisers was poor. Shikhar Dhawan slashed straight to backward point and Karan Sharma, walking in unexpectedly at No.5 – just as Amit Mishra did in Chennai – succumbed to the pressure of needing quick runs by top edging Faulkner to fine leg. Thisara Perera perished to a one-handed slog down to long-on before Hanuma Vihari gloved Kevon Cooper down the leg side. It was the first time Royals had managed so many wickets in the Powerplay.Sammy and Amit Mishra scripted Sunrisers’ recovery with a stand of 58. Sammy made room against the seamers to clear cover and shoveled the ball over midwicket to give the innings some impetus. He hit the first six of the innings in the 13th, a pull off Siddharth Trivedi over deep midwicket. He celebrated his fifty – his first in T20s – in unique style, pulling out a baby pacifier tied around his neck sucking at it, for his baby daughter.The seventh, eighth and ninth wickets added 115, giving the Sunrisers bowlers a fighting total to try and defend.Watson and Dravid, however, used their experience to counter the swing and prevent the loss of early wickets. Several deliveries came back into the right-hander, but Watson ensured he played the ball late, dabbing it down to third man and behind point. He did offer some chances, though. On 16, an outside edge off Perera just beat a diving Sangakkara, and another just dropped short of Sammy at slip.Royals had progressed to 53 for 1 after ten overs, with the asking rate passing nine. The partnership gathered pace in the second half of the innings, Dravid launching Royals’ march with a six over long-on. A costly Ishant Sharma over, which leaked 20, included three fours and a six by Watson. The next, off Perera, went for 15 and hastened Royals’ march to the target. Three powerful blows to deep midwicket, by Watson off Karan Sharma, sealed a clinical win.

Chance for teams to iron out creases

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ESPNcricinfo previews the fifth ODI between Sri Lanka and India in Pallekele

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria03-Aug-2012

Match facts

Saturday, August 4
Start time 1430 (0900 GMT)Dinesh Chandimal has scored 47 runs in four matches•AFP

Big Picture

Sri Lanka handed over the series to India in Colombo with two failed attempts at defending the target but can end the series – this is also, surprisingly, their last ODI this year – on a positive note in Pallekele. They beat India in the second ODI in Hambantota and came close in the third ODI in Colombo, and if they get help from the cooler and cloudier climes of Pallekele, where India have never played, their medium pacers could be a handful.However, in conditions that haven’t favoured the bowlers, the difference between the two teams has been the batting. India have four batsmen among top five run-getters in the series to Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, who is already out of the tournament with a finger injury. With Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene not firing, Sri Lanka’s young batting – especially Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne – has lacked leadership to take full advantage of India’s weakness in bowling. In the fourth ODI, India’s part-time bowlers returned with the figures of 22-2-112-5 – a glaring example of where Sri Lanka lost their way.Although India have already won the series, the problems that have plagued them in the past have surfaced again – Virender Sehwag remains erratic, Rohit Sharma’s form has not yet returned and Manoj Tiwary is India’s second most successful bowler in the series despite playing just one game. With a tough season looming, MS Dhoni would hope for some signs of improvement- and some clues to his best XI – along with a win in Pallekele.

Form guide

Sri Lanka LLWLW (Completed games, most recent first)
India WWLWW

Watch out for…

Irfan Pathan came in as a replacement for Vinay Kumar in the series but has done well with both bat and ball. He scored a crucial 34 not out in a match-winning partnership in the third ODI, but more importantly, he has got the ball to swing. He has bowled with an economy of 5, which is the best among India’s seamers, and has picked up three wickets.Sri Lanka’s fielding has consistently been the best among the Asian teams, but in the current series the fielders have dropped a number of catches at critical moments and they have also given a lot of extra runs in overthrows. In the previous game itself, the team conceded two boundaries when the fielders failed to backup shies at stumps.

Team news

MS Dhoni had success with his seven batsmen formula in the previous match, and could continue with the same, which would mean another chance for Rohit. Ashok Dinda has played two games without creating much impact and could be replaced by Umesh Yadav.India: (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Manoj Tiwary, 7 Suresh Raina, 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashok Dinda/Umesh YadavAngelo Mathews indicated in a press conference that fringe players might get a chance. It could mean a game for Chamara Kapugedara and offspinner Sachithra Senanayake, both of whom haven’t played in the first four matches.Sri Lanka: (probable) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 5 Lahiru Thirimanne/Chamara Kapugedara, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Jeevan Mendis, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Pradeep, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Rangana Herath/Sachithra Senanayake

Stats and trivia

  • India’s bowlers have had only three five-wicket hauls in the last five years in ODIs, worst among all Test playing countries. Sri Lanka have most in this period – 19.
  • MS Dhoni is 17 runs away from becoming only the sixth batsman to score 2000 runs in India-Sri Lanka ODIs.

Quotes

“The numbers [Ashwin’s figures] have not been bad; the ball is coming out really well and whatever I’ve been working on has also come out very well.”
.”We’ve dropped quite a few catches in this series and I think that cost us the series. Especially, against the Indian batting line up, you can’t drop that many catches.”
.

England seek opportunity in odd series

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In barely a fortnight, the England team will be in India, preparing for their return series of five ODIs, but right at this moment, they are down at The Oval

Andrew Miller at The Oval21-Sep-2011The end of a long and successful season is drawing nigh for England, with India’s cricketers having finally made it home, hotly pursued by Leicestershire and Somerset, county cricket’s representatives at the Champions League. In barely a fortnight, the England team will also be in India, preparing for their return series of five ODIs, but right at this moment, they are down at The Oval, dodging autumnal showers and preparing for a pair of Twenty20 fixtures that serve only as a reminder of previous administrative folly.The Allen Stanford Memorial Series (as these matches are not officially known) has come about as a result of the collapse of the Stanford Super Series after a single ill-conceived incarnation in November 2008. The ECB had sold the rights to four years’ worth of such events, a quadrangular tournament at home and a “20/20 for 20″ cash bonanza in Antigua, and then promptly spent all the broadcasting cash they had received from Sky. The upshot has been this fudged bid to fulfil their contractual obligations, an unsatisfactory compromise involving two skeleton international teams, one of which will be led by England’s sixth captain of the calendar year, Graeme Swann.Nevertheless there is, from England’s point of view, an undoubted value to the exercise that is about to take place. In exactly 12 months’ time the squad will be in Sri Lanka launching the defence of their World Twenty20 crown, with India once again lined up as their principal opponent in the group stages. Given how infrequently the format is played at international level, any opportunity to practise competitively between now and then has to be welcomed by the reigning champions.England have a further fixture against India in Kolkata looming on October 29, and then probably no more than four bilateral matches scheduled home and away ahead of the squad selection for the 2012 tournament. Therefore, this double-header could make or break the claims of more than just a handful of contenders, both those playing and those missing out.Although the regular Twenty20 captain Stuart Broad is missing out through injury, the balance of England’s squad is still geared towards the not-so-distant future. The telling decision not to hand the captaincy to the one-day leader, Alastair Cook, confirms the impression that England intend to make the best of a bad situation, and use these fixtures to gauge their Twenty20 development.Alex Hales and Craig Kieswetter can be expected to open in both fixtures with a licence to clear the ropes, closely followed by a middle order that is likely to include three players – Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes – who have not yet celebrated their 22nd birthdays. Even in this new-look outfit, however, the decision to bring Surrey’s Stuart Meaker into the squad as a net bowler provides a reminder that pressure for places is paramount.”Any opportunity I can get to pull an England shirt on, I’m going to grab with both hands, regardless of what time of year it is,” said Jade Dernbach, one of the players who, at this stage, would appear certain of taking part in the title defence. “With the World Twenty20 coming up next year, any games we can get will be vitally important. There are only five or six games before then, so these two games form quite an integral part of the plans and processes for that tournament.”Dernbach’s maiden season of international cricket has been eventful, to say the least. He was called up to the World Cup squad in Sri Lanka back in March, having impressed the selectors on the England Lions tour of the Caribbean. Though he didn’t play in what turned out to be England’s final match of that competition, a ten-wicket elimination in the quarter-finals, he has since featured 10 of their 11 ODIs this summer, as well as two Twenty20s against Sri Lanka at Bristol and India at Old Trafford, where he was named Man of the Match following a matchwinning spell of 4 for 22.”I set myself some goals at the start of the year, but did I know all of this was going to happen? Probably not,” said Dernbach. “You take it as it comes and I’m overjoyed to have played so much cricket for England this summer.”A similar story applies for West Indies, although in their case, the new-look nature of their squad is more through necessity than choice. Many of their key players are absent either through contractual disputes, in the case of Chris Gayle, and or through the demands of the Champions League, in which Kieron Pollard is playing for Mumbai Indians, and in which Trinidad and Tobago have first dibs on several players who might otherwise be featuring here – including Darren Bravo, Ravi Rampaul and Adrian Barath.Either way, Ottis Gibson, West Indies’ coach, was seeking to put the matches in a positive light. “We don’t have a lot of games leading up to the World Cup, so these two come along at a very good time for us,” he said. “We’ve got a newish looking squad, but it gives our guys a good chance to see where they are in terms of international cricket. England are still the world champions don’t forget, so we are taking these games very seriously in our build-up.”England start the series as favourites, partly because of their familiarity with the conditions, but also because of the deep well of confidence that the chosen players have inherited in the course of the summer. As Dernbach explained, the knowledge of what the team has achieved in all formats this summer couldn’t help but rub off on newcomers to the squad – not least Bairstow, who produced a matchwinning 41 not out from 21 balls on debut in Cardiff last week.”I think in one-day cricket you want to be able to go and express yourself and what’s made you successful is what you want to continue to do,” said Dernbach. “People will back you 100% in the decisions you make, and that’s what happened for Jonny. For him to come in and look so at home was an outstanding achievement. That’s a testament to the feeling we have got in the dressing room. We made him feel very welcome, he felt at home, and he was able to produce his best cricket which is what we want.”

Rain forces washout in Mirpur

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The second one-day international between Bangladesh and New Zealand was washed out without a ball being bowled in Mirpur

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2010Match abandoned
ScorecardThe second one-day international between Bangladesh and New Zealand was washed out without a ball being bowled in Mirpur. Incessant rain on the two days leading into the game had made the prospect of any play extremely unlikely, and the decision to abandon the match was taken at 11.05 am.Bangladesh lead the five-ODI series 1-0 after Shakib Al Hasan’s match-winning performance on Tuesday. The two teams will face off in the third ODI on October 10, but the chances of that game being played depend on the weather improving in Mirpur. The Bangladesh Cricket Board said the spectators who had bought tickets for the second ODI will be allowed entry for the third ODI on the same ticket.

Tigers close in despite Kruger's resistance

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Nick Kruger’s 93 delayed Tasmania’s charge but Queensland will need a significant lower-order rally to save the game

Cricinfo staff10-Feb-2010Queensland 326 & 5 for 159 (Kruger 93) lead Tasmania 427 (Bailey 115, Lockyear 85, Doolan 66, Cutting 6-90) by 58 runs
ScorecardGeorge Bailey’s 115 ensured Tasmania took first-innings points•Getty Images

Nick Kruger’s 93 delayed Tasmania’s charge but Queensland will need a significant lower-order rally to save the game after holding a 58-run lead entering the final day. The hosts earned an advantage of 101 after George Bailey’s second century of the season came in the face of some painful fast bowling from Ben Cutting, who captured 6 for 90.Queensland, who finished the day at 5 for 159, were in big trouble at 3 for 29 after Adam Maher collected Wade Townsend, the first-innings century-maker, and Lee Carseldine in three deliveries. Ryan Broad had already departed for 2 in a poor start to Queensland’s attempt to set the hosts a testing target. The opener Kruger stepped up and moved close to a century before pulling Brendan Drew to deep midwicket late in the afternoon, leaving Chris Hartley (26) with a big assignment on the final day.Bailey picked up first-innings points as his side reached 427, with Drew (35) and Adam Griffith (40) helping out towards the end. The captain spent 167 balls at the crease, hitting 17 fours and a six, before becoming one of Cutting’s caught-behind victims.Cutting continued his excellent season and the wicketkeeper Hartley helped him, taking three of his six catches off the fast bowler. Cutting roughed up Tim Paine, John Rogers and Drew with blows on the body before removing them and added five victims on the third day to take his season-best tally to 31.