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Twenty minutes of play was lost in bright sunshine on the second morning of the Trinidad Test because officials wanted to make sure no commercial contracts would be breached

Daniel Brettig in Port-of-Spain17-Apr-2012Twenty minutes of play was lost in bright sunshine on the second morning of the Trinidad Test because officials wanted to make sure no commercial contracts would be breached if the match continued without television coverage due to a power failure.In a Test that had already lost two hours to rain and lost more time on the second afternoon, the sight of the West Indies and Australia players marching back off the ground after assembling for the scheduled 9.30am start drew groans from the Tuesday crowd in Port-of-Spain. Play did not get underway until 9.50.Observers at the ground, including local radio commentators, speculated that upon hearing in the middle that DRS referrals would not be available, Australia’s captain Michael Clarke took his men from the field. However ESPNcricinfo understands that none of the players, umpires Marais Erasmus and Ian Gould, or the match referee Jeff Crowe, knew of the power cut until informed by the television production crew moments before the scheduled start.Upon discovering it, the umpires took the players from the field and a meeting was convened between management on both sides, the match officials and the WICB. The meeting concluded that play should re-start at 9.50 irrespective of whether or not the power returned. Any further cuts to television’s power source at the Queen’s Park Oval will not stop play from continuing.The power outage on the second morning was not the first of the match, as one Michael Beer over on the second evening was played out without television working at the ground. In that over Beer appealed strongly for lbw against Adrian Barath, but Australia were unable to refer the decision due to the lack of television pictures.Matches have gone on in the past when DRS referrals are not available for environmental or technical reasons. Australia played on in the field against New Zealand at Wellington’s Basin Reserve in 2010 when strong winds shook television cameras and rendered ball-tracking technology inaccurate.There have also been past instances of matches being delayed by the loss of television pictures, including the India versus Sri Lanka ODI at Bellerive Oval in Hobart during this year’s triangular series in Australia.The relevant passage of the ICC’s Test match playing conditions state that the match referee has the final call on the use of DRS in a match. “Where practical usage or further testing indicates that any of the above forms of technology cannot reliably provide accurate and timely information, then it may be removed prior to or during a match,” the conditions state. “The final decision regarding the technology to be used in a given match will be taken by the ICC Match Referee in consultation with the ICC Technical Official, ICC Management and the competing teams’ governing bodies.”

India’s feted openers exited too early, and the inexperienced middle order succumbed to old failings, but their bowling allrounders Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin showed admirable poise to steer a wobbly chase home

The Report by Nitin Sundar08-Feb-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsVirat Kohli’s authoritative 77 set up India’s chase•Getty Images

India’s feted openers did not cause significant damage and the inexperienced middle order succumbed to old failings, but their bowling allrounders Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin showed admirable poise to steer a wobbly chase home. Virat Kohli’s authoritative 77 set the agenda, but India began to falter when he had cramps around the mid-point of the innings. His exit, run out while attempting a hopeless single, left India’s lower order 53 tricky runs to get. Ashwin and Jadeja did the rest, braving the Lasith Malinga threat and the epidemic of nerves that had blighted the middle order.For some reason Sri Lanka did not go hard enough at India after Kohli’s fall. Malinga, who yorked the stumps with a slingshot throw from mid-on to catch a diving Kohli short in the 36th over, had four overs left. Mahela Jayawardene brought his trump card on quickly, but didn’t provide him with the attacking fields the situation demanded. Malinga was off after two quick overs that were handled well, and by the time he returned for the 45th over, India needed only 17 more. It was too late – Ashwin and Jadeja had played themselves in, and ticked the runs away with composure.

Smart stats

• Sachin Tendulkar went past 3000 runs against Sri Lanka in ODIs. He is the only player to pass that mark against two teams (Australia and Sri Lanka). His century tally of nine and eight against these two teams is also the highest for a batsman against a particular opposition.

• Virat Kohli’s half-century is his 19th in ODIs to go with eight centuries. He now has 2968 runs in 76 matches at an average of 47.11. It is also his sixth half-century against Sri Lanka.

• Sri Lanka’s score of 233 equalled their highest total in Perth. The previous one was in a defeat against Australia in 2006. The target chased by India is the fifth highest they have achieved in ODIs in Australia.

• The 234-run target is also the joint fifth-highest chased by any team in Perth. Three of those have come against Australia.

• R Ashwin picked up three wickets in an innings for the seventh time, and for the first time against Sri Lanka. The 3 for 32 is also his third-best performance and second three-wicket haul outside India.

• The 53-run stand between Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja is the sixth fifty-plus stand for the seventh wicket for India against Sri Lanka. It is also the second half-century stand against Sri Lanka for the pair, after their 51-run partnership in Harare in 2010.

• Dinesh Chandimal’s half-century is his first against India and fourth overall in ODIs. He also has two centuries in 23 matches at an average of 37.63.

The only moment of indiscretion came when India needed one to win. Ashwin tried to loft Angelo Mathews down the ground and hit it straight up in the air. Three men converged, and mid-off, who should have taken it easily, backed off following some miscommunication, as India scrambled through for the win. The fielder at mid-off was Malinga.The batting effort capped Ashwin’s best day on tour, when he reduced his pace, tossed the ball up, and extracted a lot more spin than is the norm in Perth. He came into the attack at an ideal moment, soon after Zaheer Khan had dismissed Kumar Sangakkara in the 17th over with an away seamer. That was Zaheer’s second moment of excellence against a left-hand batsman, after he took just 10 balls in his opening spell to work over Upul Tharanga. Thereafter, Ashwin suffocated Sri Lanka’s momentum in partnership with Zaheer. Between them, they reaped combined returns of 20-2-76-5. That included 14 of the 20 Powerplay overs, which yielded 4 for 42.Tillakaratne Dilshan fought through Zaheer’s opening burst, and was primed to take off after beavering to 48, but gifted his wicket away. Dinesh Chandimal took charge, walking across his stumps to clip Praveen fine, steering with soft hands into the covers and setting himself up early for swings to the leg side. He had added 52 in 11.2 overs with Jayawardene, at which point Ashwin began to wield his influence.The carom ball was scarcely used, as Ashwin focused on loop, drift and traditional turn to good effect. He first induced Jayawardene to top-edge a sweep to fine leg in the batting Powerplay. He then dented hopes of a quick recovery by weaving a sharp offbreak past Thisara Perera, before dismissing Chandimal in the 44th over. That put paid to Sri Lanka’s prospects of a flying finish, though Mathews slogged hard and ran harder to provide some late succour.Sri Lanka’s all-seam attack, in contrast to their opponents earlier in the day, attempted to use pace and bounce to unsettle India. Virender Sehwag perished attempting his patent upper cut, which did not carry beyond third man. Sachin Tendulkar’s fans enjoyed 48 runs of sublime batting, before he once again succumbed without completing the most eagerly anticipated century in cricket history. Until he played on to Mathews, attempting a cheeky dab to third man, Tendulkar lined up a bunch of pleasing shots, with head stationary and feet moving well. A firm front-foot push off Malinga was as good as any stroke played through the day, until Kohli began to dazzle.Kohli imperiously flicked his second ball through square leg for four. The extra pace on the pitch seemed to play into Kohli’s hands, as he pranced into position early to play attacking shots on either side of the pitch. His control was epitomised by the ease with which he pulled a pacy Dhammika Prasad bumper through square leg. Rohit Sharma’s lethargic movements at the other end were only accentuated by Kohli’s quick feet and hands.India were coasting when Rohit played a loose cut to be caught at point. Suresh Raina kept the flag aflutter with a couple of pleasing cover drives, but the threat of the short ball was imminently around the corner. With Kohli cramping, Raina took it upon himself to go for the boundaries, and holed out while trying to pull Mathews. MS Dhoni too returned without making a dent, late on a pull that spiralled to mid-on. When Kohli ran himself out, India had lost three big wickets for 24 in 3.5 overs. Unfortunately for Sri Lanka, that was the last time Malinga hit the stumps.

“We knew even if the asking rate got up to 14-15, we could use that one short boundary with the right-left combination”

Hemant Brar10-Jun-20221:23

Rassie van der Dussen: ‘We knew if we take it to the end, we could win it’

“To be honest, I thought 150 would have been a very good total.”That was Ishan Kishan speaking to host broadcaster Star Sports after he helped India post 211 for 4 against South Africa in the first T20I in Delhi. The reason behind Kishan’s assessment was not only did the new ball move off the seam, but it also didn’t come onto the bat well. Even if Kishan was slightly off the mark, India’s should have been a winning total. And it looked so when South Africa were 86 for 3 after ten overs in their chase.At that stage, Rassie van der Dussen was batting on 15 off 16. David Miller had just joined him and was on 4 off five. South Africa needed another 126 runs – no team had scored that many in the last ten overs of a T20I to win the game. But van der Dussen and Miller didn’t panic.Related

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“When David came in,” van der Dussen revealed after the game, “I said to him, ‘You can play it as you see it but I’m pretty happy to take between 12 and 13 an over in the last ten.’ Because if you were in on this wicket, you could really capitalise. So we didn’t panic at all. We knew even if the asking rate got up to 14-15, we could use that one short boundary with the right-left combination. We knew we could target the bowlers.”That’s exactly what they did. Miller, arguably in the form of his life, hit Harshal Patel for a four and six off successive deliveries in the 12th over. In the next over, he did one better against Axar Patel with 4, 6 and 6.The Indian seamers had watched the first innings closely and hatched their plans accordingly, especially on how to use the slower ball. Bhuvneshwar Kumar had dismissed Temba Bavuma with one at the start of the innings, in a spell where he conceded only seven off two overs.He tried the same tactics again when he returned in the 15th over. But by now the pitch had eased out, and Miller dispatched his back-to-back slower balls for four and six. He raced away to his half-century off just 22 balls, which meant South Africa were still very much in the game despite van der Dussen crawling along with 29 off 30 balls.”I think I had put myself and the team under a bit of pressure by not being able to get boundaries early on in my innings,” van der Dussen said. “But it wasn’t through lack of intent, or lack of planning, or lack of clarity of mind. You know, sometimes it just doesn’t come off.”van der Dussen was finding it difficult to time the ball. When he got the timing right, he hit it straight to the fielders. Then came the slice of luck that enabled him to convert a potentially match-losing innings into a match-winning one. With 63 needed off 29 balls, he hit Avesh Khan towards deep midwicket where Shreyas Iyer put down a regulation catch.Rassie van der Dussen hit a 37-ball half-century in Delhi•Associated Press

“When Shreyas dropped it, I knew I had to make them pay because I took the balls to get myself in,” van der Dussen said.And he did make India pay, by smashing 45 off the next 15 balls.With 56 required off four overs, he targeted the shorter boundary on the leg side against Harshal, who has been the death-overs specialist for Royal Challengers Bangalore for the last two IPL seasons. But it just wasn’t Harshal’s day. Bowling around the wicket, he missed his mark twice and van der Dussen duly dispatched the two full tosses over long-on and deep-backward square leg.”I’ve been watching him a lot in the IPL, he has been brilliant,” van der Dussen said. “He has got such a good slower ball. So after getting those first two sixes away, I knew he has to go to his slower balls. But still you have to execute. It’s a very tough ball to hit as he gets a lot of dip on it. But again, he is only human and you know that at some stage, he is probably going to miss.”After the first two balls, Harshal switched to over the wicket and tried to hide the ball outside off. But van der Dussen shuffled across and found another four and a six to tilt the game in South Africa’s favour.”I suppose the other lesson [during the chase] was if you hit a six or two in an over, don’t let the guy get away. Keep him under pressure, keep looking for those options because an over of 20 – I think that Harshal over went for 22 – goes a long way in getting it right back under control.”The Harshal over brought the equation down to 34 needed off 18 balls. India’s last hope was Bhuvneshwar but now with both van der Dussen and Miller striking it well, he too could do little. Miller started the over with a six and van der Dussen ended it with 6, 4, 4. As a result, what seemed like an unsurmountable target at the end of the first innings was achieved with five balls to spare.

Evans will focus on T20 cricket after success on global franchise circuit

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Mar-2022Laurie Evans has quit red-ball cricket after signing a white-ball-only contract extension with Surrey.Evans re-joined Surrey on an all-formats contract in 2020 after three seasons with Sussex and has played five first-class matches in his second stint at The Oval, including two appearances in last summer’s County Championship.He had initially joined Sussex in a bid to play more first-class cricket after struggling for regular first-team opportunities at Warwickshire, but has become a sought-after T20 batter around the world since finishing the Blast as the competition’s leading run-scorer in 2018. Most recently, he was player-of-the-match in the Big Bash final to help Perth Scorchers beat Sydney Sixers to the trophy.Evans leaves the red-ball game at the age of 34 after 73 first-class appearances, in which he made six hundreds and 18 fifties to finish with an average of 29.36.Related

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“I have made the decision to focus the remainder of my career on white-ball cricket for a number of reasons,” Evans said in a statement. “Firstly, I still have a burning ambition to play at international level. The chances of me doing this in Test cricket are gone but I still believe that I could do a job for England in white-ball cricket and by focusing my efforts purely on this, I can best develop my skills further.”Secondly, I believe this is the best way for me to manage myself physically over the coming years. I am loving my time at The Kia Oval and also the experiences I am getting from playing in franchise competitions around the world.”Finally, I believe this is the best decision for Surrey County Cricket Club as it allows younger players to gain experience in red-ball cricket with me stepping aside fully. I would like to thank the club for their continued understanding and support.”Evans’ contract with Surrey was due to expire at the end of the 2022 season but has now been extended for at least one more year with the option of a further season.He will, in theory, be available for Surrey in all white-ball cricket but is almost certain to be signed in the Hundred draft at the end of March, which will mean he misses the Royal London Cup and is only available in the T20 Blast. He has previously played in the Caribbean Premier League and his retirement from red-ball cricket could open up further CPL opportunities.Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket, said: “This is not a choice I would advise any younger player to make while there is still plenty of time for them to achieve so much in the game.”However, at this stage of Laurie’s career and after discussing it at length with him, I fully understand and respect the decision he has made. I look forward to seeing him perform in T20 cricket for Surrey over the coming seasons.”Surrey failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the T20 Blast last season but are expected to compete this season. They have re-signed Chris Jordan from Sussex as captain, while Dan Worrall, who has regularly taken the new ball for Adelaide Strikers in the BBL, has signed as a local player and several England players – including Tom Curran, Sam Curran and Jason Roy – are expected to be available for most of the group stages.

The West Indies allrounder’s 20-ball 46 forces game into a Super Over, but a costly mistake under pressure costs Vancouver Knights the title

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Aug-2019

Super Over Here’s how it panned out: 54 needed off 19 balls in the Knights chase. Shoaib Malik has been dismissed for a fine 64. It is the final, no second chances. In walks Russell at No. 7, the Knights’ last hope. Earlier in the evening, he had taken 4 for 29 to restrict Winnipeg to 192. He has been held back, even below Canada’s Saad Bin Zafar, in the batting order. Now, it’s all or nothing. So what does he do? Smash the ball like only he can – three fours, five sixes, all in 19 balls, to bring it down to three runs off the final ball.Russell is on strike and but this time, he can only mistime an attempted slog towards long-on. The bowler can’t collect the throw as they scramble for a second. They now try to sneak in a third, but the cover fielder backing up quickly hurls the ball to the wicketkeeper. Zafar is run out, Russell’s heroics aren’t enough, and the game is forced into a Super Over. The Hawks are still in it. Shaiman Anwar, whose 90 allowed them to make 192 and keep them alive in the first place, can still be a winner.Now for the one-over shootout.Vancouver, predictably, send in Russell and South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen. Kaleem Sana, an unheralded 25-year-old left-arm medium pacer from Rawalpindi, with an experience of five List-A games and four first-class fixtures, has the unenviable task of bowling.He’s been clubbed for 50 off four wicketless overs earlier in the evening. Now, the pressure is on him and he sees the first ball of the shootout vanish for six. Russell is in his zone again, or he had never left it. Sana follows it up with two length balls to cramp the batsmen, before getting Russell caught at long-on. He’s redeemed himself and Winnipeg need just 10 to win.Shaiman Anwar goes over the infield•Getty Images

You’d think Russell wouldn’t feature anymore in the game – creaking knees, managing his injury and all that. But no! He’s bowling the Super Over. Having got the side to the doorstep of victory, only to see them fluff it, he’s now got the chance to deliver the knockout blow.He starts well, restricting the first two balls to singles, before he slips in a full toss which the batsman misses. All good for now, except, wicketkeeper Tobias Visee misses too. Four byes, game on. Chris Lynn is on strike. Four to get, three balls left, and he swings, gets a thick outside edge over short third man, and it races away for four and Winnipeg win. The Global T20 Canada couldn’t have asked for a more fitting finale.Earlier, after being asked to bat, the Hawks rode on UAE batsman Anwar’s 45-ball 90, with eight fours and seven sixes, to get to a strong total at CAA Centre in Brampton. Anwar started with a 73-run stand with Lynn in the Powerplay before Russell got rid of the Australian for a 21-ball 37. But Anwar batted on, putting up another good stand of 81 with JP Duminy (33 in 27 balls) for the third wicket before falling ten short of his boundary when he miscued an attempted biggie in the 16th over. Russell’s four wickets were complemented by USA pacer Ali Khan’s 2 for 30 and local boy Rayyan Pathan’s 2 for 24.The Knights’ reply started poorly, with Rayad Emrit reducing them to 2 for 2 by the second over, but van der Dussen (23 in 22) and Australian Daniel Sams (21 in 9) gave them stability before Malik, Zafar (27 in 26) and Russell took them to the doorstep of victory. The fell just short in the end, but only just.

England Lions drove home their advantage on the third day against India A in Worcester, taking three late wickets after setting a target of 421 to win

ECB Reporters Network18-Jul-2018India A 197 (Shaw 62, Pant 58, Curran 5-43) and 11 for 3 need a further 410 to beat England Lions 423 and 194 for 5 (Malan 56, Pope 50*)

ScorecardSurrey team-mates Sam Curran and Ollie Pope shared the individual honours with Dawid Malan and Chris Woakes as England Lions drove home their advantage on the third day against India A in Worcester.Curran earned figures of 5 for 43 as the Indians slumped from 189 for 4 to 197 all out in their first innings, with Woakes collecting two wickets to confirm his comeback after knee and quad injuries is on track. Then Malan and Pope made half-centuries – a second of the match for Malan, and Pope on his Lions debut – as the Lions made 194 for 5 in their second innings before declaring late in the day.That decision paid off as Jamie Porter took two wickets and Curran his sixth of the match to leave the tourists tottering on 11 for 3 – although the Lions still have work to do to complete victory on the last day, with three of the four members of this team who have been included in India’s Test squad still to be dismissed.It was Woakes who made the first breakthrough of the day after a deceptively quiet start, bowling Rishabh Pant for 58 after a fifth-wicket stand of 96 with Ajinkya Rahane when the wicketkeeper erred in judgement by playing no shot. That triggered a collapse as the Indians lost their last six wickets for eight runs inside five overs – four of them falling to Curran, who exploited cloudy conditions in a superb spell from the New Road end.The Surrey allrounder, who made his Test debut against Pakistan last month, had Rahane caught behind down the leg side with his first ball of the day, then pinned Shahbaz Nadeem lbw with his second.Mohammed Siraj left Curran’s hat-trick ball but Woakes struck again three overs later, bowling Jayant Yadav – the offspinner who scored a Test century against England in India two winters ago. Then Curran wrapped up the innings by winning two more lbw shouts in the space of three balls, to complete the sixth five-wicket haul of his first-class career.India hit back when the Lions began their second innings, with Alastair Cook falling cheaply after his first-innings century, and Nick Gubbins also dismissed in a lively new-ball spell by Siraj.Malan joined captain Rory Burns at 25 for 2 and the left-handers calmed things down in adding 57 until Burns edged Siraj to Pant in the last over before tea. Malan, who had made 74 in the first innings, completed another half century before he was stumped off Nadeem’s left-arm spin, and Woakes then joined Pope to add a quick 52 for the fifth wicket.Woakes drove a catch to deep cover in the over after Pope had reached a 71-ball half century, and Burns declared to set the Indians a tricky mini-session in the fading light – during which Porter bowled M Vijay in the first over, then Curran had Prithvi Shaw edging to Malan at second slip in the second, before Porter won an lbw decision against Mayank Agarwal in the last over of the day.

Faf du Plessis has said that transformation targets do not stop South Africa from fielding their best teams

Firdose Moonda27-Jul-2017Faf du Plessis is comfortable with the selection process in South African cricket and believes transformation targets are not stopping them from fielding their best teams. The South Africa Test captain was responding to fresh criticism by Graeme Pollock of a system that requires the national side to field a minimum average of six players of colour (including two black Africans) over the course of a season.Speaking at an event in London earlier this month, Pollock said South Africa would become a “middle of the road” Test team in future if the transformation policy remained in place. Du Plessis said he had not heard “the context in which Pollock was speaking” so it would be “unfair” to respond to Pollock personally but said that the team understood the policy.”We as a team understand what we need to do and how we need to take the country forward,” he said. “We get on with our business as usual. We play the best team and we try and win every game we play.”In 2016 the South African government banned four major sports – cricket, rugby, athletics and netball – from bidding for or hosting international events for not having done enough in terms of transformation. Each sport signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the sports ministry, the terms of which remain private. CSA has, however, made public the targets they decided to implement at national level and after exceeding them in the 2016-17 summer the ban was lifted.”The major thing is the problem with the politics and interference with the selection of players,” Pollock had originally said. “It’s affecting the performance of the side – they don’t put the 11 best players on the field. It’s never going to change. As South Africans, we’ve got to accept that South Africa are going to be middle of the road in their future Test cricket.”He took issue with the domestic set-up, where targets are applicable per match and require each franchise and provincial team to field six players of colour including three black Africans. Pollock said this created an inherently weak structure which produced below-par cricketers of all races.”You are going to pick a guy like Heino Kuhn, the opening batsman, who got a couple of hundreds in first-class cricket. He’s not good enough to play Test cricket. The guys are playing in a bad standard of first-class cricket in South Africa because of the politics and interference in selection.”A week after Pollock’s comments were first published, however, his spokesperson Basil O’Hagan issued a statement which claimed the quotes were “totally misconstrued”, issued an apology and said Pollock is in favour of transformation.”Graeme extends his sincerest apologies to CSA Board and the South African cricketing public for the manner in which his comments at recent function in London were totally misconstrued. Graeme fully supports the endeavours of the transformation process,” O’Hagan said.When asked by ESPNcricinfo which part of Pollock’s original statement was misconstrued, O’Hagan said he would not respond to every paragraph of the original article but called it “incorrect” as a whole. O’Hagan also said Pollock “maintains transformation is the way to correct decades of oppression of black South Africans and marginalisation of black cricketers.”The clarification did not prevent strong criticism from former Test player and current Cobras coach Ashwell Prince in the where Prince detailed his own struggles across a two-decade long career.”Pollock’s comments most definitely struck a nerve. Not just with myself, but it seems the overwhelming majority of South Africans. Quite frankly, as a former Protea, one has reached the point where you simply just cannot sit back and allow people with these kind of mindsets to keep feeding the world this kind of rubbish and just let it be,” Prince said.”People who were disadvantaged under the previous political regime simply have to be given opportunities which in the past were reserved for a privileged minority.”South Africa will have five players of colour in their side for the third Test against England at The Oval with Kagiso Rabada’s return following his suspension. They fielded four at Trent Bridge with JP Duminy dropped, but with the targets being assessed over a whole season whether they have been met or not for 2017-18 will not be known until after the home summer against Bangladesh, India and Australia.

Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad has been charged by the ICC for violating the anti-doping code

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Apr-2017Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad has been charged by the ICC for violating the anti-doping code. Shahzad was tested on January 17 at the ICC Academy in Dubai, in an out-of-competition test, and the sample was analysed at a WADA-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City. It was found to contain a prohibited substance, Clenbuterol, according to the ICC.As per the ICC’s anti-doping regulations, Shahzad will be provisionally suspended 12 days after issuing the notice of charges being laid – that is, from April 26. He has the right to request that his B sample be tested within five days from the notice, and to challenge the suspension within 12 days. If he challenges the suspension, a hearing will take place and the suspension will not be imposed till the outcome of the hearing is known.Shahzad also has to respond to the charge withing 14 days. If he does not respond, it will be considered to be an admission of guilt.The big-hitting Shahzad, who has played 58 ODIs and 58 T20Is, was last seen in action during Afghanistan’s series against Ireland in Greater Noida, India. In December 2016, he was named the Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year by the ICC, for the period running September 2015 to 2016.

USA coach Pubudu Dassanayake says a poor bowling performance was the main reason his side fell to Denmark by four wickets on Wednesday at WCL Division Four in Los Angeles

Peter Della Penna in Los Angeles 04-Nov-20162:06

‘It’s all about how we come back’ – Dassanayake

USA coach Pubudu Dassanayake gave credit to Denmark’s death bowling unit, saying their ability to bowl yorkers at the death saved them 30 runs in the final four overs that was a turning point in USA’s four-wicket loss on Wednesday at WCL Division Four. Dassanayake believes it is something USA must learn from when preparing to take on good teams in tournament play.”The major difference is that our bowlers didn’t bowl well and especially the main bowlers, our spinners,” Dassanayake said. “It was a decent batting track but defending 260 I would never doubt it but we bowled pretty badly. Having said that, Denmark bowled really well at the end. Almost every ball was a yorker and they defended about 30 runs in that period because of the way that they bowled. A lot of credit to them but it’s and eye-opener for our bowling department and at the death overs how we’re going to handle it if that situation comes again.”One area to come under scrutiny is not just USA’s poor bowling performance but the bowling strategy itself. USA captain Steven Taylor pulled specialist left-arm spinner Danial Ahmed from the attack after just one over for nine runs and didn’t use him for the rest of the game, the second time Taylor has done so in the tournament and instead opted to use himself and Alex Amsterdam to fill out those overs with part-time offspin. Taylor finished with 3 for 46 in ten overs while Amsterdam took 0 for 32 in seven.Ahmed bowled a superb spell of 0 for 29 in ten overs a day earlier against Oman and though he is wicketless so far in the tournament, he has had numerous chances put down off his bowling. Ahmed’s overall economy rate for the tournament is 4.27 and Dassayanake says he has confidence in Ahmed heading into the Jersey match.”I haven’t thought about any changes yet for Friday,” Dassanayake said. “We know Danial’s capability. Against Oman the way he bowled ten overs really contributed a lot to win that game. We have to keep building confidence in him. We’ll meet and see our best combination for Friday and come back with it. The things I have with the reserves, Jessy and Prashanth as bowlers, there are lots of options for me to select. I’m not blaming Danial, especially I don’t think anyone can blame him today because he only bowled one over. It’s just about giving that confidence to him and come back hard on Friday.”However, Dassanayake didn’t rule out other potential changes. Ali Khan has been bowling the last two games with a hamstring strain while Ravi Timbawala has been troubled since the first match of the tournament with a right thumb injury. Jessy Singh bowled well in the first two games of the tournament for USA before making way for Khan while hard-hitting Abdullah Syed is waiting to make his debut as a batting reserve.”We have to look into our injuries,” Dassanayake said. “Ravi is struggling with his thumb. Ali from the beginning had the hamstring injury but slowly he is getting better. There are a few other niggles. Still again we will assess all the injuries and see who is the best XI available for Friday.”Dassanayake remains bullish on USA’s chances of promotion despite the loss to Denmark. USA sits at 3-1 in a three-way tie for first place with Oman and Denmark, though USA has by far the best net run rate, which is the tournament tiebreaker. USA comes up against Jersey on Friday at Wong Cricket Field, a team currently 1-3 in the tournament whose only victory so far has come against winless Italy. A win for USA will clinch promotion to Division Three and set up a potential rematch in the final against Denmark, who take on Oman in a virtual semi-final at Severn Cricket Field.”When you lose it’s tough to take but still I am comfortable to say that USA is the best team in this league,” Dassanayake said. “It’s just one bad session we had in the evening. With my experience in World Cricket League, it always happens in these tournaments at this level. It’s all about how we come back hard on the next day. Everybody has to stay cool and come back and do their best on Friday and I’m pretty confident what we’re going to do. No one is panicking in our group. We have lots of confidence to get through this tournament. It was just a bad half day.”

Stuart Broad will not join up with the England ODI squad in India after poor weather prevented him leaving London

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2013Stuart Broad will not join up with the England ODI squad in India after poor weather prevented him from leaving London.Broad had been rested for the first three ODIs and was scheduled to return for the final two matches but his departure was delayed by snow and freezing conditions at London Heathrow airport. With the forecast not set to improve quickly, Broad would have struggled to arrive in sufficient time for the fourth ODI on Wednesday.Broad tweeted: “Gutted I can’t get to India. I’m off home with all my luggage at Heathrow. I’ll be waiting for the lads in New Zealand!!”He will now remain in Britain and fly to New Zealand for the first warm-up match on February 4, ahead of the Twenty20 series for which Broad will resume the captaincy having been injured for England’s two T20s against India before Christmas.”It’s not ideal because we were hoping for him to come out here and, whether or not he played in one of the last two games, just do some prep for New Zealand,” England one-day coach Ashley Giles said. “But we have a bit of time in New Zealand and he’ll meet us there.”It could be questioned how useful a week in India would be ahead of a tour to New Zealand where conditions will be a complete contrast. Broad will now return to Loughborough to continue his preparation.And although there were doubts about Broad’s fitness to play in India, his absence reduces England’s options if they choose to make a change to their bowling attack. Jade Dernbach is the main candidate to be replaced after taking only four wickets in the series. The cost of his wickets – 46.75 – compares favourably to the other England seamers but his economy rate of 7.79 is by far the most expensive of the frontline bowlers on either side.Giles said that part of the trip “was always about having a look at different options” and England could recall Chris Woakes, who took 1 for 60 in the second ODI, or pick Stuart Meaker, whose pace caused India problems in the T20 series. They also have left-arm spinner Danny Briggs in the squad if they need a second specialist slow bowler but conditions in Mohali for the fourth ODI are likely to provide more help to the quick bowlers.