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Ashes cricket will be shown free-to-air in England after digital channel ITV4 secured rights to broadcast one-hour evening highlights

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-2010Ashes cricket will be shown free-to-air in England after digital channel ITV4 secured rights to broadcast one-hour evening highlights.ITV had success with its exclusive UK coverage of this year’s Indian Premier League and now gets a first chance of showcasing Test cricket as well as the seven one-day and two Twenty20 internationals against Australia in January and February.The highlights will be broadcast at 10pm, shortly before the following day’s live action will be about to get underway. Nevertheless ITV say the channel is available to 93% of UK homes and its coverage is welcome news to those who feared no terrestrial coverage of the Ashes would be available.ITV controller of sport, Niall Sloane said: “There is huge demand to see England defend the Ashes and I’m delighted that we have secured highlights, free-to-air for UK viewers.”

Chris Gayle may not have been preparing to dance on the grave of Test cricket, as was the case in England earlier this year, but neither was he moved to defend it

Alex Brown25-Nov-2009Chris Gayle may not have been preparing to dance on the grave of Test cricket, as was the case in England earlier this year, but neither was he moved to defend it. Speaking on the eve of the first Test against Australia – a match that is expected to draw a relatively meagre 40,000 spectators over the five days – Gayle said the recent decline in attendance figures showed many supporters concurred with his infamous assertion that he “wouldn’t be so sad” if Test cricket were to perish.”If you look at what’s happening now, it’s no secret,” Gayle said. “At the same time we’re always going to be committed to whatever cricket we play. I can’t say ‘Test cricket is going to die’ and it just happens like that. It’s just how things have been progressing the last couple of months. Spectators haven’t turned out. They’re more drawn to the coloured clothing at this point in time.”Concern for cricket’s traditional format is widespread, with dead pitches, an uneven distribution of playing talent and an increasingly time-poor society eroding the five-day game’s supporter base. At present, India and Sri Lanka are contesting another batsman-dominated match in Kanpur (an alarming 2,306 runs have been scored over the first seven days of the series at a cost of 72.06 per wicket), Pakistan are conducting a “home” series to low turn-outs in New Zealand and Australia are preparing to play a West Indian side ranked 17-1 outsiders by local bookmakers.Administrators hope a Test championship model from 2012 will help affix more context and meaning to the game, but with just 7% of recently surveyed Indian supporters counting the five-day game as their favourite format, Gayle is looking more prophet than profit-driven by the day.His Australian counterpart, Ricky Ponting, spoke more sentimentally about the issues confronting Test cricket this week, and repeated his call for the world’s groundsmen to prepare more sporting wickets to rekindle interest in the game. “Test cricket, when it was at its most exciting, was all about three or four fast bowlers and lots of bouncers being bowled and lots of hook shots being played,” Ponting said.”The hostility between bat and ball, I think, was the most attractive thing. Now a lot of wickets around the world are very, very similar. Scoring rates are very high, probably too high, and there’s not that real tough contest between fast bowler and batsman.”Ineffective regional governance, and a general failure to adapt to the challenges posed by lucrative domestic Twenty20 leagues, are among the many issues facing Test teams at present, not least the West Indians. A damaging and protracted industrial dispute resulted in a third-string XI turning out for a home Test series against Bangladesh in July, while Fidel Edwards, the Caribbean’s most feared fast bowler, was ruled out of the tour of Australia after ignoring his board’s medical advice and re-injuring himself at the Champions League Twenty20 tournament. His contract has been withheld by the WICB.The Gabba Test will mark the first time Gayle has represented West Indies since the home limited-overs series against India in July, having missed the disastrous Bangladesh campaign and the ensuing Champions Trophy due to strike action. He will lead the Windies onto the Gabba on Thursday barely 24 hours after stepping off a flight from Jamaica – the second time this year he has arrived for a series on Test eve – but holds out hope that the tour of Australia will go some way towards mending relations within West Indies cricket.”This is a situation that we look at as a rebuild,” he said. “We’re trying to get back together. A lot has happned the last couple of months. We’re trying to put our best foot forward, go out as one unit and try to put the past behind us. We’ll give Australia a good fight.”

Galle plays host to the first Test of the series which brings spin bowling to the fore again

Andrew Fidel Fernando28-Jan-20251:34

Smith on captaincy: I understand what’s needed at certain times in subcontinent

Big Picture: The Warne-Muralidaran trophy is back

Australia’s Test series in Sri Lanka often seem to have a touch of the dramatic about them. Last time Australia were in Galle, Sri Lanka saw the greatest mass protests in the country’s history, while the teams battled out a 1-1 series. In 2016, Australia had nosedived spectacularly against spin, Rangana Herath gobbling up their top order en masse.Over the years there have been series-ending fielding collisions, such as in 1999 in Kandy when Jason Gillespie broke a leg and Steve Waugh broke a nose, Shane Warne triggering one of Sri Lanka’s most painful 90s collapses to clinch victory in a game Australia were losing, and Sri Lanka producing one of their most infamously dry surfaces in Galle in 2011. Where Sri Lanka have never won a Test in Australia, these teams tend to be more evenly matched in Sri Lanka.Related

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• Head to replace Konstas as opener against Sri Lanka

And so it shapes up again. Australia are coming off their big Border-Gavaskar Trophy win, of course. Through their 3-1 win in that series, they also booked their World Test Championship final spot. They are missing regular captain Pat Cummins, who is on paternity leave, but have a seasoned leader in Steven Smith.Sri Lanka had had a decent Test year in 2024, until the disappointing series in South Africa to finish it off. But they will feel as if their Test team is building to something – maybe mounting a more serious campaign in the next WTC cycle, in which they appear to have a relatively easy schedule.It will likely come down to spin in Galle. This surface doesn’t appear to be the dryest one the ground has turned out, and may stay together a little longer than usual, owing to January’s cooler weather. But it is likely to take substantial turn from day three onwards. Expect plenty of sweeping and reverse-sweeping, and catchers around the bat as the match wears on.

Form guide

Sri Lanka: LLWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia: WWWDLCaptain Steven Smith, senior spinner Nathan Lyon and selector Tony Dodemaide take a look at the pitch•Getty Images

In the spotlight: Nathan Lyon and Prabath Jayasuriya

A track that tends to start off dry, a sea breeze that helps sap what little moisture there is in the pitch, footmarks to bowl into from as early as day two sometimes – Galle is basically spin-bowling paradise. As such, how well your lead spinner goes in a Galle Test goes a long way to deciding the outcome.It is a track Nathan Lyon will know well. Not only did he get a five-wicket haul on debut here in 2011, he also took a match-winning 9 for 121 from the first game in 2022, when Australia last visited. He has 21 wickets from seven innings at this venue, with an average of 27.61. Expect this group of Sri Lanka’s batters to attempt to attack Lyon, particularly in the first innings. Sri Lanka’s easiest path to upsetting Australia’s bowling plan is to unsettle Lyon.Prabath Jayasuriya had also made his debut in Galle, and he has dominated as few spinners ever have at this venue. He’s got 71 wickets at an average of 21.78 at this venue, and the key to much of that success has been his devastating straight ball, as well as his control. With Sri Lanka’s remaining frontline spin options lacking in experience, the hosts will look to Jayasuriya to define the back half of these Tests.

Pitch and conditions: Some rain around

There’s a little unseasonal rain around in Galle, but rare is the Galle Test that even goes into the last couple of sessions, even if there are interruptions along the way. Dhananjaya de Silva said he expected the surface to be decent for batting to begin with. Temperatures are forecast to hover around 30 degrees celsius.Prabath Jayasuriya has an incredible record at Galle•AP

Team news: Who will be SL’s opener?

Australia have confirmed that Travis Head will open the innings, displacing Sam Konstas from that position. They are pondering their attack though, and could go in with as many as three spinners – Todd Murphy potentially joining Lyon and Matthew Kuhnemann. They will likely have Josh Inglis and Beau Webster – who bowls spin as well as seam – in the lower middle order.Australia (possible): 1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Travis Head, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith (capt.), 5 Josh Inglis, 6 Beau Webster, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Mathew Kuhnemann, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Scott Boland/ Todd MurphySri Lanka have a decision to make around their attack as well – whether their second seamer will be Vishwa Fernando or Lahiru Kumara. They also have to replace the injured Pathum Nissanka at the top of the order. Oshada Fernando is his likeliest replacement.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Oshada Fernando, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Kamindu Mendis, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva (capt.), 7 Kusal Mendis (wk), 8 Prabath Jayasuriya, 9 Nishan Peiris, 10 Asitha Fernando, 11 Lahiru Kumara/Vishwa Fernando

Stats and trivia: Smith 10,000 watch

• Steve Smith is one run away from completing 10,000 in Test cricket. He’d be the fourth Australia batter to the milestone, after Alan Border, Steve Waugh, and Ricky Ponting.
• Prabath Jayasuriya took 12 wickets for 177 in the one Test he’d played against Australia – on debut in Galle.
• All up, Australia have won three of the six Tests they’ve played in Galle, losing two and drawing one.

Victoria are optimistic about his summer availability after an uninterrupted winter playing club cricket in England

Alex Malcolm22-Sep-2023Will Pucovski has not been named in Victoria’s squad for their opening Marsh Cup matches next week due a minor thumb fracture but there is cautious optimism that he could play a significant portion of the Sheffield Shield season, which begins on October 4, following a successful uninterrupted winter playing club cricket in England.Pucovski suffered his thumb injury a month ago at the back end of his stint in England but he is on track to play in Victoria’s Sheffield Shield opener against Western Australia in Perth.Pucovski, 25, has not played a senior match for Victoria since his last Sheffield Shield appearance in October 2022 against Western Australia. Shortly after that match he took an indefinite leave of absence from cricket, having previously taken a number of similar breaks in his seven-year professional career, on top of multiple layoffs due to concussions and the long-term shoulder injury he suffered in his debut Test match against India.Pucovski did return to play grade cricket in January 2023 and played six matches for his Victoria premier cricket club Melbourne. He also played one 2nd XI match for Victoria against Tasmania in March late last season.Related

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But there is cause for optimism within Victoria’s camp about his availability this summer after Pucovski spent the winter turning out for Weybridge Cricket Club in the Surrey Championship in England. He played 18 matches for Weybridge and scored 614 runs at 55.82, including a century and four half-centuries. More importantly, he managed to play 13 consecutive weekends of cricket without interruption, which is something he has scarcely managed to do in Australia for his club side Melbourne, let alone for Victoria.There is hope he can play close to a full summer for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield, and potentially some Marsh Cup cricket, but it is understood that Australia’s national selectors would like to see him play without interruption for at least one full domestic campaign, if not two, before he is considered to return to international cricket.Since making his debut for Victoria in February 2017, Pucovski has not managed to play a full domestic season. The closest he has come was the 2019-20 season where he played the first half of the summer for Victoria, four List A and six Shield matches, before taking an indefinite break in December of that summer and not returning until the 2020-21 season.A full domestic summer for Victoria includes ten Shield matches plus a final if they qualify, and eight Marsh Cup games plus a final. By way of comparison, Cameron Green, who is a year younger than Pucovski but debuted for WA in February 2017, has played 128 professional matches compared to Pucovski’s 43 over the same period, despite missing the entire 2017-18 season due to a serious back injury.Will Pucovski has suffered a number of serious concussions in his career•Getty Images

Pucovski first took a break from professional cricket, unrelated to injury, following his first Shield double-century in October 2018 and then took another break after being called up to the Australia Test squad in February later that summer for a two-Test series against Sri Lanka. In November 2019, he made himself unavailable for Test selection after playing for Australia A.Since playing his only Test match in January 2021, his breaks have been mainly down to physical issues. He dislocated his shoulder in the Sydney Test against India and had season-ending surgery.In October 2021, he was concussed while batting in the nets. In February 2022, on return from that concussion, he suffered concussion-like symptoms in the warm-up during a Shield game against South Australia and required a break from playing but was later cleared of formal concussion from that incident.After a relatively smooth pre-season last year, which included a trip to the MRF Academy in India for a training camp, he managed only two Marsh Cup games and two Shield games at the start of last summer before taking another break from the game.Victoria have named a strong squad including Test spinner Todd Murphy who has recovered from a minor shoulder problem that forced him out of the Australia A series against New Zealand A earlier this month. Marcus Harris and Scott Boland have also been named with Peter Handscomb to captain Victoria’s Marsh Cup team despite handing over the Shield captaincy reins to Will Sutherland. Nic Maddinson is unavailable as he continues to recover from the ACL injury he suffered last year.

Win not enough as Outlaws miss quarter-finals for first time in seven years despite unexpected lifeline

ECB Reporters Network03-Jul-2022Notts Outlaws missed out on a quarter-final spot in the Vitality Blast for the first time in seven years despite ending the North Group campaign with a five-wicket success over Worcestershire Rapids at New Road.The Outlaws had been an unexpected life-line in their hopes of reaching the last eight after Leicestershire had been deducted two points by the ECB Cricket Discipline Commission.But it would have needed an Outlaws win, dramatic turn-around in run-rate and for Yorkshire Vikings to lose heavily to Leicestershire for them to claim fourth spot. Instead they had to settle for completing 2022 with a fourth successive win with eight balls to spare.Jake Ball bowled superbly, during the powerplay and at the conclusion of the innings, on a slowish pitch to take his wicket tally in the tournament to 18.He was well supported by the spin trio of Sol Budinger, Samit Patel and Calvin Harrison who had combined figures of 3-57 from 10 overs.Nottinghamshire lost early wickets in the madcap chase to try and achieve their target and in the end needed a half-century from Ben Duckett to see them over the finishing lineWorcestershire were left to reflect on a disappointing campaign in which they won only two matches and finished bottom of the North Group.Matthew Wade’s decision to pull out of a contract for the entire summer was a major blow, particularly in T20 cricket, and the unavailability of captain Moeen Ali and Dwayne Bravo for the opening four games, all away from home, left them with a mountain to climb.The Rapids were put in to bat and former Nottinghamshire batter, Jake Libby, soon departed after nicking a delivery from Ball.Colin Munro, in the final innings of his third spell at New Road, looked in good touch and struck Lyndon James for 4-6-4 and also lofted Steven Mullaney over the long on boundary.But Ball returned to strike twice with club captain, Brett D’Oliveira, holing out to mid off and Munro, having made 27 off 14 balls, bowled behind his legs attempting a sweep.Ball had figures of 3 for 5 after his opening two overs as the Rapids reached 41 for 3 by the end of the powerplay.Ali, the subject of reports linking him with a move to Warwickshire, has struggled to produce his accustomed form during his current spell at New Road. He looked in decent touch in adding 49 in partnership with Kashif Ali but on 28 picked out long-on off Budinger to end the Rapids’ campaign with 107 runs from seven knocks.Kashif slapped the same bowler to cover and Gareth Roderick played back to Patel and was bowled.It was left to Ed Barnard to provide some late momentum with 38 off 28 balls. He hit James for two fours and a six in the penultimate over from James before finding Duckett at long on and then Dwayne Bravo became Ball’s fourth victim at deep midwicket.Nottinghamshire had to try and reach their target in the shortest time possible in a bid to improve their run rate but lost three early wickets.Joe Clarke sliced the first delivery from Mitchell Stanley straight into the hands of third man and Budinger, after making 24 off 12 balls, lofted the young pace bowler straight to deep midwicket.Alex Hales smashed successive sixes over the midwicket boundary off Dillon Pennington but then tried to steer him to third man and was caught behind.The Outlaws were 68 for 4 when Steven Mullaney was beaten in the flight and lbw to BravoDuckett and James added 52 before the latter tried to hit D’Oliveira over long on and had to depart thanks to the combined efforts of Libby and Barnard on the boundary.But Duckett played sensibly to complete a 39-ball fifty and ended unbeaten on 62 to finish as the Outlaws’ leading scorer with 396 runs.The Rapids players wore shirts in support of the Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust, the Club’s Official Charity Partner for 2022.

Director of cricket holds talks with player’s agent, two years after banishment from England set-up

Andrew Miller11-Mar-2021Ashley Giles has given the strongest hint yet that Alex Hales may be offered a route back into England’s white-ball set-up, almost two years after he was axed from the 2019 World Cup squad for failing two tests for recreational drugs.On Thursday Giles, England’s director of cricket, held what have been described as “positive” talks with James Cross, Hales’ agent, shortly after recording an interview for Sky Sports’ Cricket Show, in which he admitted that “the door can’t be closed forever” to a player who is regarded as one of the foremost batsmen on the T20 franchise circuit.”We all know what a good player Alex is,” Giles told Sky. “There has to be a way back in. In these times bringing someone back in – trying to reintegrate them – has been difficult to do because we’re living bubble life. But I certainly hope there are opportunities to do that this year.”Since his banishment from the England squad, Hales, 32, has carved himself a niche on the franchise circuit with a run of eye-catching performances – most recently at Australia’s Big Bash, where he finished as the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 543 runs for Sydney Thunder.And the longer his exile has gone on, the more the questions have begun to stack up for the England management – not least the captain Eoin Morgan, who accused Hales of a “complete disregard” for the team’s values in the wake of his sacking, and has repeatedly stated that that such a fundamental loss of trust can only be rebuilt over time.Last month, Hales pleaded to be given closure on the matter, one way or the other, describing himself as “desperate” to return to the England set-up after the “sickening” manner in which his career crumbled on the eve of the World Cup.He claimed to have made significant lifestyle changes since his fall from grace, including a move to a village outside Nottingham, and during the recent BBL, his coach at Sydney Thunder, Shane Bond, criticised the ECB for failing to enquire after a player who would walk into most T20I line-ups in the world.Related

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Though Morgan has not yet spoken to Hales in his attempts to rebuild bridges between the pair, it is understood that he could be involved in a further round of talks with Hales’ management next month.Certainly, his stance appeared to have softened a touch when he was asked about Hales’ status on the eve of the first T20I in Ahmedabad.”A lot of players who aren’t in the squads have had really good winters,” Morgan said. “Alex is one of those, as is James Vince. The truth is it’s a very difficult side to get into at the moment.”Given the challenges around Covid, what we would normally do, if it wasn’t around, is try and have players that we perceive may be a part of the future coming in and spending time around the side, maybe two days out before the game,” he added.”Given that the regulations are being eased throughout our summer, that could be an opportunity for players outside of the squads to come in and be around the team, and Alex is in that place.”Giles added: “He is a high-class player. We are lucky at the moment we are blessed with a lot of high-class players in our T20 line-up particularly, but the door can’t be closed for ever. We all know that trust is a really important thing and that has to be won back.”

Legspinner awaits further England chances in South Africa, after encouraging blooding in NZ

Paul Edwards10-Dec-2019To borrow a phrase from a vastly more dignified political era Matt Parkinson is a coming man. Where he is going, on the other hand, is anybody’s guess, including his own.In the short term Parkinson’s diary is settled. Having just returned from the tour of New Zealand, in which he made his T20 international debut, he will very shortly fly out to South Africa as a member of England’s Test party. Ideally, of course, the Lancashire legspinner would then like to be named in the squad for the white-ball games against the Proteas and for the two-Test tour to Sri Lanka.Thereafter, however, things get more complicated. Fearful he might not be selected in Lancashire’s team for any of the half-dozen County Championship matches they are due to play in April or May, Parkinson has made himself available to interested franchises at next week’s IPL auction. That tournament is due to begin four days before England’s second Test against Sri Lanka and it is reasonable to think the selectors will want as many of those players in contention for next winter’s T20 World Cup squad to take a part in the biggest short-form show on earth.Parkinson understands all this, of course, but his rationale is rather simpler: he would just like to be playing cricket for someone and he particularly wants to avoid the situation he faced last year when he didn’t play a championship match until July and only played four Division Two games in all.”I am keen on playing red-ball cricket, but it gets to the point where if you’re not getting picked, it’s easy to get pigeon-holed as a white-ball cricketer, even if you don’t want to be,” he said. “I’m 23 and I’ve still got time on my side, but people are getting pigeon-holed quite early now because there’s so much white-ball cricket out there.”It is surely unfair to blame the hierarchy at Emirates Old Trafford for the various dilemmas faced by one of England’s most talented young spinners. Picking a leggie who bats at No.11 for matches played on green pitches in April and early May would be a supreme indulgence, especially in a Lancashire team whose pace attack is of Test match quality. ECB officials, on the other hand, might come in for rather more criticism. What remains remarkable is that Parkinson was selected for the South Africa tour on the strength of his 20 first-class wickets. The England selectors clearly know a good thing when they see it, however brief their glimpse might be.”I wouldn’t say it’s embarrassing to have only played four games and got picked for England but it says a lot, really,” said Parkinson. “There’s a lot of talk about a lack of Test-quality spinners, but if we’re not playing matches, no one’s going to improve. It says a lot that I’ve been picked on the back of 20 first-class games. It shows I’ve done something they like but I’d like to play all 14 [championship] games and get picked off the back of 50 first-class wickets in the season, then there isn’t muttering that he’s only been picked because the cupboard’s bare. I do think something needs to be done.”Matt Parkinson was an unused member of the Test squad in New Zealand•Getty Images

Let there be no doubt that Parkinson wants to play Test cricket. He saw how talismanic England cricketers like Ben Stokes prepared for the New Zealand series and he was properly impressed. And he is greatly looking forward to working with Jeetan Patel in South Africa. But as the final stages of last summer’s World Cup were being played he was wondering whether his future lay in 50-over cricket and the various T20 circuses. And young cricketers remember such things.”If you aren’t picked for the first couple of games, it’s almost like your season is starting again,” he said. “I feel that every summer I’m starting again and having to prove myself in red-ball cricket. When it got to July and I hadn’t played a game, I was worried, but the way it went at the end of the season and my selection for England has moved things back a bit,” he said.”In twelve months it could be completely different but I am keen on playing red-ball cricket. The back-loading’s good. I’ve played most of my games in the last month of the season. But playing seven games in the first seven weeks of the summer isn’t ideal although if you can bowl spin on a greentop in April, you can perform on a dust-bowl in September.”Parkinson’s ability to adapt to different conditions ensured he ended the New Zealand leg of England’s winter tour with his reputation bolstered. His four wickets at Napier in the second T20 game was a lovely way to end a year which had been scarred far beyond cricket’s compass by the death of his mother, Maria. That tragedy was mentioned by Nasser Hussain when he presented Parkinson with his first England cap at Nelson.”The words he said will stay with me for a long time, said Parkinson. “You sometimes forget how lucky you are, being paid to play cricket in New Zealand in November when most lads are in the indoor school or working. You get lost in the here and now. It gets tough at times but something like that definitely gives you perspective.”I was pleased to make my debut and pleased it went so well. I was nervous and it’s one of those situations when if you get a wicket in your first over, you’re okay then. It was a challenge to bowl on the small grounds in New Zealand but fingers crossed I’ve learned some lessons I can use.”There are things I’ll try and stick to whether it’s with England or Lancashire. The nerves are still there when you make your England debut but it helped that it was in New Zealand. You weren’t at the SCG or MCG with nearly 100,000 people there. We knew before the series that we were going to get a go, so that helped as well.”Parkinson must now wait to find out when he will next get a go. His many supporters hope he might get the nod for a Test in South Africa or Sri Lanka. They also hope that the stress freshly placed on five-day cricket by England’s hierarchy might have an impact on the shape of the domestic season. Parkinson, meanwhile, will carry on working very hard in the hope that excellence will receive its proper reward. He knows there is more for him to do.”Every cricketer has their work-ons and if I could bat like my brother [Callum at Leicestershire], that would be happy days.” he said. “All three facets of my game need to improve for me to be an international cricketer who plays most of the time. I class myself as a luxury. I don’t want to be a luxury. I want to get picked regardless of the surface. Nathan Lyon plays all over the world and he’s a No.11.”

Another defeat for Sri Lanka was mitigated by the knowledge that the game had turned on a couple of key moments

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Pallekele20-Oct-2018Sure it’s another Sri Lanka loss, and sure they are ruing their mistakes yet again, but at least this time it is specific moments that lost Sri Lanka the game, rather than overs upon overs of incompetence. Dasun Shanaka, whose run-a-ball 66 did the most to propel Sri Lanka toward respectability, pinpointed two of the instances in which his team had let the match slip.The first of these was his own run-out, he said. Having just struck two towering sixes off Olly Stone in the 42nd over, Shanaka seemed as if he was just beginning a death-overs cannonade. But then, disaster. Thisara Perera mis-hit a ball into the leg-side, more or less directly to the fielder ranging close at midwicket. Shanaka took off from the non-strikers’ end, perhaps especially eager to regain the strike because by now he was seeing the ball so well. He had run about halfway down the pitch before he realised Thisara had correctly turned down the run, and was run out trying to regain his ground at the non-strikers’.”There was no run there,” Shanaka said. “I came out too far. Normally I have this habit of coming down the wicket about two feet whenever a shot is played. It’s a fault that I have that I need to rectify – it’s not Thisara’s fault.”When I went in we were 102 for 4, and I played my normal game without any pressure although we had lost wickets. If I had continued batting longer we could have got a result in our favour. If had stayed with Thisara for the 50 overs, we could have got around 290-300.”Sri Lanka ‘s other costly mistake came when they were bowling, in what would turn out to be the final few overs of the game. Joe Root mis-hit a sweep off the bowling of Dhananjaya de Silva, and although the resulting top-edge was caught at short fine leg, Sri Lanka had too many men outside the circle – Kasun Rajitha having failed to come in from the boundary to mid off.Umpire Lyndon Hannibal called a no-ball, denying the hosts the wicket. Had Sri Lanka reduced England to 112 for 3, the Duckworth-Lewis-Steyn par score would have reduced almost all the way to that total, meaning they could then have applied more pressure on Eoin Morgan and the new batsman as the rainclouds gathered.”If we had not made a mistake of having five fielders outside the circle and got Root’s wicket it would have been a close game,” Shanaka said. “We could have built on the pressure from there and forced another mistake.”For England, meanwhile, Morgan dwelt on the frustrations of a rain-hit series, and spoke about the many unquestionable positives for his side for what seems like the millionth time after arriving in the country. What choice does he have, really? England really have been that dominant.But there was an area in which he felt his side had let themselves down in this particular game. No fewer than three clear-cut wicket opportunities were spurned, with a tough catch being dropped, an easy stumping being missed, and a run-out chance going astray. Elsewhere, he felt, the ground fielding has also been sloppy.”The fielding wasn’t good,” Morgan said. “It was average. It’s definitely something we can improve on. We were better in the last game but today we weren’t anywhere near as good as we should be.”

Edgbaston is due to lose the 2019 T20 final to Trent Bridge but they are eager for horse trading to retain the competition for good

George Dobell at Edgbaston02-Sep-2017Warwickshire hope to persuade the ECB to let them become the permanent home of T20 Finals Day.While Edgbaston has become the regular home of the event – it has been the scene for the last six finals day – in 2019 Trent Bridge is scheduled to be host.Edgbaston is already scheduled to host an Ashes Test and several World Cup games (including a semi-final) in 2019. Trent Bridge missed out on an Ashes Test and is scheduled to host only group games in the World Cup. The loss of Finals Day would undoubtedly dent their financial
plans.But Warwickshire argue that, if Edgbaston is to remain the ‘home’ of T20 Finals Day when the allocation for major matches from 2020 to 2024 is announced in early 2018, it might be considered unhelpful to divert the event for one year. It might also be relevant that, while a record
crowd of 24,432 attended Finals Day at Edgbaston on Saturday, Trent Bridge’s capacity is around 17,500.”As things stand, Trent Bridge will be staging T20 Finals Day in 2019,” Neil Snowball, the Warwickshire CEO, told ESPNcricinfo. “And there’s no doubt at all they would make a fine job of it.”But we have opened discussions with the ECB and Nottinghamshire making our case for the day to be reallocated.”If we are going to remain the home of T20 Finals day after 2020 – and we very much hope that is the case – then it might make sense to keep it at the same ground. People are used to coming here and we have a really good record of selling the event out.”Clearly Nottinghamshire aren’t going to be giving up the games without getting something else in return. And we don’t see any appropriate games we could swap with them. But our understanding is
that it may be possible they could be allocated something else by the ECB instead. Clearly if that is not the case then Notts will retain the allocation but we felt it was worth making our case.”The move may well reflect an ever more competitive climate in the market for the allocation of major matches. It is anticipated that, from 2020, there will be fewer Tests – it is likely there will be six
Tests, six ODIs and six IT20s per season – meaning Lord’s is unlikely to retain two Tests a year and the others will face a fight for regular Tests. The allocation for the 2023 Ashes might prove
particularly intriguing.

The PCB has bought four bulletproof buses in a bid to improve the security of visiting teams

Umar Farooq14-Jul-2016The PCB has bought four bulletproof buses as part of its effort to provide the “best possible arrangements” in terms of security for players visiting the country. The board hopes the additional measure, first proposed during the chairmanship of Zaka Ashraf in 2012 and sanctioned last year, will help in convincing overseas players and teams to tour Pakistan.Barring Zimbabwe’s limited-overs tour in May 2015, Pakistan have not hosted an international game since the attacks on the touring Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March 2009. In that incident, gunmen shot at the team bus near Gaddafi Stadium, injuring five cricketers and killing six security personnel and two civilians.The PCB has since struggled to convince teams to tour the country and Pakistan have had to play their “home” matches at neutral venues, mostly in the UAE, which has been their base for the past several years.”We have bought these four Coaster buses as part of our efforts to revive international cricket in the country,” a PCB spokesman told ESPNcricinfo. “There will be high expectations from teams willing to visit Pakistan and we want to ensure that we provide them with the best possible arrangements. Having these bulletproof vehicles would play a major part in convincing teams [about security arrangements].”The PCB relies heavily on the government for security arrangements for visiting teams and the bulletproof buses will be an additional safety measure for teams travelling within the city. The buses were initially sanctioned at a PCB governing board meeting in 2012, but with the change of leadership the purchase was delayed. The matter was taken up again by PCB executive committee head Najam Sethi last year.”We are actually planning to host the PSL final in Lahore, but this requires us to convince overseas players to come,” the PCB spokesman said. “We have to have discussions with the players about their safety and security and I think this new addition in our security facilities will definitely give us an edge. Our ultimate goal is to revive international cricket, and we are doing our best to make sure we can.”The PCB has suffered financially from having to arrange matches in the UAE and from missing out on bilateral series against India. This prompted PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan to suggest that the Pakistan board should receive a “higher percentage of the income” from matches against India at ICC events.