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Tamim Iqbal creamed the Oman bowlers to score Bangladesh’s maiden T20 international century and secure his team’s berth in the main draw of the tournament

The Report by Mohammad Isam13-Mar-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTamim Iqbal made history and took Bangladesh into the next round of the World T20 with his hundred•ICC/Getty Images

Tamim Iqbal creamed the Oman bowlers to score Bangladesh’s maiden T20 international century and secure his team’s berth in the main draw of the tournament. His hundred set up a total of 180 for 2, which Shakib Al Hasan defended by razing the middle order on a rainy night in Dharamsala. Oman, who were flying high after a victory against Ireland, were shackled to 65 for 9 in 12 overs.The match was interrupted twice by rain and Oman’s target was revised to 120 in 12 overs. They effectively needed 75 off 22 balls after the second break. Oman then lost a spate of wickets and were never going to get close, bringing to an end a frustrating week in Dharamsala, where bad weather affected four of the first-round matches.Tamim lit up a damp night, though, with five sixes in his 63-ball innings – four on the leg side and one between mid-off and cover. He rotated strike too, scoring nearly a third of his runs in ones and twos. Tamim’s 97-run stand with Sabbir Rahman for the second wicket put Bangladesh in command and he stayed the course to give the innings a flourish at the finish.It would be accurate to state that this hundred is Bangladesh’s best T20I innings to date. The manner in which Tamim began indicated what was to come for Oman: Amir Ali had to pull his hand out of the way of a straight drive that was hit so hard it might have caused injury.At the other end, however, Soumya Sarkar struggled to get the ball out of the 30-yard circle. He struck two fours in his 12 off 22 balls and in the seventh over Ajay Lalcheta put him out of his misery. Tamim had hit the same bowler for fours to square-leg and third-man and for a well-timed six over long-on.Soumya’s dismissal seemed to do Bangladesh a favour because the effervescent Sabbir rotated strike from the first ball he faced. He got his first four with a reverse sweep that Bilal Khan nearly caught at short third-man, though, and he also could have been caught at long-on off Munis Ansari in the ninth over but it was a tough chance for Mehran Khan running to his left.Bangladesh reached 70 for 1 in ten overs and Tamim and Sabbir looked set for a big total. They picked up 14 off the next over bowled by Ansari, Oman’s best bowler. Tamim reached 52 off 35 balls in the 13th over before he and Sabbir struck a six each over long-off and long-on in the next six balls – the blow from Sabbir off Khawar Ali travelled 96 metres and landed in the second tier.Khawar was struck for a 94-metre six by Tamim too in the 16th over, but the bowler had his revenge when he had Sabbir bowled around his legs for 44 off 26 balls. With four overs remaining, Shakib Al Hasan was promoted to No 4 and made 17 off nine balls.Tamim’s hundred came in the 19th over, when after a brief lull he blasted Bilal through cover to score his tenth four – all of them along the ground. Bilal, however, was the only one to have bowled well at the top and towards the end, giving away just 16 runs in four wicketless overs.Oman had pulled off a shock chase against Ireland but it went wrong right from the start against Bangladesh. Their openers Zeeshan Maqsood and Khawar Ali skied catches in the first and fourth overs, top edging to third man and to mid-on respectively. Jatinder Singh and Adnan Ilyas played attractive shots but Ilyas was run out after the first rain break. Aamir Kaleem was caught off his glove in the ninth over, just before the second rain break.Shakib’s 4 for 15 were his best figures in T20Is, and the smile on his face was good news for Bangladesh. As much as the team had enjoyed Tamim’s batting form, they needed their best player to find his all-round form ahead of the main draw.

Jack Leach and Dom Bess claimed seven of the eight Lancashire wickets to fall as Somerset closed in on a victory that would take them out of the bottom two

Paul Edwards at Taunton14-Sep-20171:31

County Championship Round-up: Essex on the brink of glory

When, in due time, one receives that peremptory invitation to attend the Clogpoppers’ Ball, it will be a comfort to recall this day’s cricket at Taunton.Lancastrians will select their side’s resilience and the fifties made by Haseeb Hameed and Liam Livingstone as the most pleasing features of affairs; Somerset followers in the Marcus Trescothick Stand might bemoan the opposition’s scoring rate but salute their own spinners’ persistence and accuracy in taking them to the brink of their second successive victory.And so they should, m’dear. A glorious day ended with Jack Leach and Dom Bess bowling in tandem, just as they had done for most of three sessions. The pair bowled 85 overs to take seven wickets for 164 runs. They wore down Lancashire’s batsmen and at some stage around lunchtime on Friday they should receive their due reward with the sight of a Division One table showing Somerset out of the relegation positions. Lancashire’s chances of the title are with cricket’s undertakers but the survival hopes of Tom Abell’s team live and breathe.Yet there was even more to the day than food for partisans or points for tables. There was a richness to the cricket, an intensity of competition which was only augmented by September’s elegiac sunlight and the possibility that showers might halt our sport. The game unfolded on one of early autumn’s more blustery days when clouds raced across an unsettled sky and barged each other out of the way like shoppers at the January sales. Sunlight and shade flitted over the Blackdowns like skittish girls and there were rumours of heavy rain in Wales. Trains raced through the distant station and the man was a fool who wished himself aboard one of them.The first hour of the day belonged to Lancashire and in particular to their openers, Alex Davies and Hameed. Both batsmen played cautiously, their memories of the second day’s rapid collapse fresh in their minds. Davies was busier and bustled about the crease, as if reminding the bowlers that he knew what their little game was. But he was also the first to be dismissed when he attempted to drive Leach through wide mid-on but only gave a sharp return catch to the bowler off a thickish leading edge. He departed one short of his fifty, smacking his bat and doubtless offering a rich Darwen curse or two.Hameed was as watchful as ever, as if determined to reinforce his critics’ astringent judgements that he “pokes about” too much. Then, as classy players always will, he confounded that view by taking three boundaries off successive Bess overs: a late cut and drives through the covers off front and back foot. In the innocence-light of early morning the wind had tossed the field maples and alders in Vivary Park yet the breeze hardly ruffled Hameed, who on occasions has the air of a man who would rehearse letting the ball go even as the jaws of Armageddon snapped around him. A square drive off Craig Overton’s half-volley left him undefeated on 31 when an early lunch was taken, itself prompted by the morning’s second brief shower.For the first hour of the afternoon session Lancashire’s progress was untroubled. The pitch lost much of the life it had offered Leach and Bess on the previous afternoon and for the first time since lunch on the first day Somerset’s cricket lost a little of its fiery purpose. Hameed cut Tim Groenewald backward of square for four and reached his half-century off 151 balls with a cover-drive for two off Leach. That made it the quickest of his three first-class fifties this year, although rapidity is becoming a relative concept when applied to Hameed.But just when Bolton’s “Great Wall” seemed set on constructing his first century in over a year, Leach dismissed him for 62 when Hameed drove a catch straight to Abell at short cover. Some thought the ball had stopped but Somerset supporters were not about to concern themselves with the “filthily technical” as Mr Pickwick might have put it. What mattered was that Hameed was gone and the joy on Gimblett’s Hill was unbounded, although it may not compare with the euphoria in that sacred area once occupied by the Sydney Hill should Hameed be dismissed at the SCG in a few months’ time.More joy lay in wait for the locals. Steven Croft was leg before on the front foot for 5 when sweeping at Bess and the offspinner then took the even more valuable wicket of Shiv Chanderpaul who broke the habit of a career by letting the ball pass between bat and pad. At tea Lancashire were 175 for 4 and Somerset’s players enjoyed their fruit salad in the knowledge that a new ball was available.Overton made the best use of that ball when he had Dane Vilas caught behind for 14 and that dismissal heralded a fine session for Somerset as they finally broke Lancashire’s batsmen on the twin wheels of the spin and flight. The crucial wicket of Livingstone was taken by Leach, who had the mystified batsman caught behind when wicketkeeper Steve Davies and the close fielders were appealing to Billy Taylor for a stumping. But those dozy folk inclined to stereotype cricketers and place them in the convenient pigeonholes should note that Livingstone had batted two minutes longer for his 62 than Hameed had for his 57. Their scoring rates were almost the same. Livingstone is a very serious cricketer and it is fascinating to ponder what lies ahead for him.Barring one of cricket’s most improbable recoveries, Lancashire’s fate was decided in the last half hour when Ryan McLaren and Stephen Parry fell to close catches off Leach and Bess. That Lancashire had lost seven wickets for 94 runs hardly reflected their stubbornness or their determination to compete until the very end. The mood was buoyant at the County Ground in the evening as the locals savoured a probable victory. But no one should be too downcast if they were at Taunton, for they had seen the county game at something like its very best and the cricketers on their green fields of praise.

Evergreen seamer Darren Stevens exposed Leicestershire’s hapless first-innings batting until the last pair summoned an impressive response

ECB Reporters Network28-Aug-2017Darren Stevens claimed seven wickets•Getty Images

Last-wicket partners Lewis Hill and Callum Parkinson hit half-centuries to scrub a little lustre off Darren Stevens’ seven-wicket haul on a fascinating opening to Kent’s Specsavers County Championship clash with Leicestershire.On an ideal batting day in Canterbury, the visitors were in danger of underperforming as they slid to 174 for eight – with Stevens bagging their first seven. But the Foxes’ tail wagged and, as the host attack tired, their last pair counter-punched to add an unbroken 98 that sent their side in at stumps sitting pretty on 326 for 9.The opening two sessions had belonged to Kent with Stevens making his first breakthrough in the 10th over, nipping one through the defensive push of left-hander Harry Dearden to hit the back pad and secure the first of three successful lbw appeals.Kent’s three other seamers; Adam Milne, Matt Coles and Mitch Claydon, toiled manfully in the heat but without ever matching the sustained accuracy or continued threat posed by Stevens’ ‘dibbly-dobbly’.Stevens struck again by trapping Michael Carberry lbw. The former Kent opening batsman jumped back across his stumps when aiming to work to leg only to miss an in-ducker and become Stevens’ 400th first-class victim.Four balls later Colin Ackerman, the tall South Africa right-hander, pushed outside the line of a leg-stump away-swinger that thudded into his pad and left umpire Russell Warren with little option but to raise his trigger finger once again.Stevens struck for a fourth time in his second over after lunch when Mark Cosgrove, having smashed nine fours in a counter-attacking 40, flicked airily in the region of mid-wicket only to hole out to long-on via a leading edge.Stevens nipped one back off the seam and through the gate of Ned Eckersley’s drive to hit the top of off stump and secure his sixth five-wicket haul of the season and the 18th of a prolific all-roundcareer.Neil Dexter, a crowd favourite during his time with Kent, joined forces with Lewis Hill to add 67 inside 25 overs for the sixth wicket. But, after a short rest, Stevens returned to end Dexter’s 86-ball stay for 40 with a beauty that pitched on middle and grazed the top of off.Stevens bagged seven for the second time in his career when Ben Raine jabbed down late on an in-swinger and edged low to Coles at second slip. Raine, stood his ground, believing he had played the ball into the ground, but the umpires conferred before upholding the appeal.Any hope of a Stevens clean sweep ended just before tea when Matt Pillans swung lustily and edged one from Milne through to the keeper Sam Billings.After tea, Leicestershire’s ninth-wicket partners Hill and Clint McKay opted to throw the kitchen sink at anything pitched up to them, a ploy that seemingly bemused the Kent attack.Stevens’ figures took a relative battering as the pair went aerial, clubbing fours to all parts in taking their side past 200 for a first batting bonus point. The little and large pairing added 54 before McKay, on 32, sliced a lofted drive against Qayyum into the hands of Milne at deep extra cover.Hill’s impish approach took him to a deserved 129-ball half-century, his first of the season and Leicestershire’s sole first innings 50 in their last five championship matches.Foxes’ last man Callum Parkinson joined in the fun by clubbing one from Stevens into the top tier of the Frank Woolley stand to secure a third batting bonus point as the home attack ran out of steam.Parkinson reached his maiden first-class 50 from 48 balls, with four fours and a six as he and Hill beat Leicestershire’s previous best 10th wicket stand against Kent of 96, set by George Geary and AlexSkelding at the Aylestone Road Ground, Leicester, in 1925.

Azhar Ali, who had replaced Shehzad in the ODI squad, did not find a place in the T20 squad

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jan-2018

Opener Ahmed Shehzad, who had been dropped for the ODI leg of the New Zealand tour, has returned to Pakistan’s squad for the three-match T20 series. Azhar Ali, who had replaced Shehzad in the ODI squad, did not find a place in the T20 squad. The only other change from the ODI squad was the inclusion of batsman Umar Amin in place of Imam-ul-Haq.Shehzad’s recent form bodes well for Pakistan: he has scored 403 runs in seven innings in the ongoing Departmental One Day Cup at an average of 67.16 and strike rate of 100.24.With allrounder Imad Wasim yet to recover from the knee injury that had sidelined him from the ODI series, Mohammad Nawaz retained his place in the squad.”Imad Wasim was yet to recover from his knee injury, and was told to continue his rehabilitation at the NCA,” Inzamam ul Haq, the chief selector, said.Pakistan are presently two games into a five-match ODI series, with New Zealand prevailing in both contests via the DLS method. The first of the three T20s will be played on January 22 at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington, three days after the fifth ODI.Squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (capt &wk), Fakhar Zaman, Ahmed Shehzad, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Rumman Raees, Umar Amin

Trevor Bayliss, England’s head coach, says there will be no curfews imposed on his players in the wake of Ben Stokes’ arrest

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-20171:45

Getting drunk is the best form of team bonding – KP

Trevor Bayliss, England’s head coach, has confirmed that there will be no curfews imposed on his players during the forthcoming Ashes, but added that “sensible” guidelines have been drawn up in the wake of Ben Stokes’ arrest outside a Bristol nightclub last month.Speaking in Perth during England’s first nets session since arriving in Australia, Bayliss reiterated his long-held belief that personal responsibility is a key aspect of being a professional cricketer, and added that England’s players themselves had decided when is and isn’t acceptable to have a drink and enjoy the experience of being on tour.”Not drinking between matches is just sensible,” Bayliss told the BBC. “There’s been no set curfews. I think they’re just sensible rulings.”To me, they’re what we should be sticking to anyway as a player or someone around a professional set-up. The players have sat down and had a chat and they’re the ones that’ve come up with it.”With Stokes withdrawn from the tour pending further investigation into the incident outside Mbargo nightclub on September 25, and following the disciplining of three other players who had been out that night – Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball and Liam Plunkett -England’s captain, Joe Root, was forced to deny last week that the England team is beset by a drinking culture.But Bayliss believes that instilling a siege mentality in the wake of the Stokes incident would undermine England’s hopes of success in the Ashes.”We certainly don’t want to put too many curfews on them that keep them in their rooms,” he said. “It’s a long tour, you’ve got to get out and experience the country that you’re touring.”His comments echo the views of Kevin Pietersen, a three-times Ashes tourist, who last week told ESPNcricinfo that nights out on long tours were a vital factor in team bonding.”When we had the great tour Down Under in 2010-11, we had the most incredible couple of nights out at the start of that tour, which brought the team so close together,” Pietersen said. “I know that it sounds so stupid, but if you go and get hammered as a team on a night out – as senior and junior players – the bonds you can create there are better than any ridiculous sessions you can do in the forest in Germany.”Bayliss admitted that the aftermath of the Stokes arrest had been a “difficult time” for the team, but that their arrival in Australia had helped to focus their minds on the task at hand.”It’s a month ago now, and certainly the guys here in Australia have gone about their business and there hasn’t really been chat about it all,” he said. “Everyone’s been concentrating on what we need to do to win this series.”He conceded that Stokes’ absence was less than ideal but echoed Joe Root’s pre-departure statement that the team were preparing to be without the allrounder.”It’s something you’d much rather do without,” Bayliss said. “The Australian media will hammer away and try to put the pressure on in other areas as well. We have to try to deal with that and keep it separate from what we are doing on the practice field and in matches.”Root said the other day himself. They are concentrating on playing without him. If we worry too much about whether he is or he isn’t, that takes the focus off what we are doing. If we see that creeping in with the players, we will stop it as soon as we can. They are getting on with it well.”He also gave an indication of England’s thinking about how they would rebalance the side, with Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes set to move up the order in order to accommodate another bowler.”Having to replace Ben and the combination that we come up with requires doing a bit of both,” Bayliss said. “Personally I think we have to play a bowler in his place which makes our batting not quite as long but when you have Chris Woakes at No. 8, that’s probably the combination I’ve been after for a while.”Mooen Ali batting as low as No. 8 for the last couple of years I think that’s a waste. I think it’s something that as the team develops over the coming years, that’s a combination that we will get to. We have had problems at the top of the order so having Mo at eight and Woakes nine suited us. It’s been successful, so no problems there. Eventually Bairstow and Ali at six and seven and Woakes at eight is a combination England will end up with.”

Sylhet Sixers, the newest team in the Bangladesh Premier League, announced their arrival with a nine-wicket thumping of the defending champions Dhaka Dynamites in a packed 18,000-capacity Sylhet International Cricket Stadium

The Report by Mohammad Isam in Sylhet04-Nov-2017
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBoth Upul Tharanga and Andre Fletcher scored fifties•Raton Gomes

Sylhet Sixers, the newest team in the Bangladesh Premier League, announced their arrival with a nine-wicket thumping of the defending champions Dhaka Dynamites in a packed 18,000-capacity Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.Sylhet captain Nasir Hossain backed up his decision to field with a tidy spell of 2 for 21 in four overs that helped restrict Dhaka to 136 for 7. Abul Hasan, the only local presence in Sylhet, effectively changed his pace up to pick up two wickets, and alongside Liam Plunkett (2 for 20), reined in Dhaka in the slog overs. Sylhet’s bowlers held their own against the firepower of Kieron Pollard and Shakib Al Hasan to limit Dhaka’s scoring to 36 runs in the last five overs.Andre Fletcher and Upul Tharanga then flattened Dhaka with a 125-run opening stand that shut the doors on the visiting team. The pair struck ten fours and five sixes between them to lead Sylhet past the finishing line with 19 deliveries to spare.Nasir’s early footholdNasir may have been late for the toss by five minutes, but he had much of the early say. He first removed Mehedi Maruf, in the very first over of the game. Evin Lewis and Kumar Sangakkara then mixed patience with the odd boundary as they offset the early loss, before Nasir broke the 54-run stand. Lewis, who was looking dangerous, having struck three fours and a six, spliced Nasir to long-off, where Abul Hasan completed a straightforward catch.Experience neutralisedFour down and going at under seven an over, any hopes Dhaka may have had of a late surge were severely hit with the departures of Kieron Pollard, the world’s most experienced T20 cricketer, and Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s most experienced, in quick succession. Pollard tried to force Abul Hasan over mid-off but was undone by the local boy’s slower ball, resulting in an easy catch for Nasir at long-off. Eleven deliveries later, Shakib gave Liam Plunkett the charge, but could barely get his stroke over the in-field, hitting it straight into the hands of Sabbir Rahman at mid-off.Yes and noFletcher had just belted the first ball of the sixth over from Abu Hider for a six when he and Upul Tharanga were caught in a big mix-up. Fletcher meandered out of the crease after trying to muscle one through the leg side and getting hit on the thigh instead. With the batsmen having considered a run, Tharanga ran over halfway down the pitch. Hider did the hard work and got to the ball well in time, but couldn’t effect a direct hit that could have made a big difference.Fletcher redeems himselfHaving made just 92 runs in six matches last year and being subsequently let go by Khulna Titans, Fletcher strode out on Saturday with a point to prove. And he proved his worth in emphatic fashion, powering his way to a 38-ball half-century. It was a typically aggressive knock, studded with five fours and three sixes. Fletcher perished after doing all the hardwork, though, holing out with Sylhet requiring 12 more runs. But with Tharanga holding sway with an unbeaten 69 off 48 balls, Sylhet hardly broke a sweat in finishing with two points.What they said”The wicket was good. There was nothing wrong in it. We had a bad day.”
“I think our bowlers were outstanding to keep them under 140, given their team and the size of this ground.”

Spinner says he has lost the “buzz” when it comes to playing Championship cricket, after accepting a white-ball-only contract

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Feb-2018Adil Rashid admits that he has lost the “buzz” when it comes to playing Championship cricket, after speaking out for the first time about his decision to accept a white-ball-only contract with Yorkshire this summer.Rashid, who is an integral part of England’s plans in both 50-over and 20-over cricket, particularly leading into next year’s World Cup on home soil, was overlooked for selection in this winter’s Ashes, in spite of being the team’s leading wicket-taker on the Test tour of Bangladesh and India in 2016-17.However, he insisted that that omission had not been a significant factor in his switch to a white-ball focus. Instead, he said that his “heart would not have been there” had he carried on turning out for Yorkshire in Championship contests, and he feared letting his county down had he done so.”It’s very much my decision,” Rashid said. “It’s something that I’ve thought about and felt I had to do, and has been inside me for a little while.”The enjoyment, the spark, the buzz. All that came into it. I couldn’t go through another season doing this — it could affect my performance, my bowling and that could easily rub off into other competitions and white-ball stuff.”Rashid’s relationship with Championship cricket has been under scrutiny for some time, ever since he controversially made himself unavailable for Yorkshire’s title showdown with Middlesex at Lord’s in 2016, citing “fatigue and family reasons”. Yorkshire went on to lose the match, and their chance to secure a third County Championship title in as many seasons.”Last year playing red-ball cricket for Yorkshire, my thought was that if I wasn’t giving 100 percent then I would be letting the team down and also myself down,” he said. “It was a decision made purely because of how I felt playing red-ball cricket at this time. My mind’s not there, my heart’s not there, I’m letting the team down but also myself down.”Rashid’s stance puts his Test career on indefinite hold, with his 10-match haul of 38 wickets at 42.78 hinting at what might have been. With Alex Hales also choosing a white-ball contract with Nottinghamshire this week, and others – notably Liam Plunkett and David Willey – reported to be considering similar moves, there is a concern in English circles that this trend could mark the beginning of a schism in the domestic game.”Yes, maybe … that’s the way the game’s going,” Rashid said. “Personally, when I made that decision, I didn’t think about that — ‘Oh, people might follow, what if [they do]?’. That’s not my job, what people do or how they feel or ‘you may follow me or not follow me’. I just made the decision purely because of how I felt. If people want to follow — ‘he did that, so we can do it’ — then that’s their decision.”However, Rashid made the important point that his own decision had been influenced to a large degree by the itinerary of the county season, with the majority of red-ball matches being squeezed to the beginning and end of the season. This leaves spinners in particular as bystanders for long periods of seam-dominated games, but Rashid said that he would reconsider his position in 2019 if the fixtures were more favourable.”That was a big part of it,” he said. “Early season, I may not bowl much. A couple of overs here and there. Doing that, I wouldn’t get my rhythm — two overs before lunch, a few overs before tea. That wouldn’t help my confidence. At the stage, I’d just be going through the motions.”It’s not a permanent thing. It’s for this season, to see how it goes, how it unfolds and what happens. See what my mind says and what my heart feels. If it changes I could be going back to red ball cricket next season. That’s a long way away, and a lot can change. At this moment in time I’m very content with what I’m doing.”

A similar tournament had been scheduled and budgeted for the 2015-16 season, only for it to be scrapped

Andrew Fidel Fernando20-Aug-2017

Sri Lanka Cricket has reiterated its commitment to starting a condensed, provincial-based first-class tournament in the 2017-18 season.Although a similar tournament had been scheduled and budgeted for the 2015-16 season, the board led by Thilanga Sumathipala had scrapped those plans, and has since failed to organise a high-quality first-class tournament for two seasons running.Next season, however, will see the introduction of a four-team first-class season, SLC vice-president K Mathivanan has said. The teams will be based in Dambulla, Pallekele, Galle and Colombo. This “Super Provincial” tournament will effectively be the centrepiece of the domestic schedule, with the club-based first-class tournament likely to be a three-day tournament only, where usually a portion of it is played across four days.”Since our focus is mainly on the Super Provincial tournament where only the top cricketers will be in action, we will play the [club tournament] as three-day games only,” Mathivanan told . “The 60 [that will play in the Super Provincial tournament] are the cream of our cricketers who will be selected for the national team, Sri Lanka A team and the Sri Lanka Emerging team.”While previous iterations of provincial-based tournaments had been short-lived, Mathivanan said he is intent on making the Super Provincial tournament a long-term success by ensuring “there’s a clear graduation path,” and that there is “loyalty of the players for their provinces – a culture we need to create in this country”.The domestic season will also be more clearly divided into first-class and limited-overs segments: “We do not want to switch from one format to other in a haphazard manner. Unlike previous years, we will be first playing red-ball cricket (first-class) followed by white-ball cricket (List A). This will enable players to have a better focus.”Mathivanan’s words align with those of SLC president Sumathipala, who told ESPNcricinfo in May: “Definitely, we are going to play the super provincial four-team tournament. We are looking at day-night pink-ball cricket for that as well. Initially, for the next two to three years, we’ve decided to distribute the players into the provincial team based on where they come from, as much as we can. The national selectors will then sit together and work out the best possible balance, and assign players accordingly.”However, the present board had also promised to organise a provincial-based first-class competition for the 2016-17 season, and subsequently failed to do so, scheduling only a List A provincial-based tournament instead.Nevertheless, if the Super Provincial first-class tournament is actually played as Mathivanan and Sumathipala have outlined, it is likely to represent a significant step in the development of senior talent. The club-based first-class system has been criticised for its bloated format for several years, and a consensus has formed that the quality of cricket in that competition has declined substantially.And while Sri Lanka’s age-group based tournaments remain relatively healthy – thanks in part to the present board’s investment in that area – cricketers who leave the school system have graduated to one of the weakest domestic structures in the Test-playing world. The club tournament has also been plagued by poor pitches.A four-day tournament, with fewer players and a higher quality of play, aims to fix that. Additionally, as each of the venues at Dambulla, Pallekele, Galle and Khettarama can be directly administered by SLC, this should theoretically mean the Super Provincial competition will be played on good surfaces.

Marco Marais earned himself a slice of cricketing history at East London last week, by crashing his way to the fastest first-class triple-century

Firdose Moonda01-Dec-2017

Border batsman Marco Marais earned himself a slice of cricketing history at East London last week, by crashing his way to the fastest first-class triple-century, for Border against Eastern Province.”I don’t think anyone actually thinks they are going to get 300,” Marais told after making an unbeaten 300 off 191 balls. “Before the season started I was targeting over 500 first-class runs and I have already passed that, so now I am going to have to make new goals for myself for the rest of the season.”Not only did Marais achieve a career-first triple-century but he broke a record that has stood for 96 years. Australia’s Charles Macartney’s triple-hundred came off 221 balls against Nottinghamshire in 1921. He went on to finish on 345.Marais may well have surpassed Macartney’s score at Buffalo Park but Border called time on his innings as soon he reached the triple-century. They declared on 512 for 4, bowled their provincial rivals Eastern Province out for 212 and were 66 for 2 in response.Though the match was not won, Marais will claim a personal victory after an innings which featured 35 fours and 13 sixes and featured a record fifth-wicket stand of 428. He hopes the innings can provide a stepping stone to break into the Warriors franchise side.”I really hope someone sits up and takes notice. I think every semi-pro player dreams of playing at the next level, which is franchise cricket, and I would love to play in it,” Marais said.The franchise are currently engaged in the Ram Slam 20-over tournament, where they sit at the bottom of the table with only one win from six matches. Their woes would well call for someone with Marais’ confidence, especially as his approach appears to be based on self-belief.”I was striking the ball so well,” he said. “I decided that I was just going to go hard at them and it came off in the end.”Marais’ coach Frank Plaatjes said he had “never seen anything,” like the innings before and believes there is more to come from the 24-year old. “I have always said Marco is a special player, I knew something was on the cards because he has been playing so well, but we didn’t expect 300 to be honest,” Plaatjes said.Marais is currently in action for Border against Northern Cape in Kimberley, where they are struggling. Border were bowled out for 115 in their first innings and Marais made just 5. He currently sits second on the three-day cup run charts.

Keep up to date with all the movements around the counties during the off-season as preparations are made for the 2018 season

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2017

Keep up to date with all the movements around the counties during the off-season as preparations are made for the 2018 seasonDerbyshireIN: Ravi Rampaul (Surrey)
OUT: Tom Wood, Greg Cork, Tom Taylor (Leicestershire), Rob Hemmings, Shiv Thakor, Tom Milnes, Ben Cotton
OVERSEAS: Duanne Olivier (SA)DurhamIN: Will Smith (Hampshire), Nathan Rimmington
OUT: Keaton Jennings (Lancashire), Graham Onions (Lancashire), Paul Coughlin (Nottinghamshire)
OVERSEAS: Aiden Markram (SA, April-May), Tom Latham (NZ, May-August), Axar Patel (Ind, Aug-Sep)EssexIN: Matt Coles (Kent), Feroze Kushi
OUT: Kishen Velani
OVERSEAS: Peter Siddle (Aus, April-May), Neil Wagner (NZ, May-July) Adam Zampa (Aus, T20)GlamorganIN:
OUT: Jacques Rudolph (retired), Will Bragg (retired)
OVERSEAS: Shaun Marsh (Aus)GloucestershireIN: Ryan Higgins (Middlesex)
OUT: Patrick Grieshaber, Brendon Gilmour, Phil Mustard
OVERSEAS: Dan Worrall (Aus, April-July)HampshireIN: Sam Northeast (Kent), Chris Sole
OUT: Will Smith (Durham), Michael Carberry (Leicestershire)
OVERSEAS: Hashim Amla (SA, April-June), Dale Steyn (SA, part season)KentIN: Heino Kuhn (Kolpak), Harry Podmore (Middlesex), Ollie Robinson
OUT: Sam Northeast (Hampshire), Matt Coles (Essex), Adam Ball, Hugh Bernard, Charlie Hartley
OVERSEAS: Matt Henry (NZ)LancashireIN: Keaton Jennings (Durham), Graham Onions (Durham), Josh Bohannon, Liam Hurt
OUT: Kyle Jarvis (Zimbabwe), Luke Procter (Northants)
OVERSEAS: Joe Mennie (Aus)LeicestershireIN: Michael Carberry (Hampshire), Ateeq Javid (Warwickshire), Tom Taylor (Derbyshire)
OUT: Clint McKay, Will Fazackerley
OVERSEAS: Mohammad Abbas (Pak), Sohail Khan (Pak, April-May), Mohammad Nabi (Afg, T20)MiddlesexIN:
OUT: Ryan Higgins (Gloucestershire), Harry Podmore (Kent)
OVERSEAS: Ashton Agar (Aus, T20)NorthamptonshireIN: Brett Hutton (Notts), Luke Procter (Northants)
OUT: Azharullah, David Murphy (retired)
OVERSEAS: Doug Bracewell (NZ), Seekkuge Prasanna (SL, T20)NottinghamshireIN: Paul Coughlin (Durham), Chris Nash (Sussex)
OUT: Chris Read (retired), Brett Hutton (Northants)
OVERSEAS: Ross Taylor (NZ, April-June), Dan Christian (Aus, T20), Ish Sodhi (NZ, T20)SomersetIN: Fin Trenouth
OUT: Jim Allenby, Ryan Davies, Michael Leask
OVERSEAS: Cameron Bancroft (Aus), Corey Anderson (NZ, T20)SurreyIN: Rikki Clarke (Warwickshire), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson
OUT: Dom Sibley (Warwickshire), Kumar Sangakkara (retired), Ravi Rampaul (Derbyshire)
OVERSEAS: Mitchell Marsh (Aus)SussexIN:
OUT: Steve Magoffin (Worcestershire), Chris Nash (Nottinghamshire)
OVERSEAS: Ishant Sharma (Ind, April-May), Rashid Khan (Afg, T20)WarwickshireIN: Dom Sibley (Surrey), Will Rhodes (Yorkshire)
OUT: Rikki Clarke (Surrey), Ateeq Javid (Leicestershire), William Porterfield
OVERSEAS: Colin De Grandhomme (NZ, T20)WorcestershireIN: Steve Magoffin (Sussex), Alex Milton
OUT:
OVERSEAS: Travis Head (Aus), Callum Ferguson (Aus, T20), Martin Guptill (NZ, T20)YorkshireIN:
OUT: Ryan Sidebottom (retired), Will Rhodes (Warwickshire)
OVERSEAS: Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind), Kane Williamson (NZ), Billy Stanlake (Aus, T20)