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CSA has removed former South Africa batsman HD Ackerman as the host of its upcoming annual awards ceremony in a bid to to avoid “further potential negative comments” around his announcement that he was emigrating to Australia in September

Firdose Moonda15-Jul-2016

CSA has removed former South Africa batsman HD Ackerman as the host of its upcoming annual awards ceremony in a bid to to avoid “further potential negative comments” around his announcement that he was emigrating to Australia in September. Ackerman is the fourth South African involved in the country’s cricket structures to move to Australia or New Zealand in the last two months.”In view of certain negative comments on social media following HD’s Facebook post that he was leaving South Africa for Australia, we have decided to avoid any further potential negative comments around HD hosting the live CSA Awards,” Altaaf Kazi, CSA spokesperson, told “We decided to replace him and have no further comments to make in this regard.”CSA has not revealed who it has appointed as Ackerman’s replacement.Ackerman had announced his decision to emigrate through a post on Facebook: “It is with a heavy heart that I have to let all my friends know that Kerryn Ackerman, James, Tannah and I will be moving to Perth, Australia in September. It has caused many sleepless nights and even more tears but it is a decision that we have reached as a family and feel it is the best one we can make for our little ones at this time.”South Africa has so much potential, however in my entire life I don’t think I have ever seen anything more common than something or someone fail to reach their potential. I fear this may be the case with my beautiful country. I truly hope that the decision we are making is the right one for us and I truly hope that South Africa does go on to reach its true potential and that crime decreases, corruption slows (as all countries have this problem) and an equal opportunity is there for all.”His employer, South African broadcaster , confirmed Ackerman’s departure to take up a role as director of coaching at Guildford Grammar School in Perth. The broadcaster said Ackerman had left open the possibility of freelancing.On Thursday, Ackerman revealed on Facebook that he had been removed from hosting the awards, which he has been part of for several years. “Wow, just been pulled off hosting the Cricket South Africa awards on the 26th because a few people on social media feel my move to Australia is because I’m racist. Forget the fact my wife’s sister had just moved to Brisbane and that my wife’s parents have just moved to Perth, or that I got a job offer in Perth that included a school bursary for my son, those reasons are not good enough. Wow, wow, wow.”Social media reaction to Ackerman’s move was largely encouraging, particularly from former players. Former South Africa fast bowler Brett Schultz said on Twitter: “And SA loses another incredible talent, as a player in his day and behind the microphone in the modern game.”The only post, at the time of writing this article, with a racial undertone came from one user who accused Ackerman of being “anti-transformation”. Ackerman responded by telling the user, “That’s where you are soooo wrong.”Ackerman played 220 first-class and 230 List A games in a 16-year career that included stints at two provincial and four franchise sides. After retiring, he turned to commentary and coaching. He was involved with South Africa A and recently accompanied some South African players on a spin camp to India.While Ackerman is relocating to Perth, three other South African cricket administrators – Dolphins chief executive Pete de Wet, national team logistics manager Riaan Muller, and Titans’ coach Rob Walter – have all accepted jobs in New Zealand.

ECB Reporters Network08-Jun-2016
ScorecardPaul Stirling’s unbeaten hundred made light work of a rain-reduced target•Getty Images

Paul Stirling hit a fluent century as Middlesex inflicted a third Royal London One-Day Cup defeat in as many games on holders Gloucestershire by seven wickets under the Duckworth-Lewis system at Bristol.The home side posted 254 for 8 after losing the toss, Hamish Marshall top-scoring with 74 on the day he announced that his 11-year stint with the county would end when this season is over.Gareth Roderick contributed 64, while Toby Roland-Jones (3 for 36) was the pick of the Middlesex attack. James Fuller claimed 2 for 45 on returning to his former county.Facing a revised target of 208 from 35 overs following a rain break, Middlesex skated to victory with 21 balls to spare, Ireland batsman Stirling reaching his ton off 87 balls, with 11 fours and 3 sixes, before finishing unbeaten on 125.Gloucestershire’s innings had got off to a poor start when Chris Dent miscued Roland-Jones to cover where Nick Gubbins took a comfortable catch in only the second over.Michael Klinger had survived a loud shout for a catch behind in the opening over from Tom Helm, but looked in good touch moving to 20 before edging a defensive shot off Roland-Jones straight to Ollie Rayner at slip.Roderick had made only 13 when badly dropped by Eoin Morgan at point off Helm, an error which allowed the batsman to share the most meaningful partnership of the innings with Marshall.The latter hit a straight six off James Franklin and Roderick followed suit off Fuller to bring up 100 in the 21st over.When both Roderick and Marshall reached 62-ball half-centuries in quick succession the hosts looked set for a big score. Then Roderick overbalanced in making an ugly mishit off Helm and was caught at mid-off by Franklin.That was 150 for 3 and Gloucestershire still looked well placed as 31 more runs were added before their innings turned sour in the 35th over, bowled by Roland-Jones.Rayner did the damage, running out Cockbain for 14 at the bowlers end from short mid-wicket as he was sent back attempting a quick single and three balls later catching Marshall in the same position off a poor shot.Suddenly the home side were 183 for 5 and needed to rebuild. There was never much momentum to the innings after that as Benny Howell, Kieran Noema-Barnett and Craig Miles fell without making much impression.Stirling was dropped on one by Klinger at second slip off Liam Norwell in the third over of the Middlesex reply. The visitors had reached 17 without loss when rain brought an interruption. The revised target left them requiring a further 191 from 28.5 overs under the floodlights.Stirling hit 2 sixes over mid-wicket off Howell in racing to a half-century off 44 balls. Dawid Malan contributed 29 to an opening stand of 84 before being well caught at deep extra cover by Dent off Miles. Gubbins was dropped by Miles at fine leg on 17 off the unlucky Norwell and, with Stirling continuing to play positively, it was a mistake Gloucestershire could not afford.By the time Gubbins, on 37, skied a catch to mid-on off Matt Taylor, Middlesex were 156 for two, needing only 52 off more than 12 overs. Morgan perished at the death, but Stirling batted through and hit the winning boundary.

Chelsea are considering a wide range of world-class manager options as their heir to Graham Potter at Stamford Bridge, yet few would have expected Frank Lampard's name to be in the running to take over.

Could Chelsea re-hire Frank Lampard?

Contenders for the job, Julian Nagelsmann and Luis Enrique, might be keen on waiting until the end of the campaign to start their potential tenures at Stamford Bridge, considering the mess that the Blues currently find themselves in ahead of two games against European champions Real Madrid this month.

As a result, according to talkSPORT, Lampard "is a shock contender to return to CFC if they decide to appoint a caretaker manager until the end of the season."

Since that news, The Athletic's David Ornstein suggested this evening that Chelsea are in fact "close to appointing" their former boss.

Tuesday's stalemate against Liverpool, where the 44-year-old was in attendance, meant that Chelsea have now managed just 29 goals in 29 Premier League games this season, so it is no surprise that they occupy a bottom-half spot in the top flight.

By comparison, Lampard's previous spell at Chelsea was fantastic, especially when you consider that the money that has been spent under Boehly simply wasn't available under the former England international. A lack of funds, and of course, a transfer embargo led to young talents such as Reece James, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham establishing themselves as regular first-team players.

He led Chelsea to a fourth-place finish in the 2019/20 campaign but struggled the following year, and was sacked with the Blues in ninth position.

A move to Everton would follow and he kept the Toffees up by the skin of their teeth last season but looked to be leading the Merseyside outfit towards relegation this year as they sat in 19th position before he was sacked and replaced by Sean Dyche.

Journalist Ronan Murphy labelled the Chelsea legend a "terrible" manager in September 2022 and it certainly feels like his playing career influenced the Blues' decision to bring him in after one season at Derby County.

To repeat that mistake would be unforgivable by Boehly, especially when you consider how dreadful Everton were under his management, as they had managed the fewest number of wins in the Premier League before his sacking, as he earned an average of just one point per game in his spell at Goodison Park.

One of Chelsea's biggest issues this season has been getting the enormous dressing room on the side the manager and Boehly need only to look at Manchester United's experience with caretaker manager Ralf Rangnick to understand that this would be a terrible decision.

Lampard is still regarded as a Chelsea legend by many but for him to return to the club and potentially see them drop even further in the league would surely be a mistake for everyone involved.

HLTCO presenter Dan Cook has praised Steve Cooper amid talk that he could end up replacing Roy Hodgson as Crystal Palace manager.

What's the latest on Steve Cooper to Palace?

Earlier this month, the Eagles made the bold call to sack Patrick Vieira with the club in poor form and edging closer and closer to the relegation zone.

It's now been announced that former coach Hodgson will take charge until the end of the campaign, tasked simply with keeping Palace in the Premier League with 11 games left to play.

In the summer, however, they will likely be on the hunt for a new manager regardless of whether they stay up or not – and it seems as though Nottingham Forest boss Cooper is a primary candidate.

Indeed, as per the Daily Mail, the 43-year-old is someone the club will hope to target at the end of the season.

While talking about all this on HLTCO, Cook offered his opinion on the matter, saying: "You look at Steve Cooper, a man at Nottingham Forest who is seemingly on the verge.

"I mean, I've heard different reports about Nottingham Forest being prepared to part ways with Steve Cooper. I'm not sure how solid those rumours are.

"But of course, he was a manager that was previously linked with Crystal Palace prior to our decision to go with Patrick Vieira.

"And he knows Marc Guehi very, very well from their time together with the England under-17s setup.

"He is, for my money, a fantastic coach and someone that I wouldn't necessarily be against getting in as the new Palace boss for a long-term process."

Would Cooper be a good fit as Crystal Palace manager?

As Cook alludes to, Cooper could soon be leaving Forest. However, it's not necessarily because he's done a poor job there but more because he's a wanted man.

The Daily Mail claims a number of Premier League clubs have been impressed by the work he's done at the City Ground and so he is "currently under consideration" for at least two unnamed sides in the top flight.

With that in mind, it might not be easy for Palace to land him even if they want but perhaps his past relationship with key man Guehi could help in convincing Cooper to join – after all, the 22-year-old centre-back has played 59 times for his former England youth coach already in his career.

This certainly looks like one rumour to keep an eye on.

Joe Clarke’s latest century will have alerted the new England selector Ed Smith, but would a call-up be too much, too soon?

Jon Culley at New Road12-May-20181:59

County round-up: Clarke century rattles champions Essex

ScorecardIf runs scored in a struggling team really do carry extra value, then Joe Clarke has done his statistics no harm in the last few days. After his 157 at The Oval last week helped Worcestershire end the losing run that had made for an unpromising return to Division One cricket, his 105 here was the difference between a hefty first-innings deficit against the defending champions and a workable lead.Both hundreds, incidentally, have come since Ed Smith was appointed as James Whitaker’s successor as national selector, charged with rebuilding the standing of England’s Test team after a depressing Ashes winter. Whether this is significant may become known on Tuesday, when the first England selection of Smith’s tenure is announced.,He is probably an outside bet to be named in the squad for the opening Test against Pakistan but, if Smith is minded to make a statement by stepping away from the usual suspects, then Clarke will surely be one of those whose form has been scrutinised with particular interest.Here at New Road opinion is divided, not on the matter of Clarke’s talent but over whether he is ready to be exposed to Test cricket. Clarke will not be 22 until later this month and with all young players there is a risk that a poor start under the pressure of international cricket will have a negative psychological impact.”Am I ready to step up? Until you play at that level I don’t think you can know,” he said afterwards. “But to show that I can perform in the higher league after a few seasons in Division Two is pleasing. I’ll just try to score as many runs as I can for Worcestershire and let the runs do the talking really.”These last two innings, the latest in particular, have shown a responsible side to his game. With only Daryl Mitchell able to stay with him more than briefly, drawing on his experience to steady a rocking boat after Brett D’Oliveira and Tom Fell had been dismissed within the first three overs of the day, the onus was largely on Clarke to make sure the previous day’s achievement in denying Essex any batting points was not wasted.In that respect, he succeeded impressively. There was a wobble or two at the beginning, but for the most part his judgment of which balls he should attack was sound. Against an attack of this calibre, with Peter Siddle looking to sign off his five-match stint with the county on a strong note, making the correct decisions was essential. Yet when he did put bat to ball he looked in good order. Three of his 14 fours came in one over against Jamie Porter, two with muscular pulls through midwicket, the third driven serenely into the boundary boards at long off.Only the end was disappointing, a push at a ball from Ravi Bopara that beat the bat and punished his tentative footwork. Bopara had also dismissed Mitchell is returning 3 for 30, although Siddle was the best of the bowlers, unlucky to claim only two wickets.Essex overhauled Worcestershire’s lead for only one loss but suffered an unexpected blow when Alastair Cook, looking ominously well set on 66, offered no shot to a ball from Steve Magoffin that came back sharply to clip his off stump.Bizarrely, Essex’s top three batsmen were all bowled by balls they opted to leave, which is an unusual occurrence to say the least. Little wonder that Bopara and Dan Lawrence chose to negotiate a gloomy last hour somewhat cautiously, although for not quite long enough in the case of Bopara, who was caught behind pushing at one from an impressive Josh Tongue just before seven o’clock, with 12 balls left in the day.

A shattering spell of reverse swing by Tom Curran foiled Australia’s chase of a modest total as England took the one-day series 4-1

The Report by Daniel Brettig28-Jan-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA shattering spell of reverse swing by Tom Curran foiled Australia’s chase of a modest England total and in turn silenced a West Australian record crowd of 53,781 in the first ODI to be played at Perth’s new stadium. A trio of players from out west – Mitchell Marsh, AJ Tye and Marcus Stoinis – had prospered earlier in the match, but it was the effervescent Curran who had the final say, years after he had been childhood friends with Marsh when growing up in Zimbabwe.Australia seemed to be travelling comfortably in pursuit of 260 for victory, after England’s batsmen had squandered a series of starts, when Stoinis fell within sight of a hundred upon his promotion to No. 3 in the home side’s batting order. Having earlier ended a poor series for David Warner with a lively yorker, Curran was called back by Eoin Morgan and had his second ball curling back to confound the recalled Glenn Maxwell.Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa and Tim Paine followed, leaving England 4-1 victors in the 50-over series and underlining the fact that Australia are currently a long way from putting together a strong limited overs combination, less than 18 months away from next year’s World Cup. England were also well served by David Willey, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, while Jake Ball overcame considerable physical distress to complete his 10 overs. Winning the match without Mark Wood, Chris Woakes or Liam Plunkett was testament to the depth of the England ODI squad.The visitors had seemed headed for a tall total when Jason Roy was hitting the ball with plenty of power early on, but he, Jonny Bairstow and Alex Hales all failed to go on from promising starts to leave Joe Root more or less stranded with the England tail. In the game after taking his first international wickets, Tye used his vast array of pace variations to scoop five, reaping the rewards of some earlier good work by Marsh and also Zampa, who delivered his best spell of the series.Warner again departed cheaply, but his exit provided the chance for Stoinis to demonstrate his combination of poise and power in a way that will put him very much in the mix to be a more permanent fixture at No. 3. A promising stand with Travis Head, again looking comfortable as an opener, was ended by Morgan’s direct hit run out, which found the left-hander to be fractionally short of his ground.Smith has looked out of sorts all series, and did little to change that impression by being nearly stumped off Rashid and then comfortably stumped off Moeen, who drifted one away from Australia’s captain before sliding it past the outside edge and into Buttler’s gloves. Marsh was victim to a simply outstanding return catch from Moeen, who thrust out his right hand and plucked a fiercely struck straight drive just as the umpire was ducking for cover.For a time it appeared that Stoinis and Maxwell would take the Australians home, leaving the hosts needing just 70 from 97 balls with six wickets in hand. But when Stoinis failed to clear long-on when electing to loft Rashid, he opened up an end for Curran, who made the most of it, turning figures of 1 for 23 after five overs into a match-winning 5 for 35 after 9.2.Smith admitted that his decision to bowl first was based largely on unknowns about the stadium’s drop-in pitch, which offered an odd-looking mosaic of dry grass and greener areas. But it played well from the moment Roy flicked Starc’s first ball of the match through square leg, the vast square boundaries for a stadium devised primarily for football matches allowing an all-run four.Having begun the series with a whirlwind 180 at the MCG, Roy seemed intent on ending it in a similar manner, driving powerfully down the ground and through cover across a fast outfield. The ball after hitting Starc back over his head for six, he edged a ball angling across him through to Paine, only to be reprieved by the detection of a no-ball on replays after the event. Starc beat Roy for pace with the subsequent free-hit, but the no-ball looked likely to be costly as England strode to 44 in the first five overs.Some tighter bowling from the West Australian duo of Marsh and Tye forced Roy’s scoring rate to slacken, and ultimately drew his wicket when trying to force the pace once more – beaten by one of Tye’s slower ball variations and skying to mid-on. Bairstow then took it upon himself to drive the scoreboard forward, but he too was dismissed after making a start, dragging an indeterminate prod at Starc onto the stumps after Smith brought back his No. 1 strike bowler.Marsh, who bowled with notable economy, also ensured Hales would not go on from his own start by coaxing a top edge from a short ball, and Morgan swiped unsuccessfully at another ball banged into the pitch, taken by Stoinis running in from deep point. Buttler briefly threatened to go on the offensive before he too was fooled by Tye’s subtle changes in pace, leaving Root to try to lift the tally with the bowlers.He paid a price in pain when one of Tye’s deliveries came through slower than expected, Root through the shot and struck a painful blow in the ribs that he took some time to recover from. None of Moeen, Rashid or Willey could endure, and when Root found Warner at long on, the end was Tye’s. Australia went to the interval with confidence, but they were to be humbugged by Curran, much as they have been by a more focused and tactically alert England throughout this series.

Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana was involved in a car crash that resulted in EastEnders star Dean Gaffney suffering a broken collarbone.

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Fofana crashed his LamborghiniRan over former Eastenders actorGaffney suffered broken collarboneWHAT HAPPENED?

The 23-year-old was driving his Lamborghini when he ran over the actor, according to a report from . Gaffney was "catapulted" into the air, the report says, and had to be treated at hospital while the France international, who was driving at the end of a night out, was given a breathalyser test, which he passed.

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The incident occurred in December 2022 and Gaffney decided not to speak out about it as he felt there was no blame on Fofana's part. At the time, Fofana was in the early days of his Chelsea career, having joined the club from Leicester in August 2022.

DID YOU KNOW?

Fofana has not featured for Chelsea this season as the centre-back has been ruled out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury. He has managed only 20 appearances for the London team in all competitions since his move to Stamford Bridge.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR FOFANA?

The ex-Saint-Etienne star will continue his recovery and hope to be back in action before long. Meanwhile, Chelsea are preparing for their upcoming Carabao Cup match against Middlesbrough, having lost the first-leg 1-0 to the Championship side.

Allrounder Washington Sundar’s maiden first-class hundred – 156* off 223 balls – underpinned Tamil Nadu‘s dominance against Tripura in Chennai. Opening the batting in the absence of M Vijay – who is suffering from a neck spasm – Sundar struck 14 fours and a six to give his team a 74-run first-innings lead at stumps on the second day.He first added 162 for the opening stand with his captain Abhinav Mukund before combining with B Indrajith for an unbroken 152-run stand for the third wicket. Abhinav made 76 off 130 balls – his second successive first-class fifty – while Indrajith stayed unbeaten on 73 off 121 balls. Tripura used seven bowlers with only Joydeep Bhattacharjee and Gurinder Singh finding success. The hosts, ultimately, closed the day at 332 for 2, scoring at over four runs per over.Earlier, seamer K Vignesh’s 4 for 41 helped Tamil Nadu dismiss Tripura for 258 from an overnight 244 for 7. The visitors had lost their last seven wickets for just 55 runs. R Ashwin finished with figures of 25.1-6-64-2.Wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha completed his 21st first-class hundred – 180 off 410 balls – to propel Madhya Pradesh to 409 against a depleted Mumbai side in Indore. In reply, Mumbai ended the day at 130 for 1 with opener Jay Bista punching 89 of those in only 96 balls.Resuming from an overnight 250 for 5, MP lost Ankit Sharma early on the second day, but Ankit Kushwah and Mihir Hirwani made 34 and 31 respectively to assist Ojha and help take the total past 400. Debutant Akash Parkar was the pick of the bowlers for Mumbai, finishing with 4 for 70.Kushwah then struck with the ball to have Akhil Herwadkar caught behind for 17, but Bista’s counterattack and Siddhesh Lad’s stickability helped Mumbai trim the deficit to 279.A 139-run partnership for the eighth wicket between Swapnil Singh and Atit Sheth lifted Baroda from 203 for 7 to an eventual score of 373 against Andhra in Vadodara. Andhra’s batting line-up, which had given Tamil Nadu a scare in the first round, mounted a strong reply with captain Hanuma Vihari and Ricky Bhui scoring unbeaten half-centuries. The two batsmen helped Andhra end the day at 190 for 2.Sheth followed his 70 not out with the wicket of opener Prasanth Kumar. Left-arm spinner Swapnil, who was the top-scorer for Baroda with 88, went wicketless in five overs.

Arsenal forward Beth Mead spoke about her ACL injury recovery process alongside her team-mate and partner Vivianne Miedema.

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Mead opens up on featuring in Arsenal documentary

Opens up on ACL injury and recovery process

Women's football plagued with ACL injuries WHAT HAPPENED?

The Arsenal duo recently battled their way back to fitness after sustaining ACL tears last year. They recently featured in a documentary released by the Gunners where the players share anecdotes from their experiences of suffering such a serious injury and how they recovered from the setback.

AdvertisementWHAT BETH MEAD SAID

Speaking to , Mead revealed that they felt important to spread awareness regarding ACL injuries, which is quite prevalent among women footballers.

The striker, sitting alongside her partner said, "We felt important to kind of share our journey, make everyone a little bit more aware of what that journey looks like. If we could kind of figure out a little more as to why it's happening or the factors that go towards it happening or is there anything that we can do within the game to present it? At least minimise the risk of ACL injuries.

"There's been quite a pandemic of this specific injury so we owed it to the next generation to try and figure out a better solution, a better plan that could minimise the risk of this nasty injury."

GettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

According to a report from , women footballers are six times more likely to sustain ACL injuries compared to men. Female footballers are also 25 per cent less likely to fully recover and return from such injuries.

In recent times, women's football has been plagued with ACL injuries with several big names being ruled out of action due to knee problems.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR BETH MEAD?

Since her return to action, the 28-year-old has made seven Women's Super League appearances where he scored thrice for her club. She will be next seen in action after the winter break when Arsenal face Watford in a FA WSL Cup clash on January 14.

A second ODI loss to Zimbabwe in the ongoing series, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews conceded, has put his captaincy under significant pressure, and he hinted that he is unsure if he will lead the side in the next World Cup

Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Jul-2017Angelo Mathews is unsure whether he will be Sri Lanka’s captain at the 2019 World Cup, after leading his side to a second loss against Zimbabwe in the ongoing five-match series. The defeat, Mathews conceded, put his captaincy under significant pressure. His comments came after Zimbabwe chased down a revised target of 219 – deduced via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method – in the fourth ODI, after Sri Lanka had made 300.”There’s a lot of pressure on all of us, and as a captain there is a lot of pressure on me as well,” Mathews said after the loss in Hambantota. “In these games, where our batsmen have done well, our bowlers didn’t perform well – both in this match, and in the first one we lost. Our fielding also hasn’t been good at times. Against Zimbabwe, we need to play better than this. If we score 300 and still lose here, there is a big shortcoming.”Mathews’ record as ODI captain since the last World Cup isn’t exactly awful: the team has won 12 matches to the 15 they have lost under his watch. However, during that time, their only series wins under Mathews have been against West Indies at home, and Ireland, away. They have lost one away series apiece to England and New Zealand, and one home series to Australia and Pakistan each. Besides, there is now a risk of losing a home series to 11th-ranked Zimbabwe, who have tied the ongoing series 2-2.”I don’t know if I will be going to the 2019 World Cup as captain,” Mathews said. “Our batsmen are doing well, but sometimes there’s no consistency in our fielding – we don’t do well sometimes. But with the players that we have, we can win these matches. We lost these matches because our bowling wasn’t good. We have to solve this problem quickly.”If Sri Lanka perform poorly in the forthcoming ODIs against India (in August and September), there is also the chance of the team not being able to gain automatic entry for the 2019 World Cup. At present, Sri Lanka are on the eighth position, with 92 rating points. They must stay ahead of West Indies, who are currently on 78 rating points, in order to avoid going through a separate qualification procedure for the next World Cup.Considering this was the second instance in the series when Sri Lanka failed to defend 300 or more, Mathews was forthright in stating his discontent over the lack of sting in the performance of the bowlers.”After scoring 300, how many times can you lose a game?” You know, we had enough runs on the board. [It’s] unfortunate the rain had to intervene, but still, we had the bowling attack to defend it. The first ten overs we gave away a lot of runs, also the rain intervened and the last ten overs we didn’t bowl that well.”We actually didn’t know the rain might come in, but the wicket was extremely dry this morning. So we all thought it’s going to start slowing more and more once the day goes on. We saw in the last game also that the ball started turning after the first 20 overs, in the second half especially. So, I thought if we bat first and bat well, we have the spinners to defend it.”Mathews also made the point that Sri Lanka’s attack was a diminished one. Nuwan Pradeep, who has recently been the best bowler in the side, picked up a niggle in the third ODI, and is being rested in order to ensure he can be fit for the four Test matches over the next eight weeks. Suranga Lakmal was also made unavailable by illness.”In our bowling we are facing problems – Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal are injured,” Mathews said. “We have to manage our bowlers’ workloads as well. We’ve got a lot of cricket coming up. We have to balance managing workloads and winning the matches in front of us.”