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The person identified in an Al Jazeera investigation as a “groundsman” who curated Test pitches in Galle to suit bettors, is not a curator, according to SLC

Andrew Fidel Fernando27-May-2018The person identified in an Al Jazeera investigation as a “groundsman” who may have twice curated Test pitches in Galle to suit bettors, is not in fact a curator, according to SLC. As such, he did not have powers to alter the state of either pitch, board officials said.In the investigative documentary, “Cricket’s match-fixers,” the person Al Jazeera says is Tharanga Indika is seen in conversation with an undercover journalist posing as a prospective bettor. Two other men, who are also identified as fixers, are present in the room. Through the course of this conversation, Indika claims to have doctored the Test pitches for the 2016 match against Australia and 2017 match against India, according to Al Jazeera. The investigation describes Indika’s actions as “unlawful”, the implication being, the doctoring was for the benefit of bettors.The documentary identifies Indika as someone “who oversees the pitch at Galle, where Sri Lanka play international matches”. But SLC denied Indika had control over how any pitch will turn out.

SLC takes steps

• SLC to complain to the Criminal Investigations Department against persons allegedly involved in “pitch fixing” as reported by Al Jazeera.

• The alleged individuals being investigated by ICC for involvement in the said incident suspended by SLC.

• SLC appointed a committee comprising Mohan de Silva, Air Commodore Roshan Biyanwila and Channa Weerakkody to make recommendations on existing protocols for management and staff of every venue to prevent such incidents in the future.

While the board pledged its support to the ICC’s investigation into the matter, “[Indika] is not a curator,” board CEO Ashley de Silva told ESPNcricinfo. “He was only the assistant manager. He was working on the administrative side and overlooking the staff at the venue.”SLC did not deny that Indika was in a position to direct staff who were working at the venue. However, all work on the pitch was overseen by SLC’s certified curators, said Godfrey Dabrera, the board’s international venues and facilities manager – effectively the head SLC curator. Dabrera was the man in charge of both the Test pitches Al Jazeera drew into question.”Anyone who works at the ground has access to the pitch, but without my permission, he can’t direct staff to work on the surface,” Dabrera told ESPNcricinfo. “All he can do is supply the labour that we need. Sometimes he directs the temporary staff we have hired to pull the covers on and off the field, but when it comes to making the wickets, he has no rights there. He has no connection to the cricket side of things. If I am not at the pitch, then my assistant Asitha, who generally works at Pallekele, is at the pitch.”While the SLC curators are present during pitch preparation before the match begins, the Al Jazeera investigation itself suggests ICC officials are present after the game has begun.And although Indika had begun training to become a curator, he was some way from completing that qualification, and was not regarded by the board as a curator, Dabrera said. “He has attended a curators’ workshop, but he hasn’t completed that course. Even though he has done some of the theory, there is a practical component. If you pass that only you get a certificate. He’s not a curator in any case.”Where someone who works inside the venue might be of use to bettors, however, is when it comes to providing pitch information before the game begins. Dabrera said: “People like assistant managers don’t have the power to make the pitches they want. What is possible is that they can watch what we are doing. They can talk to the staff who have been working on the pitch. They can listen to conversations.””I wasn’t aware anything like this was going on. Now I will have to cover everything up during the preparation of a pitch to stop [that information from getting out]. But someone who has no control over how the pitch will turn out can’t say anything like this.”The two Test surfaces in question, meanwhile, had not raised the officials’ eyebrows at the time. In fact, ESPNcricinfo can confirm the Sri Lanka team had requested a spin-friendly surface for the Australia match in 2016, and a batting friendly surface against India in 2017. Immediately after that 2017 game, the captain Rangana Herath had said: “I think we made this pitch because we had a plan. I said before the match that it will be a track that’s good for batting. We should take the main responsibility for the nature of the pitch.” The ICC had rated that pitch as “very good”.*The 2016 pitch for the Australia match had been rated “below average”, just about escaping serious ICC censure. It was very spin friendly, and had been described by Sri Lanka’s then-captain Angelo Mathews as an “extreme pitch”. Australia slumped to 106 and 183 all out in that game, Sri Lanka ad made 281 and 237 in their innings.”There are standards for every pitch that we have to follow,” Dabrera said. “The ball can’t skid along the ground. It can’t jump up at batsmen. It can’t have inconsistent bounce. Those things are regulated by the ICC.”This is the second time in a few years the surfaces in Galle have been part of corruption investigations, however. In early 2016, the venue’s curator Jayananda Warnaweera was suspended for three years by the ICC, for failing to attend scheduled ACU interviews on two separate occasions.*This story was updated with the pitch rating information.

In ESPNCricinfo’s poll on India’s 13-Test-long home season, the readers agreed with an expert panel on five of seven questions

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2017Ravindra Jadeja has been voted the best player of India’s home season by both ESPNCricinfo’s readers and an expert panel consisting of ESPNCricinfo staff and three former India Test cricketers, Sanjay Manjrekar, Ajit Agarkar and Aakash Chopra. Jadeja, who averaged 22.83 with the ball and 42.76 with the bat over the 13 Tests India played at home between September and March, got 65% of the 20,500-plus votes cast by readers. He fared similarly in the vote by the panel, with six out of 10 members voting for him. Cheteshwar Pujara, who got 12% of the readers’ vote, had two votes from the panel, while R Ashwin and Virat Kohli got one each.Umesh Yadav was the readers’ support act of the season•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The panel’s decision was consistent with the readers’ on five of the seven questions asked in the poll. Both chose Umesh Yadav as the best support act of the season, England’s Haseeb Hameed as debutant of the season, the second Test in the India-Australia series, in Bengaluru, as the Test of the season and Steven Smith as the visiting player of the season. Smith’s selection was emphatic – all ten of the panel members voted for him, and 92% of 17,900-plus readers who voted on the question agreed. Wriddhiman Saha and KL Rahul pushed Umesh for the title of best support act, getting 29% and 31% of the readers’ vote respectively, while Umesh got 37% (7000-plus votes). The ESPNCricinfo panel decision was not as close, with Umesh getting seven out of ten votes.Sanjay Manjrekar selected Virat Kohli as his player of the season•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Hameed edged out Kuldeep Yadav in the best debutant category in the reader vote, but it was Jayant Yadav who was closest competition in the panel’s vote, getting three votes to Hameed’s five. The Bengaluru Test and the final one of the season, in Dharamsala, were separated by less than 1000 votes in the readers’ poll, but Bengaluru won easily among our panel, with seven members picking it. Two picked Dharamsala and one went for the Test against New Zealand in Kolkata.Ajit Agarkar thought Umesh Yadav’s 3 for 29 in Dharamsala was the bowling performance of the season•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The two categories the readers and panel disagreed on were innings of the season and bowling performance of the season. The readers selected Pujara’s marathon 202 against Australia in Ranchi as the best innings, with Pujara’s 92 in the second innings in Bengaluru coming a close second. For our panel, though, Steven Smith’s 109 on a turning pitch in Pune was the best knock. Pujara’s 92 got two votes, while Virat Kohli’s innings of 235 in Mumbai and 81 in Visakhapatnam, both against England, got a vote each.Virat Kohli’s double-century in Mumbai was the innings of the season for Aakash Chopra•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Another Australia player won the panel’s vote for best bowling of the season – Nathan Lyon, for his 8 for 50 in the first innings in Bengaluru. Lyon’s performance got just 13% of the 19,500-plus votes in the reader poll. That was won by Jadeja’s 7 for 48 against England in Chennai.

Canterbury-born allrounder Logan van Beek has been named in Netherlands’ 15-man squad for the World T20 in India

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Feb-2016Canterbury-born allrounder Logan van Beek has been named in Netherlands’ 15-man squad for the World T20 in India, which starts from March 8. Van Beek had played seven matches in the previous T20 World Cup in Bangladesh for five wickets and 78 runs, but has not played for Netherlands since. In terms of recent match practice, van Beek had played ten matches in Canterbury’s title-winning Ford Trophy campaign.Netherlands coach Anton Roux welcomed back van Beek and said that he was happy with the team’s performance in the UAE, where they won their Intercontinental Cup and World Cricket League Championship matches against UAE in addition to playing two T20Is against the hosts and Scotland.”After a very successful tour of the UAE, I am happy to announce an exciting group of Dutch cricketers that will represent The Netherlands in India at the WT20,” Roux said.”This group has shown an immense amount of commitment to what we are trying to achieve on the field of play, and to continue playing our brand of cricket. After a great season with Canterbury, the addition of Logan van Beek can only mean added value to the squad and we look forward to having him back. Being able to showcase our skills on the world stage in a tournament like this is a wonderful opportunity that we are very grateful for, and we intend to add more magical memories for the boys in orange. For some this will be a last shot at World Cup glory and for some it will be a first taste of cricket in magical India, which means it all adds up for some exciting times for all involved.”Opener Michael Swart, who was part of Netherlands’ recent tour to the UAE, though, has been left out of the squad. He had hit an unbeaten 60 in Netherlands’ seven-wicket win over UAE in the ICC World Cricket League championship. However, Swart had managed only 35 runs and two wickets in the subsequent two T20s.Tim Gruijters Tom Heggelman, and Eric Szwarczynski who all were part of Netherland’s previous World T20 squad did not find a place either. The squad for India includes 18-year-old Sikandar Zulfiqar who made his T20I debut for Netherlands against UAE earlier this week.The top eight teams have a direct entry into the main draw of the World T20 but Netherlands, who are ranked 12th, will have to go through a qualifying round. They are placed in Group A of the first round with Bangladesh, Oman, and Ireland and will play one match with each team, in Dharamsala. Their tournament opener is against Bangladesh on March 9. Only if they finish on top of the group will they move on to the main tournament.Squad: Wesley Barresi, Logan van Beek, Peter Borren, Mudassar Bukhari, Ben Cooper, Timm van der Gugten, Vivian Kingma, Ahsan Malik, Paul van Meekeren, Roelof van der Merwe, Stephan Myburgh, Max O’Dowd, Michael Rippon, Pieter Seelaar, Sikander Zulfiqar.

Luis Reece led his side’s commanding first-day performance with a polished 85, his best score in the Championship in only his fifth appearance

Graham Hardcastle at Grace Road02-Aug-2013
ScorecardLuis Reece made his first significant score as a Lancashire opener•Getty Images

Luis Reece enjoys batting at Grace Road. The Lancashire opener led his side’s commanding first-day performance with a polished 85, his best score in the Championship in only his fifth appearance. It came just over three months after posting a first-class best of 114 not out here in Leeds/Bradford MCCU colours.In the same match, the 22-year-old Reece captained the students to a notable win over Leicestershire in an early season friendly, and he will be hoping that this contribution helps bring about a similar result for the Division Two leaders, who are searching for their fourth win in five.He will, however, be frustrated that he could not add a bit of symmetry to the early stages of his career – maiden first-class and Championship hundreds on the same ground. The latter will have to wait.Reece, who hit 12 fours in 160 balls, is a first-year professional with Lancashire. Discarded after being with their academy in 2008, he impressed enough for his university side and for the Unicorns to force the coach, Peter Moores, to have another look at him. He was offered scholarship terms as a result for 2012 and a full contract for this summer.He was part of Lancashire’s first century opening stand this season with Paul Horton, back in first-team colours for the first time since May 19 after dislocating the ring finger on his right hand twice. They are the county’s sixth different opening partnership in the Championship in 2013.Horton survived an lbw appeal from Matthew Hoggard with the first ball of the contest as well a run-out chance from square leg as he wandered some way out of his ground.After Leicestershire were invited to field first, Hoggard and new ball partner Alex Wyatt found some early assistance off the pitch to test Horton and Reece, who survived and prospered to reach three figures before lunch.Horton will count himself unlucky to have fallen for 59 five balls into the afternoon as Ollie Freckingham took a stunning one-handed catch at midwicket to help Wyatt make the breakthrough with the score on 104.Cracking his opening partnership has been Moores’ toughest task this summer. A stable middle-order is underpinned by Simon Katich, who made 62, and Ashwell Prince and he can also count on a potent bowling attack led by captain, Glen Chapple, and left-arm spinner Simon Kerrigan. But it just hasn’t worked out at the top of the order for one reason or another.Injuries have contributed, Horton being the case in point. But so has the lack of a substantial innings here and there. Stephen Moore, Luke Procter, Andrea Agathangelou and Karl Brown have all been tried against the new ball without nailing down their place.The current pair at least know they will get a decent run at it after this performance, which was full of intent against a home attack lacking depth. Hoggard and Wyatt threatened initially before keeping things tight, but the likes of Freckingham, Shiv Thakor and Tom Wells leaked runs.Leicester certainly improved in the afternoon and evening, taking all five wickets, and Lancashire’s position in the game could have been better. But this was Reece’s and Lancashire’s day.

Stuart Barnes, the Bangladesh A coach, said that his side’s dismal performance at the Shafi Darashah tournament was down to the lack of first-class exposure

Mohammad Isam12-Aug-2012Stuart Barnes, the Bangladesh A coach, has said that his side’s dismal performance at the Shafi Darashah tournament was down to the lack of first-class exposure. Barnes, however, avoided commenting on the drama that surrounded the captain Shahriar Nafees being sent back home due to misconduct before the third group game in Bangalore.The second-string Bangladesh side started off the four-day competition on a positive note when they drew the opening game against Baroda Cricket Association XI but lost the other two group games – against KSCA Colts by five wickets and KSCA XI by 155 runs – to be eliminated from the group stage.Barnes had ten international cricketers at his disposal, which included seven who have played Tests for Bangladesh. But the players showed their lack of first-class match experience, failing to grind it out over a period of four days.”What I saw in India reflected the number of one-day matches compared to four-day matches that the players play here [in Bangladesh],” Barnes told ESPNcricinfo. “The batsmen need patience, discipline, and be mentally tough enough to be within their batting plan because their job is to bat all day. But in order to get to that point where they need to know how to bat all day, they need to practice it in matches domestically.””I was impressed with one or two aspects because it was clear to me that some were trying to do things differently. But the probability said that, because of the number of one-day matches that they play here, they weren’t just going to be able to switch to the different skill-set needed for four-day cricket. It was disappointing not to win any games but that was a fair reflection that they don’t know how to play the longer game yet.”One of the weaknesses that Bangladesh batsmen showed consistently during the tour, according to Barnes, was against offspin bowling. Bangladesh lost half of their wickets to offspinners. “We lost in different wickets, for different reasons. We lost 49% of our total wickets to off-spin, which surprised me initially but when you look at it closely, there aren’t many off-spinners in Bangladesh. The only difference in the wicket was the offspinner managing to get more bounce. We lost for skill reasons more than anything else,” he said.Doubts were raised about the atmosphere in the dressing room after the captain, Nafees, was sent back in the middle of the tour. Barnes, who was involved in the decision-making, did not comment on the issue. During the second game, Nafees had expressed his anger towards the Umpires after his dismissal, later to be warned by the match referee.”It’s important to have an environment that encourages players to learn, and not just about skills but about playing in different parts of the world. That incident was unfortunate but I won’t speak about it until I talk to my board directors here,” Barnes said.According to newspaper reports, some players also showed dissent towards the trainer during the A team’s camp in Khulna before they headed to India, but the team management didn’t inform the BCB nor take any disciplinary actions. “I had quite a big squad to work with in Khulna. My job as coach is to challenge players, observe how they react to being challenged. I’ve mentioned before that I’m very keen on fitness to improve but that doesn’t happen in a one-day series. I experienced different reactions of players to all my challenges. I am thick-skinned and it was just interesting to see how they react. I didn’t take anything personally. I’m looking for players who think on their feet quickly,” he said.The 42-year-old Englishman was impressed with Mominul Haque, Naeem Islam, Shahadat Hossain and Enamul Haque Jr for trying to take a different approach while batting. He told the batsmen that with their high strike-rates in first-class cricket, all they need to do is bat a little bit longer to increase their batting averages.”I honestly believe every player wants success. But the question is what the success looks like to them individually. Is it to improve their batting average over the next two years, by five runs. What I stressed to all the batters, their strike-rates suggest that if they bat another 20 balls per innings, their average would go up very easily. I believe players are motivated by different reasons,” he said.Bangladesh A’s next assignment is against the West Indies High Performance team in September. They will play a four-day game, three one-day matches and two Twenty20 games.

Chris Hartley, the Queensland wicketkeeper, has signed with the Brisbane Heat for the Twenty20 Big Bash League

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Aug-2011Chris Hartley, the Queensland wicketkeeper, has signed with the Brisbane Heat for the Twenty20 Big Bash League, and will serve as understudy to Brendon McCullum during the tournament.Not known for particularly fast scoring, Hartley was set targets for off-season improvement by the Bulls and Heat coach Darren Lehmann, and was signed once he had reached them.”We gave a number of the players some specific things we thought they needed to work on during the off-season and Harts more than met expectations,” Lehmann said.”He showed that he can play the sort of game we want in T20 and his batting has been as good as anyone in the Queensland squad so far in our preparations.”It’s also good to have another ‘keeper in the squad in the event that Brendon McCullum has to miss a game. And Harts is just one of those people you want to have around the group. He’s incredibly dedicated and has a sharp cricket brain.”Hartley’s signing is the Heat’s 15th ahead of the BBL, bolstering a squad that includes the likes of McCullum, Daniel Vettori, Daniel Christian, Ryan Harris, James Hopes and the previously retired opener Matthew Hayden.The squads so far
Adelaide Strikers Aiden Blizzard, Cameron Borgas, Lee Carseldine, Tom Cooper, Adam Crosthwaite, Theo Doropoulos, Brendan Drew, Callum Ferguson, Daniel Harris, Michael Klinger, Nathan Lyon, Aaron O’Brien, Gary Putland, Kane Richardson. Overseas players: Kieron Pollard.
Brisbane Heat Ryan Broad, Nick Buchanan, Daniel Christian, Ben Cutting, Peter Forrest, Ryan Harris, Chris Hartley, Nathan Hauritz, Matthew Hayden, James Hopes, Chris Lynn, Michael Neser, Chris Swan. Overseas players: Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori.
Hobart Hurricanes Travis Birt, Mark Cosgrove, Xavier Doherty, Luke Feldman, Evan Gulbis, Ben Hilfenhaus, Michael Hogan, Phil Jaques, Matt Johnston, Jason Krejza, Nick Kruger, Ben Laughlin, Rhett Lockyear, Tim Paine, RIcky Ponting. Overseas players: Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Owais Shah.
Melbourne Renegades Ryan Carters, Aaron Finch, Shane Harwood, Aaron Heal, Jayde Herrick, Michael Hill, Brad Hodge, Glenn Maxwell, Andrew McDonald, Brenton McDonald, Dirk Nannes, Nathan Reardon, Will Sheridan, Shaun Tait. Overseas players: Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi.
Melbourne Stars George Bailey, James Faulkner, John Hastings, Jon Holland, David Hussey, Alex Keath, Clint McKay, James Pattinson, Rob Quiney, Peter Siddle, Chris Simpson, Adam Voges, Matthew Wade, Cameron White. Overseas players: Luke Wright.
Perth Scorchers Tom Beaton, Michael Beer, Mark Cameron, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ben Edmondson, Michael Hussey, Simon Katich, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Marcus North, Luke Pomersbach, Nathan Rimmington, Luke Ronchi. Overseas players: Paul Collingwood, Herschelle Gibbs.
Sydney Sixers Ed Cowan, Pat Cummins, Brad Haddin, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Brett Lee, Nic Maddinson, Ian Moran, Peter Nevill, Steve O’Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Dominic Thornely, Shane Watson. Overseas players: Michael Lumb
Sydney Thunder Sean Abbott, Tim Armstrong, Nic Bills, Doug Bollinger, Luke Butterworth, Scott Coyte, Tim Cruickshank, Matthew Day, Luke Doran, Ben Dunk, Jason Floros, Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Craig Philipson, Daniel Smith, David Warner. Overseas players: Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle.

The SSC has been a fortress of sorts for Sri Lanka in the recent past, and they set about continuing their dominant run at the venue with another imposing performance

The Bulletin by Siddhartha Talya26-Jul-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Century no. 23 for Kumar Sangakkara•AFP

The SSC has been a fortress of sorts for Sri Lanka in the recent past, and they set about continuing their dominant run at the venue with another imposing opening-day performance. The actors who put them in charge this time were the same as in Galle. Kumar Sangakkara and Tharanga Paranavitana served the Indians a painful reminder of the initiative lost on the first day of the series, cashing in on some unthreatening bowling that offered plenty of opportunities to score on a seemingly lifeless track.The bowlers were expected to have a hard time on this pitch and events after MS Dhoni lost the toss reinforced the apprehensions the sides may have had of fielding first. The virtual absence of swing and the lack of movement off the deck, combined with poor lengths from the seamers, helped the Sri Lankan openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Paranavitana take the initiative in the opening session. And the glimmer of hope that Dilshan’s wicket provided following the introduction of spin was extinguished by a brilliant counter-attack from Sangakkara.As Dhoni had predicted, the pitch offered more bounce than the one in Galle but the spinners created few chances, despite the accompanying turn. It was Sangakkara who initially unsettled the spinners, prompting Dhoni to set defensive fields soon after Dilshan’s dismissal. In the very over that Pragyan Ojha had Dilshan caught at extra cover, Sangakkara slashed one through point for four and audaciously stepped out to loft him over mid-on.Dilshan’s brisk start to the innings had forced Dhoni to place deep points for both seamers, and Sangakkara’s fluent beginning resulted in a long-on and deep midwicket being put in place for the spinners. And while the slow bowlers kept a slip and a short leg, they rarely bowled on a length to draw the batsmen forward.Harbhajan Singh has a huge responsibility to bear, leading an inexperienced bowling attack, but the ease with which he was handled underlined the daunting task facing the visitors. Harbhajan changed angles and varied his flight but the Sri Lankan left-hand batsmen used the away spin to carve him through cover and point and used their feet to effect when the ball was tossed up. Sangakkara launched one over the bowler’s head for a one-bounce four while Paranavitana, the more cautious of the two, charged down and swung him over the midwicket boundary.The seamers, Ishant Sharma and Abhimanyu Mithun, who had struggled in the opening session, were targeted by Sangakkara after lunch. Facing deliveries that were bowled consistently back of a length, Sangakkara pulled and whipped them behind square and delicately guided those pitched even fractionally short through point and past gully. He was positive throughout, ensuring a steady flow of singles and twos, but had a scare when he edged Mithun just wide of gully while in the nineties. He brought up his 23rd Test century by dispatching Virender Sehwag over mid-on, and looked determined to bat India out of the Test.Paranavitana was a little patchy to begin with. He was beaten on a couple of occasions by Mithun in the morning session, but Ishant gave him an opening with a short and wide delivery that was duly smacked through point. Tentative with his foot movement early on, Paranavitana gradually moved forward to deliveries pitched fuller and picked a couple of boundaries, beautifully driven past mid-off. While Sangakkara was constantly on the hunt for runs, Paranavitana remained solid in defence and ceded the floor to his captain, giving him the strike and intermittently finding the boundary with some crisp drives through the off side. Charged with anchoring the innings, he reached his second successive century moments before Sangakkara got his, but played on to a shortish delivery from Ishant after tea.A sense of foreboding for the Indians was evident fairly early in the day, when Dilshan smacked four consecutive boundaries off Ishant Sharma in the fourth over. He dealt with Mithun similarly, cracking three tempting short deliveries to different parts of the ground to race to a half-century. He squandered an opportunity to reach three figures, two other batsmen did not, and with Mahela Jayawardene standing firm in his favourite venue, Sri Lanka have, yet again, capitalised on winning the toss.

Carse returns from gambling ban for Australia series, but no place for Bairstow, Moeen or Jordan

Alan Gardner26-Aug-20241:23

Bethell and Mousley’s plan to push each other to Test cricket

England have handed first white-ball call-ups to Jacob Bethell, Josh Hull and Dan Mousley for next month’s home series against Australia. Brydon Carse returns after serving a three-month suspension for betting breaches, while the uncapped John Turner is also included in both squads.There was no place for veterans Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali or Chris Jordan, all of whom were involved at the T20 World Cup in June, while neither Tom Hartley, who was with the squad in the Caribbean but has yet to be capped in T20Is, nor Rehan Ahmed are included. Mark Wood also misses out through injury.England will be led by Jos Buttler, alongside interim head coach Marcus Trescothick, for three T20Is and five ODIs. Buttler has not played since the T20 World Cup, having strained a calf while preparing for the Hundred, but is hoping to be involved in Lancashire’s T20 Blast quarter-final at Hove next week, ahead of the first T20I against Australia on September 11.England white-ball squads to play Australia•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Bethell and Mousley, the Warwickshire spin-bowling allrounders, had been tipped for inclusion on the back of their T20 Blast and Hundred form, while Leicestershire’s 6ft 7in fast bowler Hull has now been called up by England for all three formats in the space of two days. Bethell and Hull have been named in both squads, while Mousley is only included for the T20Is.Jordan Cox is another player who could make his T20I debut, almost two years after he was first called up for England’s tour of Pakistan. Cox was a member of the Oval Invincibles side that sealed back-to-back Hundred titles a fortnight ago and is currently the spare batter with the Test side. Saqib Mahmood, Player of the Match in the Hundred final, is also back in contention in T20Is after two years interrupted by back stress fractures.Carse, who was banned after an anti-corruption investigation by the Cricket Regulator, has not played any cricket since May – his suspension is due to lift later this week. He will add to England’s pace-bowling options alongside Turner, who toured the Caribbean last winter and has continued to impress for Hampshire and Trent Rockets.Related

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The ODI series with Australia will see England begin to focus on next year’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Five members of the Test squad, who could not be involved in the T20I series due to the short turnaround after the series with Sri Lanka, are included – Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith and Matthew Potts – but Joe Root has been rested.Jofra Archer was also named in both squads, and is set to play his first ODI since the 2022-23 tour of Bangladesh, after which he suffered a recurrence of his elbow injury.England T20I squad: Jos Buttler (capt), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dan Mousley, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, John TurnerEngland ODI squad: Jos Buttler (capt), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Reece Topley, John Turner

Three members of the management committee – Tanvir Ahmed, Gul Zada and Shakil Sheikh – are at the centre of the conflict worry

Umar Farooq25-Apr-2023The PCB has played down concerns of conflict of interest in the ongoing regional electoral process, at the end of which the board’s directors will be appointed. The concerns are about officials from the interim setup, who are currently tasked with overseeing the PCB’s restructuring but are also taking part in the elections.A 12-member management committee, headed by Najam Sethi, was handed interim charge of the board last December and given 120 days to bring back the 2014 PCB constitution in place of the version from 2019 it had been operating under. That timeline was this week formally extended by two months to the end of June. One of the key processes in that is conducting elections in over 100 districts, from which 16 regions will be formed. Four of the heads of those 16 regional associations will eventually sit on the PCB’s board of governors (BoG).Three members of the management committee – Tanvir Ahmed, who has been elected president of Larkana region; Gul Zada, from Peshawar region; and Shakil Sheikh, who is in the running in the Islamabad region election – working from PCB headquarters currently are at the centre of the conflict concern. As members of the committee, they were given executive powers when they took charge to restore the departmental cricket structure, the formation of a BoG, and election of a board chairman.Responding to a query from ESPNcricinfo, the PCB explained that its constitution stipulates that no employee of the board shall be eligible to contest any election of the board or any election under the aegis of the board. But when asked if there was a potential conflict of interest in a member of the management committee overseeing the electoral process as well as running in it, the PCB said, “As far as members of the MC [management committee] are concerned they are not employees of the Board, hence, there is no bar in the PCB Constitution or any Election Bylaws refraining them from contesting elections of RCAs/DCAs.””The elections of Regional Cricket Associations and District Cricket Associations are being held in line with the PCB Constitution and applicable PCB Election Bylaws,” the PCB added. “The Election Regulations under which the District and Regional elections have been/are being conducted have not been modified or amended by the MC, therefore, there is also no risk of a potential conflict of interest.”Related

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To restore the 2014 constitution, the PCB needs to form a BoG comprising ten members: four regional representatives (top teams from the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy), four representatives of services organisations (top departmental teams), and the two members directly nominated by the PCB patron, which is the country’s prime minister. The federal secretary of the inter-provincial coordination ministry (or an officer nominated by them) shall be an ex-officio, non-voting 11th member. The term of each member of the BoG is three years – equivalent to one term of the chairman.There are over 100 districts in the country across all provinces and a cluster of districts are represented by one region. For example, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Narowal and Gujarat fall under Sialkot region. Similarly, every region has several districts to represent the larger portion of the area.”The elections themselves have been conducted/supervised by the Election Commissioner appointed by the Patron,” the PCB said. “It is the PCB election commissioner who has the power and responsibility for holding and monitoring fair, free and transparent elections under the PCB Constitution including those of Chairman, Regional, District, and other Cricket Associations as well as Service Organizations or Departments, whether Full or Associate Members. It is important to note that EC and electoral processes are independent of the Board.”Some time ago, to avoid a potential conflict of interest, Haroon Rasheed had resigned from the management committee to take up the role of chief selector. PCB announced it at a press conference but clarified that it was determined there “existed no cavil” in Rasheed carrying on as chief selector as well as a management committee member, so ultimately he didn’t step down.”It was agreed that when matters pertaining to the performance of the selection committee are discussed and debated at an MC meeting, Haroon Rasheed will recuse himself and leave the room till such time that the agenda point has not been conclusively addressed,” PCB said.

Chamari Athapaththu breaks into top ten after showing strong form in the Commonwealth Games Qualifiers

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2022Meg Lanning and Tahlia McGrath have moved up in the ICC Women’s T20I rankings among batters after guiding Australia to a 1-0 series victory in the T20I leg of the ongoing Ashes series. Lanning, the Australia captain, displaced Smriti Mandhana from third place, while McGrath vaulted up 29 places to 28th.In the first T20I in Adelaide, McGrath followed up figures of 3 for 26 with an unbeaten 91 off 49 balls, including 13 fours and a six. Lanning also fired with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 64 off 44 balls as Australia hunted down 170 with nine wickets and three overs to spare. The second and third T20Is ended in no-results following lashing rain in Adelaide.

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Shafali Verma regained the top spot on the table, leapfrogging Beth Mooney, who was sidelined from the Ashes games after undergoing surgery for a fractured jaw. Verma (726) now has a two-point lead over Mooney.Among allrounders, Ellyse Perry dropped out of the top ten in the list that continues to be led by New Zealand’s Sophie Devine.Meanwhile, Chamari Athapaththu advanced six places to break into the top ten. She made scores of 24, 86, 57, 30, 48 in Kuala Lumpur as Sri Lanka assured themselves of an opportunity to compete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games to be played in Birmingham this July-August.