The former Pakistan captain said the hectic schedule of the tournament had led to the quality of pitches being substandard

Umar Farooq15-Oct-2017The 2017-18 Quaid-e-Azam trophy had attracted attention for its hectic schedule, with each team having to play seven four-day games in just 41 days. On Sunday, it attracted its most prominent critic, with former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq bemoaning the quality of the pitch, claiming the heavy schedule meant it was difficult to prepare good pitches.On the first day of the fourth round of QeA fixtures, 93 wickets fell across eight games, with the LCCA ground in Lahore alone seeing 17 wickets tumble. In the previous round, a game between WAPDA and Islamabad saw 24 wickets fall on the opening day.Some attributed the bowler-friendly nature of the games to the Duke ball – introduced to the Pakistan domestic circuit for the first time – but Misbah – who continues to play domestic cricket despite retiring from international cricket in May – laid the blame on the pitches being overused. “I have been playing with these players [on the domestic circuit] all my career, and I feel good. But there is some disappointment as well after watching the state of pitches in domestic cricket,” Misbah said. “This is supposed to be the most prestigious form of cricket after international cricket, but the standard of the tournament is very low.”I always have been insisting that these concerns need to be heeded and these problems addressed. You cannot produce better cricketers until you don’t improve the standard of the pitches. We take a lot of time to get here, players invest a lot of time to play but this isn’t the standard that should be in place. When 20-24 wickets are falling in a day, then it is a concern. Wickets are uneven, the ball keeps low and it is obvious that the pitches are underprepared It’s difficult for players.”Fifteen venues have been chosen to host the 69 matches. Just 86 days have been set aside for the entire tournament, with the final to be played from December 16. The group stage has been especially compressed, with each team afforded only 13 rest days if their games last all four days. That is a reduction on an already packed schedule: teams were given 18 and 15 days off in the group stages in the last two seasons. A National T20 Cup has been squeezed within this tournament, with a three-week window allocated after the group stage of the QeA, which ends on November 5, and the next stage – the Super Eight – starting from November 25.There have been several rounds of talks over the last decade regarding the improvement of Pakistan’s domestic cricket, with the circuit revamped every other year. But the players have often complained about the quality of pitches, the standard of the tournament and the uncertain schedule.The PCB has also struggled to find a permanent resolution to the quality of the cricket ball being used in domestic cricket. This year, they got the manufacturers that produce the Duke balls to prepare a custom-made ball to withstand the extreme heat in Pakistan. This is the third time the PCB has changed the maker of the ball over the last five years, with the Grace and the Kookaburra also used.With all the back-to-back games at venues, the pitches will inevitably take inevitable strain, and Misbah said domestic cricket needed to be taken seriously, instead of simply playing it as a compulsion. “It will happen when you play back-to-back games with only a two-day gap, and it will be difficult to maintain a pitch. It takes time to prepare a good pitch for a game and nobody can make it in two days. Organising the first-class tournament only for the sake of obligation shouldn’t be the purpose; it should be played at a high standard. It should prepare us for Test match pitches.”

Pakistan Under-19s were once again tormented by offspinner Mujeeb Zadran, who took 5 for 13 in the final to bowl them out for a mere 63

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Nov-2017
ScorecardACC

Ikram Faizi’s unbeaten 107 and a five-for from offspinner Mujeeb Zadran clinched the maiden Asia Cup title for Afghanistan Under-19s, with a 185-run win over Pakistan Under-19s in the final in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.Mujeeb came into the final having taken six wickets against Nepal Under-19s in the semi-final and a six-for against Pakistan in the side’s first match of the tournament. His domination over the opponents continued – having dismissed Pakistan’s openers by the fourth over, Mujeeb returned in his second spell to pick up three lower-order wickets without conceding a run. His 5 for 13 took his overall wicket tally in the tournament to 20. Mujeeb was well-supported by legspinner Qais Ahmad, whose three wickets included Mohammad Taha – the leading run-getter in the tournament – and wicketkeeper Rohail Nazir. Taha and captain Hasan Khan were the only two Pakistan batsmen to score in double-figures in an innings that lasted 22.1 overs.Earlier, having been put in to bat, Afghanistan’s top three did the bulk of the scoring. The openers, Rahman Gul (40 off 53 balls) and Ibrahim Zadran (36 off 76), began with a 61-run opening partnership before Faizi took charge of the innings, smashing 10 fours and two sixes en route to his 113-ball 107. He anchored two fifty-plus stands with Darwish Rasooli (18) and Qais (14) for the third and sixth wickets respectively, negating much of the impact of the strikes from Muhammad Musa and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who took five wickets between them. Having hit only 14 off his first 50 balls, Faizi accelerated quickly – he brought up his century with a six in the penultimate over, while smashing 18 runs in a 26-run over bowled by Munir Riaz.

The middle-order batsmen put together a fifth-wicket stand of 120 after WAPDA had taken four wickets early on

The Report by Danyal Rasool23-Dec-2017
Scorecard
Azhar Ali reaches out to defend•AFP

The Quaid-e-Azam trophy final still remained tantalisingly poised at the end of the third day. It was a day of two halves, with WAPDA initially appearing to seize decisive control, before a superb partnership by SNGPL’s middle-order batsmen Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammad Rizwan restored parity.The day began with WAPDA still trailing by 88 runs, but a crucial half-century by Kamran Akmal steered them towards SNGPL’s total, and eventually beyond it. Khalid Usman gave him useful support in the lower order, scoring a brisk 26, as Azizullah and Mohammad Abbas wrapped up the WAPDA innings, though not before Salman Butt’s side had managed to steal a 12-run lead.They carried that momentum through to their bowling with a superb first hour of bowling. Waqas Maqsood was quietly lethal while Mohammad Asif was at his cunning, artistic best as a top order of Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Khurram Shehzad and Asad Shafiq could not help be overcome by their genius. Asif’s scalps were typical of him, as he took the ball away from Azhar to extract an outside edge, while bringing it back into Shehzad to trap him in front. Before long, SNGPL were 21 for 4.But just as the final looked to have revealed its hand, up popped Iftikhar and Rizwan, the same pair had bailed their side out in the first innings when they were reduced to 94 for four. But this was a different situation altogether. They negotiated a surging WAPDA attack, taking the buzz out of the contest as they settled in and slowly began to take their side to safety. They batted nearly 37 overs and were unbeaten at the close of play, both scoring half-centuries in a 120-run partnership. SNGPL led by 129 runs with six wickets still in hand, and the first hour on the fourth morning is likely to reveal which side the contest tips towards.

India’s captain said he wanted his players ‘be hard on themselves’ after the defeat in Centurion, while responding combatively to questions about selection and his team’s overseas record in his post-match press conference

Sidharth Monga in Centurion17-Jan-20188:09

WATCH: Kohli’s fiery press conference

With Ajinkya Rahane sitting out the first two Tests in South Africa, Virat Kohli has now dropped every player in the Test squad at least once, except Hardik Pandya who has just come in and is five Tests old. Kohli, however, will accept no criticism of the XIs he has selected on this tour.Before the start of the second Test in Centurion, he said “no one” thought Rahane should be in the XI. After their 135-run loss here, he refused to concede any mistakes in his selection of the XIs for the two Tests, but also said he wanted his side to reflect on every decision and every move they have made on the tour. He said he didn’t think there was anything wrong with the team’s preparations, but he snapped whenever questions concerning selection or India’s overseas record or the lack of continuity in the side.During his post-match press conference, Kohli was asked if he thought he had selected the best XI for the reminiscent-of-home conditions at SuperSport Park, conditions India almost had a template for. The following conversation ensued.

Q: “Last couple of years playing in subcontinent conditions, you got a formula to excel on pitches like these. Fast bowlers from both teams have said this is more like a subcontinent pitch. How much does this loss hurt that despite having that formula you could perhaps not get the best XI out and win this match?”Kohli: “What’s the best XI?”Q: “Was it your best XI?”Kohli: “But if we had won this, was this the best XI?”Q: “Again… It’s a pitch that was much more subcontinental…”Kohli: “I’m saying that we don’t decide XI according to the results.”Q: “My question was about the pitch…”Kohli: “But you’re saying… you’re telling me we could have played the best XI. So you tell me the best XI and we’ll play that. I’m saying the loss obviously hurts. But you make one decision and you back it. We certainly don’t sit here and say, ‘Oh if you fail in one game you are not good enough to be at this level or…’ Once the team loses. Didn’t we lose in India? We had the best XI there. Whoever plays should be good enough to go out there and do the job for the team. That’s why we’ve got such a big squad. Because we believe in their abilities and they are good enough to be at this level but you need to do that collectively as a team. You can’t pinpoint and say this is the best XI. We played with teams before that have looked really strong and have lost as well. So, I certainly don’t bend towards that opinion at all.”

Kohli later went on to say it was frustrating things were not coming together for his side. Asked if the chopping and changing might have played a part, Kohli snapped again.

Q: “You spoke about it not coming together well – has that maybe been because of the chopping and changing of selection? In over 30 Tests that you have been captain, you have changed your starting line-up in each and every Test you have played? To win Test matches you need consistency, and you have been lacking that part. What would you put that down to, and how would you say that you will continue changing your team and still expect different results?”Kohli: “How many Test matches have we won out of 34?”Q: “In how many have you changed the XI?”Kohli: “How many have we won? How many have we won? 21 wins. Two losses. How many draws?” [In fact, Kohli has won 20 as captain and lost five, out of 34 he had led in]Q: “How many in India?”Kohli: “Does it matter? Wherever we play we try to do our best. I’m here to answer your questions, not to fight with you.”

BCCI

India last won a Test in Australia, England, New Zealand or South Africa in 2014. Since their win in Durban in 2010, India have won only one Test in these countries out of 24. Kohli was asked if he felt India were still the best side in the world. He responded by comparing South Africa’s results in India on their last tour in 2015-16, when India won 3-0.

Q: “There is talk of India doing well in India but not overseas. Do you still believe you’re the best side in the world?”Kohli: “Look, we have to believe that we are the best side. Even when we came here, if you don’t have the belief that you can win the series here, there is no point coming here. We have not come here just to participate. And answering your question, sir, how many times did South Africa come into the game in India? Coming close to winning games in India? Can you count?”Q: “That’s because of the pitches.”Kohli: “But we are not complaining about Cape Town either. The game was finished in three days, one [day] was a washout. So look, we are not complaining about pitches, we are not complaining about conditions. We have come here to play. As I said, we have had equal opportunities to win in both games, and that’s the positive we can take out of it, but I’m not sitting here comforting my guys. So I don’t know what you are listening to, but I’m asking everyone to be hard on themselves.”

Faf du Plessis, South Africa’s captain, has been asking the groundsmen for pitches that will help his side “without being ridiculous”. When he was asked about the pitches in India, he felt they bordered on the extreme. When Kohli introduced the “what about South Africa in India” line, du Plessis was sitting in the back of the room, waiting for Kohli’s press conference to end before he could speak. This was du Plessis’ response to Kohli bringing up 2015-16:

Du Plessis: “Our win rate away from home is the best in the world so we have played some really good cricket. The last time we went to India we didn’t play as well, but I do feel the conditions were touching on extreme. For me the way to look at that is even the Indian batting line-up struggled in conditions where their spinners were much better than ours. Every Test match lasted three days [the fourth in Delhi went the distance], and I think there was only one hundred [there were two, both by Ajinkya Rahane in that Delhi Test]. In this series there have been times when it has looked tough, but there have been guys scoring runs and guys taking wickets, so there is always that battle between bat and ball. If you have that, for me it is a good wicket. If it is just dominated by seam or spin bowling then I think the wickets are excessive. If you have all factors in five days or even four days… the first morning at Newlands was tough but then it got good, this got tough at the end of the Test. So yes I think it was touching on the extreme side, but if you get that you still have to try and win. We learnt a lot of lessons from that tour, and I expect that when we go there again, we’ll put up a better fight.”

“To the team, he brings so much more than runs, he brings AB de Villiers. The AB de Villiers factor, let’s put it that way,” Chris Morris said ahead of the pink ODI in Johannesburg

Sidharth Monga in Johannesburg09-Feb-2018Apart from the New Year’s Test, which was delayed this year, the pink ODI is the biggest occasion in South Africa’s cricket calendar. A sold-out Bullring turns up primarily in pink to increase awareness for a cause. For the six pink ODIs to date, someone from South Africa has stood up with a special performance. AB de Villiers did so against West Indies in 2015, scoring the fastest ODI century. He is finally back for South Africa after a three-match layoff because of injury. South Africa are banking on a mix of the return of a special player and a special occasion to galvanise them into giving a special performance to keep the series alive.”Jeepers, AB is AB,” Chris Morris said when asked of the implications of de Villiers’ return. “Apart from what he brings on the field, it’s what he brings off the field. He brings that calmness, he brings that experience. To have a world-class player come back and play for South Africa is a special, special occasion. It’s a special moment for me, for me I quite enjoy sharing the field with him. It’s a special occasion every time I walk on to the field with AB because to me he is – if not the best – one of the best players in the world and one of the best players to ever play for South Africa. But to the team, he brings so much more than runs, he brings AB de Villiers. The AB de Villiers factor, let’s put it that way.”South Africa’s big problem in the series has been their inability to play spin. India’s two wristspinners – Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal – have taken 21 wickets between them in three matches at an average of 9, an economy rate of 3.63 and a strike rate of a wicket every 15 balls.Getty Images

JP Duminy admitted after the loss in Cape Town that the batsmen are not picking the wristspinners out of the hand, and are also struggling against the pace and lengths they have been bowling. Morris hopes the batsmen will set it right with the video work they have been doing, but also believes the return of de Villiers will also bring knowledge on how to face them.”Look AB has always got inputs; doesn’t matter if it’s spin, seam, behind the back,” Morris said. “It doesn’t matter what inputs he’s got, it’s always good. I’m sure AB will have a few pointers for the guys on how to handle spin and how to play spin, maybe a few different attacking options but like I said, it doesn’t matter what advice because he’s got advice for everything and it’s always solid. When AB talks, you listen because it’s always helpful.”Coming back with such messiah-like expectations can be difficult for de Villiers. “At the moment we are all under pressure, put it that way,” Morris said when asked if there would be extra pressure on de Villiers. “We are 3-0 down in the series; what more pressure do you need? If AB is coming in, I don’t think he is feeling any added pressure. He is just going to come in and be AB de Villiers. I think AB de Villiers being AB de Villiers is a very dangerous player.”It’s exciting to see how he’s going to come out tomorrow but there’s no added pressure. Every single guy in the team is feeling pressure. We know we’ve under performed, we know the way we’ve lost hasn’t been good. I think we are all dying to put on a good performance tomorrow, and to show that we can really play this game and what we are capable of.”Like India took heart from their unbeaten record in Tests at Wanderers before they won the third Test, Morris looks at their pink-day record with optimism. “I keep harping on how special an occasion it is,” Morris said. “It’s really good. My first pink day, we saw I got some runs, won the game. Last year Dwaine Pretorious came in and got a four-fer and won the game for us as well. So you know it’s a special time, I think … I always joke about that … when people go and play at Lord’s, they put on special performances because you are playing at the home of cricket. Tomorrow is such a massive day for South Africa. People arrive for the occasion and they turn it on for the occasion. We have had a good run in the last couple of years for the pink day, and hopefully we can do the same tomorrow but would be quite nice to see a youngster put his hand up tomorrow and win the game for us tomorrow.”

The BCCI’s plans to stage India’s first-ever day-night Test in October is mired in a power struggle between the two power centres that currently run the board

Nagraj Gollapudi23-Feb-2018The BCCI’s plans to stage India’s first-ever day-night Test in October is mired in a power struggle between the two power centres that currently run the board. A sharply worded mail from Vinod Rai, chief of the Committee of Administrators, to Amitabh Choudhury, the board’s acting secretary, placed the proposal on hold and criticised what Rai called the “cavalier way of taking policy decisions”.In his mail, Rai said that discussions on the issue needed to go beyond India coach Ravi Shastri, who had been consulted, and should include the players, the administration and the fans, “your greatest stakeholder”. It laid down several conditions that needed to be met before the plan could be discussed again.India is the only major cricket-playing country to have not hosted or played a day-night Test. This, despite apparent openness to the idea from India captain Virat Kohli, who had called the inaugural day-night Test between Australia and New Zealand in 2015 a “landmark” moment. The game’s administrators, including the ICC, have urged member countries to support day-night cricket as a means of boosting audience figures across the Test world.The issue had its origins last week, when Choudhury emailed Shastri, asking for his help in “finding remedies to the ever diminishing” interest of fans in Test cricket. In his email, dated February 17, Choudhury said that even popular venues like Kolkata could not reverse the “alarmingly poor figures of attendance”. He said that to counter such a challenge, the BCCI needed to apply “innovative” thinking, and the day-night Test – provided the dew factor was managed – was a “natural” option.In his response, Shastri said that another option to attract a big audience was to play Test matches against “tier 2” opponents “like West Indies” in tier-two cities. “As far as day-night cricket goes, it can be tried out as an experiment with a game starting at 12 and where the last session is played under lights. It will be interesting to see how much part dew will play.”Against a team like West Indies, it has to be played in a tier 2 city without a doubt. To get in the crowds it doesn’t matter if it’s a day game or day-night game. What’s important is a tier 2 city.”Choudhury then placed Shastri’s suggestions at a discussion table at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, in a meeting with the board’s management team led by Rahul Johri (the BCCI’s chief executive officer) and Saba Karim (general manager, operations), and the national selectors.The following day, February 21, Choudhury emailed details of that meeting, along with the discussions he had with Shastri, to the BCCI’s two other office bearers – CK Khanna (acting president) and Anirudh Chaudhry (treasurer). “Under the circumstances, we will go ahead with the proposal [of] choosing one of the two Windies Test matches for the first ever day-night game on Indian soil,” Choudhury said.The email was forwarded to Rai, whose reply leaves the plan in limbo. Rai told Choudhury that if he felt taking the views of “four persons sitting in cricket centre [the BCCI headquarters]” constituted “all stakeholders”, then it was a “very misplaced viewpoint”.According to Rai, the “greatest stakeholder” was the public, and they needed to be factored in too. “This issue is placed on hold,” Rai told Choudhury in an email, copying in the rest of the board’s office bearers along with Johri and Karim.He said the idea could not be taken forward till the specifics of the proposed day-night Test were worked out, including the venue, timings, security arrangements and costs to the BCCI. He also said the visiting team would have to be consulted to “factor in their viewpoints”.”Ravi may have been consulted, but I would like to consult the players whose body clock over five consecutive days [and] will have to get accustomed to a new timing,” Rai said.Once all these things were looked into, Rai said the BCCI would put forth the view in the media for a “consultative process”.Choudhury responded to Rai on February 23, saying “the effort was only to impede the fast disappearing spectator support for Test cricket.”

The West Indies captain praises a “total team effort” but acknowledges team isn’t a finished article yet

Liam Brickhill in Harare25-Mar-2018West Indies captain Jason Holder praised a “total team effort” in their qualifying campaign in Zimbabwe. While Holder himself had a fine tournament – scoring 219 runs with a top score of 99 not out and taking 15 wickets – he was backed up by various other players at different points during the tournament. Rovman Powell, Shimron Hetmyer and Chris Gayle all scored hundreds, while Kemar Roach bagged 11 wickets.

Holder pays credit to Zimbabwean support staff

“I’ll take a lot of memories home. I came here for the first time three years ago. I really enjoyed this trip. I really enjoyed the cricket, I really enjoyed the crowd.
“I also really want to mention people like Stanislaus Rukato and Tonderai Damas. They have helped us out tremendously. Stan is our liaison officer, Tonderai is our change room attendant. These guys were with us the last time we were here as well, and they have really outdone themselves. Without them, I don’t think we would have made it this far in the competition.
“I really want to ask Zimbabwe Cricket to continue to utilize these guys. They have been noble ambassadors for their country, and they should be rewarded.”

“We had a good campaign,” Holder said. “We won all of our group stage matches. We came into the Super Sixes and lost our first game against Afghanistan, but we rebounded to win the next two must-win games to qualify. It was tremendous. Throughout the tournament, we had outstanding performers. Century-makers, five-wicket hauls. Kemar Roach was outstanding. He wasn’t fully fit in the tournament, but he really put up his hand and bowled us into strong positions with the new ball. It was a total team effort, on and off the field.”This was one of the best times we’ve come together as a side. We knew the importance and significance of this tournament, and credit must go to each and every individual. And also to all the management and backroom staff. They’ve all outdone themselves.”While they managed to secure their place at next year’s World Cup in England, Holder admitted that West Indies were not yet the finished article. He added that they would be leaving Zimbabwe without fully completing their mission, which was to win the qualifying tournament outright.”Part of our job was to qualify for the World Cup, and part of it was to win this competition. Credit to the Afghans, they played some good cricket. They deserved to win the competition. Afghanistan had an outstanding tournament, to come back from where they were.””We’ve obviously got some room for improvement. We’re not a perfect side. We’ve got to address some issues. But I think we’ve got four series before we play in the World Cup. So it should be enough time and enough room for improvement.”

Luke Wright and Ben Brown had put Sussex in a solid position but their hard work was undone

ECB Reporters Network20-Apr-2018
ScorecardBen Raine took two wickets in two balls in the final session to wrest the initiative back for Leicestershire at the end of an absorbing first day of their Specsavers County Championship match against Sussex at the Fischer County Ground.Raine produced fine seaming deliveries to bowl first Luke Wright, who had looked set for a century, and then Ollie Robinson after Sussex had recovered strongly from being 52 for 3 at lunch.Pakistan seamer Muhammad Abbas, making his debut for the Foxes, bowled an outstanding opening spell, conceding just four runs from seven overs and taking one of the three wickets to fall during the opening session after Sussex skipper Ben Brown had won the toss and chosen to bat.Openers Luke Wells and Phillip Salt received very few bad balls as they battled through the first hour. Wells faced 25 balls in scoring two runs, and had been hit on the shoulder by Abbas before he edged Raine to wicketkeeper Lewis Hill.If that was a straightforward take for Hill, the catch he took to dismiss Salt off Abbas in the following over was anything but, a thick edge flying towards first slip, but the wicketkeeper took it beautifully two-handed to his right.In the final over before lunch Harry Finch drove loosely at a Neil Dexter out-swinger, failed to keep the ball down, and saw Colin Ackermann take a smart catch at gully.Wright and Stiaan Van Zyl dug in and began to prosper against a seam attack which, while accurate, was understandably less penetrative with the older ball on a pitch flattening under unbroken sunshine.The batsmen had extended their partnership to 63 when Leicestershire captain Michael Carberry turned to spinner Callum Parkinson, and the left-armer was successful with just his second ball as Van Zyl’s uncertain push resulted in an edge to Colin Ackermann at slip.Wright reached his 50 off 92 balls, which included nine fours, shortly before tea, and he and Brown had brought up a century partnership before Abbas made the breakthrough with the new ball, having , on 64, caught at slip off an out-swinger.Raine then struck twice to give Leicestershire a slight advantage to take into the second day.

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.

One side each from Pakistan, South Africa, Australia, Afghanistan and England, in addition to a team from the UAE, are set to play in the proposed tournament in October

Umar Farooq01-Jul-2018Abu Dhabi Cricket (ADC) is set to put itself on the growing list of boards with T20 tournaments, launching one of its own, which will feature six teams – one each from the domestic circuit of Pakistan, South Africa, Australia, Afghanistan and England, in addition to a team from the UAE. The three-day tournament, tagged the Abu Dhabi T20 Trophy, will comprise seven games played at Sheikh Zayed Stadium from October 4 to 6.If all goes to plan, this will be the third T20 tournament – the others being the proposed Afghanistan league and another run by the Emirates Cricket Board, plus the T10 League – to be played in the UAE within the space of three months.Lahore Qalandars from the Pakistan Super League, Yorkshire Vikings from the T20 Blast, Boost Defenders from the Shpageeza League in Afghanistan, Hobart Hurricanes from the Big Bash League and Titans from South Africa’s Ram Slam will join a team from the UAE in the competition. The tournament is sanctioned by the Emirates board and the ICC. It will be regulated by ADC, with the support of Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC), a major powerhouse in UAE sports.”Make no mistake, this a dynamic field of the best of the best,” Aref Al Awani, general secretary, Abu Dhabi Sports Council, said. “With this level of player power, the tournament allows Abu Dhabi to deliver on our mandate of ushering in an exciting new era of cricket in the Emirates. The tournament will certainly help cement Abu Dhabi’s international sporting credentials, reinforcing its major events hub reputation and expand awareness of our world-class facilities.”The ADC plans to hold the tournament on an annual basis for the next three years. The stadium has a seating capacity of a few thousand, but with the grass banks square of the wicket, is expected to comfortably accommodate 20,000 spectators. “All the ingredients are there,” ECB CEO David East said. “The ever-improving facilities, the fan base, the support of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and ADC’s proven organisational expertise in world-class events…”Abu Dhabi has long attempted to host prestigious cricketing events. The stadium has hosted several Pakistan home matches, and the ADC council has also been a major organiser of pre-season games for various English counties. The Sheikh Zayed Stadium, in 2009, had an agreement with the MCC which made them Associate Club partners. The first use of pink ball, in a game between MCC and Durham, also took place here in 2010.”We wanted to set ourselves apart from the rest of the world and offer a different product, without creating another franchise-led league,” Matthew Boucher, acting CEO of the ADC, said. “It’s an absolute honour to see the best of the best from around the world’s established teams gather in Abu Dhabi to offer fans an experience that does not currently exist anywhere else. We are very grateful to all the teams and their management for backing this initiative and getting on board.”