Eye on World T20 in solitary fixture

This solitary Twenty20 fixture at Pallekele, along with India's two T20s against New Zealand later this month and the Sri Lanka Premier League, offers welcome arrangements for teams and players ahead of the World T20 in Sri Lanka in September. This will be India's last T20 before the final squad for the World T20 is announce (the deadline is August 18); some of Sri Lanka's players will have the advantage of playing the SLPL before their squad is named.

India have played just one Twenty20 international in Sri Lanka, in 2009, which they won. The teams have played T20s next to each other on four occasion; their last game was more than two years ago. After three wounded in a row this trip, Sri Lanka have one final shot at comfort. After a rainless ODI series, there was a stable shower on the eve of this game.

The structure of the series has, however, raise question marks. According to the Future Tours Programmed, this tour was meant to include three Tests and no ODIs. The teams then decided to play five ODIs and just one T20; the SLC said the teams wanted to focus on limited-over’s cricket. Which begs the question: Why not play more T20 internationals in its place of five ODIs, a month ahead of the World T20?

Read more »

Sehwag hopes for Indian victory at U-19 WC

Virender Sehwag believes that the Under-19 World Cup provides a wonderful opportunity for youngsters to build their confidence and hopes that the current tournament produces some future talent. "I think whoever plays well in the ICC U19 CWC 2012 and keeps performing well in first-class cricket could also end up traveling to Australia for the ICC CWC 2015. I'm hoping a couple of guys will come through, especially for India," said Sehwag, in an ICC media release.

The 33-year-old also acknowledged the fact that the tournament would harbor many new cricketing relationships, "the players have a great opportunity to go out there, play with and against the best and perform well. They will be motivated and will get a lot of self-confidence. The players will also make a lot of friends for life during the tournament."

The Indian opener offered some words of motivation for the U-19 squad, "go there and give your best, just make the most of the opportunity. Try to win the World Cup for your country," he said. "Mohammad Kaif won it in 2000 and Virat Kohli lifted the trophy in 2008. Maybe, this time, the India captain (Unmukt Chand) can lift the Cup again and make us proud. Every single player from the current India team is wishing the very best of luck to the India team in the U-19 CWC 2012," Sehwag added.

Sehwag, who played in the Under-19 World Cup in 1998, didn't quite prosper in the tournament, scoring a highest of just 38 against South Africa. He did shine with the ball though, and his off spin helped him pick up seven wickets. Talking about that particular tournament Sehwag said, "we played against a lot of top teams - South Africa, England, Australia, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Pakistan - in that event. It was a great platform. Any player who performs at that level can harbour hopes of playing at the highest level."

Read more »

Australia's T20 BBL 2 to start on December 7

Australia's Twenty20 Big Bash League this year, will be held from December 7 to January 19, it was announced here on Friday.

This year's BBL 2 is an increase in the total matches from 31 to 35 to give teams and their fans four home games each. It is set to be more exciting waku doki than last year.

The structure of the league remains the same however, with the top four teams at the end of the round matches not only qualifying for the Big Semi-finals but also getting the chance to play for a place in the elite Champions League Twenty20 tournament.

Despite adding another round of matches, the duration of the season is the same as BBL 01. It applies last year's winning formula, which featured record-busting TV ratings and more than 550,000 fans packing stadiums, to guarantee live action almost nightly during the December-January holiday period, a BBL media release said on Friday.

The new fixture also gives fans in Sydney and Melbourne two Derby matches each after huge interest saw a combined 70,000 fans attend the first inter-city clashes last season.

After the opening round, the eight BBL teams will criss-cross the country before the KFC T20 BBL 2 Big Final is played 41 days later on Saturday, January 19.

Also confirmed on Friday were the contracting rules that have been issued to teams ahead of the opening of the official Player Signing Window next Monday July 9 at 9am.

BBL Teams

Melbourne Renegades

Melbourne Stars

Sydney Sixers

Sydney Thunder

Brisbane Heat

Hobart Hurricanes

Perth Scorchers

Adelaide Strikers

Read more »

Sri Lanka top arrange pummels Pakistan

Sri Lanka 300 for 2 (Sangakkara 111*, Dilshan 101, M Jayawardene 55*) v Pakistan

Nine months ago, the ICC had said a "better balance between bat and ball (needs to be) achieved" after a Galle dustbowl made life difficult for batsmen. Today, on an unexpectedly sunny day in Galle, Sri Lanka reached stumps at a commanding 300 for 2.

Ahead of the series, Mahela Jayawardene had talked of the need for Sri Lanka's experienced players to build a platform for the others. He couldn't have expected more: Tillakaratne Dilshan made his first Test hundred in more than a year, Kumar Sangakkaradrew level with Don Bradman on 29 centuries and Jayawardene himself made an unbeaten 55.

It rounded off a wretched day for Pakistan cricket. Before the start of play came the news of disgraced former captain Salman Butt returning home from jail and denying involvement in spot-fixing, and towards stumps the headlines were about legspinner Danish Kaneria being found guilty of corruption by the ECB.

Though the scoreline might suggest it, the Galle track didn't overnight become a clone of the famously flat SSC pitch. It didn't provide much for the quick bowlers - either with the new ball or old - but there was plenty to interest Pakistan's world-class spinners. As early as the first session, Abdul Rehman got the odd ball to bounce extra, all the spinners got the ball to turn sharply.

Especially in the half hour before lunch, Saeed Ajmal and Rehman piled on the pressure. Dilshan survived several lbw appeals, Sangakkara edged past slip, there was a leading edge from Dilshan, the spinners put together three successive maidens, and despite a healthy score of 94 for 1 Sri Lanka were relieved when the lunch interval arrived.

Read more »