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Prior to his appointment, the former South Australia keeper-batter was with Netherlands Women in the same role

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jul-2023Shane Deitz has stepped down as Netherlands Women’s head coach to take up the same role with West Indies Women. Deitz will start in his new role in late August, ahead of the Women’s CPL, and the away series against Australia in October will be his first assignment with the team.Deitz, 48, is a former South Australia wicketkeeper-batter who played 66 first-class matches between 1998 and 2008. He has also featured in 27 List A games and two T20s. He has been into coaching for over a decade now, and was the head coach of the Bangladesh women’s team in 2013-14. He takes over a West Indies team that made the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup in 2022 but failed to make the knockouts of the T20 version earlier this year.”West Indies cricket both men and women have a great history of success whilst playing entertaining cricket and my aim is to continue with that formula,” Deitz said. “The team has a great blend of world-class senior players and some talented younger players which is a good starting point to build from. We have a lot of work to do though as the reality is we are behind the top few sides in the world and we need to bridge that gap and become competitive again to challenge for World Cups in the future.”I do believe though the nucleus is there to create a world-class competitive side and that is what I will aim to do. The standard of women’s cricket is at an all-time high and we need to strive to reach those heights through good planning, a lot of hard work and then executing on the pitch.”Deitz became the full-time coach of the Netherlands women’s team in March 2021, and under him, they regained one-day status. Their ODI ranking peaked at 12 and the T20I ranking at 18. Netherlands are currently preparing for a European qualification tournament for the 2025 ODI World Cup.”Obviously the decision to leave the Netherlands Women’s team was extremely tough as I have loved working with this team, they really are a great bunch of girls,” Deitz said. “The team has grown on and off the field and they are in a really good position now to keep pushing to qualify for a World Cup. I really want to thank the whole squad for their efforts and sacrifice they put in to get the team where they are.”At West Indies, he replaces Courtney Walsh, whose contract was not renewed following a review of the team’s performance. The contracts of assistant coaches Robert Samuels and Corey Collymore were also not extended. Samuels, though, was appointed interim head coach for the ODIs and T20Is against Ireland, taking place over the past week, with Ryan Austin and Steve Liburd as his assistants. West Indies won both ODI and T20I series under this management.Deitz’s appointment was confirmed at the CWI board of directors meeting on June 30 at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua, and made public on July 8.

Former NZ U-19 allrounder is an Irish passport-holder and has signed a central contract

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Apr-2022Luke Georgeson, the batting allrounder who played for New Zealand at the Under-19 World Cup four years ago, has signed a two-year central contract with Cricket Ireland.Georgeson, who turns 23 later this week, had a contract with Wellington in New Zealand’s recent domestic season but has taken the “big decision” to commit his future to Ireland after spending last summer playing for Northern Knights in the inter-provincial set-up.”Obviously I’m very pleased to have been offered a contract with Cricket Ireland,” he said. “It’s been a big decision to step away from the Wellington Firebirds and domestic cricket in New Zealand, but it’s an extremely exciting opportunity to get stuck-in with the Irish and Northern Knights lads and see if I can play a part in what I believe is an exciting time for Irish cricket.”Last year, I was so warmly welcomed into the Northern Knights set-up, and had an awesome time playing club cricket in the NCU [Northern Cricket Union] – and I felt like I became a better cricketer as a result.Related

• Ireland book T20 World Cup spot

• Malan: 'It's about asking questions and getting people to think differently'

• Cricket Ireland to invest €1.5m in women's game

• Ireland confirm India, NZ, SA fixtures for 2022 summer

“Signing this contract will hopefully give me an opportunity to continue to do that, and test myself on the international stage if I’m fortunate enough to get the chance. I’ve had an awesome time with Wellington, within the Wellington system, and – for a brief time – within the New Zealand Under-19s set-up, but the opportunity to progress with a highly talented group of individuals here in Ireland, and test myself more consistently at a higher level, is an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.”Georgeson is an Irish passport-holder and will be eligible to play for the national team with immediate effect, if selected. He batted in the middle order for the Knights last year, but opened for Wellington throughout the New Zealand summer.”We’re obviously really disappointed to be losing a player of Luke’s calibre, especially a young player who has grown and developed through our pathway system,” said Cam Mitchell, Cricket Wellington’s CEO.”We know this has been a difficult decision for Luke to make, but we wish him all the best in Ireland and look forward to seeing him develop further as a cricketer.”Ireland’s home summer includes fixtures against India, New Zealand, South Africa and Afghanistan. Andrew White, their chairman of selectors, said Georgeson would “bring further competition within our batting group” and “push standards within the group”.”Luke spent last summer in Ireland playing club cricket for CSNI and representing the Northern Knights,” he said. “What stood out wasn’t just his talent as a left-handed top-order batter, but the way in which he conducted himself on and off the field. His commitment and dedication to being the best he can be really struck the coaches that he worked under.”Batters Stephen Doheny and Murray Commins – who was born in South Africa – have also signed central contracts with Ireland, both on 12-month retainer deals.

He feels the left-armer is a certainty in New Zealand’s squad for the next T20 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Nov-2020Before IPL 2020 began, Shane Bond, the Mumbai Indians bowling coach, felt Trent Boult hadn’t fully realised his potential as a T20 bowler. Now, after a season in which Boult took 25 wickets – including a record-equalling 16 in the powerplay overs – to help the Mumbai Indians win their fifth IPL title, Bond is thrilled with the left-arm quick’s growth.”Getting the chance to work with Boulty again was exciting,” Bond said in a media interaction hosted by NZC. “I was always a believer that there was room for improvement in his T20 game, and coming into our team, we could eke that out of him, and he was massive for us. He was a huge part of why we won, so hopefully we won’t have a big option and we may lose him – love to have another chance to work with him another year and keep that team of ours together because it’s pretty good.”Bond feels that Boult has become a certainty for New Zealand at the next T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in India in October-November 2021. He reckoned New Zealand’s upcoming T20I series against West Indies – from which Boult has been left out to rest him ahead of the Tests – would be an opportunity for head coach Gary Stead to look at newer faces, such as Kyle Jamieson, and see which fast bowlers could dovetail with Boult come World Cup time.”I think [Boult is] a lockdown, a lay down misere in terms of the T20 World Cup squad, and I think you’ve got to effectively use the games coming up to find out who may be the support acts for him in and around that T20 World Cup team.”There’s no problems from my perspective in giving those other guys, guys like Jamieson, another opportunity to see what they’ve got, so that Gary’s really clear when it comes to picking his 15-16 for the next T20 World Cup, so he’s got all his bases covered.”Bond is presently in Lincoln, as one of two guest coaches – Brendon McCullum is the other – in the managed isolation facility where six New Zealand players returning from the IPL are training ahead of the series against West Indies. He feels New Zealand made the right call to rest Boult from the T20Is and give him an opportunity to spend some time with his family before returning to life in a bio-secure bubble.Boult is part of the IPL group in Lincoln until his 14-day quarantine period ends, and he is using that time to bowl longer spells and get into Test-match rhythm after 15 games in the IPL.”I think it’s important [Boult gets a break],” Bond said. “He’s got a couple of young kids. To fly out from here and go straight into games and not have a chance to catch up with his family would have been a massive mistake.”I suppose part of him being here is to get a little bit more volume, in terms of his overs, under his belt. It’s always a challenge when you’re in the IPL – it’s stinking hot, you don’t train as much, and obviously you’re playing a game that’s four overs. So it gives him a little bit of time to get some volume here and in the week, two weeks before the Test matches start against the West Indies.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“I think for his own sanity, he just would need to get home and spend a little bit of time with his family before he has another busy summer, so it’s a good decision.”Bond has worked with Boult in his stint as New Zealand’s bowling coach from 2012 to 2015. From then to now, Bond is delighted with how far Boult has come in becoming one of the world’s best fast bowlers.”With guys like [Jasprit] Bumrah, those sort of players who are experienced and gun bowlers, what you sense is that inner confidence within themselves and they know what they’re doing, and I think that’s the thing [with Boult as well],” Bond said. “You go back to when I started from ’12 to now 2020, eight years is a long time, he’s played a lot of cricket, got a lot of wickets. So all the little things you notice the difference.”He’s aware of his mental processes and where he wants to improve. Technically he’s very aware of the things that work and don’t work, and then you as a coach, you’re trying to find the subtleties of how to make his game better. For me, that was a lot around tactically and around his T20 game.”The one thing about great bowlers or bowlers who’ve had success is sometimes it’s harder to move them, because they’ve found a mode of success. So the good thing for me, having been where I am now for a period of time and worked with Trent is, I don’t have to worry about building the relationship, we already always had a strong relationship, so you have that trust and so you can work together to try and find improvement, because even as good as Trent is – and he’s unbelievable – there are always ways to improve and get better.”We had a hell of a lot of fun, it’s always nice to see someone you like come in and have success, and to share the spoils at the back end was cool.”

Soumya Sarkar and Mehidy Hasan Miraz have been picked among 13 capped players in the 16-member Bangladesh A side

Mohammad Isam17-Sep-2019Soumya Sarkar and Mehidy Hasan Miraz have been picked among 13 capped players in the 16-member Bangladesh A side for their tour of Sri Lanka. Mehidy couldn’t find a place in the senior T20I side for the ongoing tri-series, while Soumya was dropped after two matches after scores of 4 and 0.They will now play two four-day matches and three one-dayers against Sri Lanka A from September 23 to October 12. Mominul Haque will lead the side that also includes Mohammad Mithun, Shadman Islam and Abu Jayed.The national selectors also named the Bangladesh Under-23 side that will play five one-day matches in India from September 19 to 27 at Lucknow’s Ekana Cricket Stadium. This is a similar squad to the one that played for the Bangladesh Emerging side against Sri Lanka at home last month. Saif Hassan will lead the side, although he was also named in the A squad, which means he will fly from India to Sri Lanka once the Under-23 matches are over on September 27.Among the changes, there was no place for Mohammad Mithun, Nazmul Islam, Raqibul Hasan and Tanbir Hayder while Yeasin Hasan is out with injury.Shafiqul Islam, Sumon Khan, Tanvir Islam and Zakir Hasan were transferred from the A side to the Under-23 team, which included Ariful Haque among capped players, as well as Zakir Hasan and Mahedi Hasan, who was dropped from the Bangladesh side from the T20I tri-series earlier this week.A squad: Mominul Haque (capt), Shadman Islam, Jahurul Islam, Mohammad Mithun, Nurul Hasan, Anamul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Abu Jayed, Ebadot Hossain, Sunzamul Islam, Rishad Hossain, Salauddin Sakil, Mehedi Hasan Rana, Najmul Hossain, Saif Hasan, Mehidy Hasan MirazU-23 squad: Saif Hassan (capt), Fardeen Hasan, Mahidul Islam, Yasir Ali, Al Amin, Zakir Hasan, Jaker Ali, Ariful Haque, Tanvir Islam, Mahedi Hasan, Manik Khan, Shafiqul Islam, Sumon Khan, Robiul Haque, Sabbir Hossain

India’s tour begins on June 27 with T20Is against Ireland, and the Tests against England start on August 1. That’s enough time to acclimatise, say Kohli and Shastri

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jun-2018India are ready to play “difficult” Test cricket. That is the message their captain Virat Kohli has sent out on the eve of their departure for the 81-day long tour of the UK. Kohli has made it clear that what happened on the last tour in 2014, when India lost the Test series 3-1, will have no bearing on the five-match Test series this summer. By the time the Test series starts in the peak of the English summer on August 1, India, according to Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri, would be feeling at home, having been in the country for more than the month.India’s tour will begin with two T20Is against Ireland from June 27, before heading to England for more T20Is, an ODI series, and then the Tests. Shastri said playing the shorter formats first will be “ideal” preparation for them, giving them a month to acclimatise to the conditions, and Kohli added that by the time they play the Tests, they will be “so comfortable that we won’t even feel like we’ll be playing an away series”.

India tour of Ireland and England

1st T20I v Ireland: June 27, Dublin
2nd T20I v Ireland: June 29, Dublin
1st T20I v England: July 3, Manchester
2nd T20I v England: July 6, Cardiff
3rd T20I v England: July 8, Bristol
1st ODI v England: July 12, Nottingham
2nd ODI v England: July 14, London
3rd ODI v England: July 17 Leeds
1st Test v England: August 1, Birmingham
2nd Test v England: August 9, Lord’s
3rd Test v England: August 18, Nottingham
4th Test v England: August 30, Southampton
5th Test v England: September 7, The Oval

“The last time we played [in England], we felt that collectively as a team we didn’t perform consistently in all three skills,” Kohli said in Delhi before departing for the tour. “Because of that, the batsmen feel the extra pressure, or the bowlers feel the pressure because they feel batsmen aren’t doing enough. But when both click together and whether it’s swinging or seaming, bounce or turn, if you have momentum, any conditions feel favourable and if you don’t have the momentum, flat pitches may also feel tough.”But yes, the conditions are going to be different, we will have to respect that. By the time the Tests come, we’ll be so comfortable that we won’t even feel like we’ll be playing an away series. So once you spend time there, you get comfortable and that’s the biggest factor. If you are at ease mentally, it will show in your performances.”Shastri, on the other hand, said India were focusing more on the pitches and the conditions instead of the opposition. He went to the extent of saying they were not even looking at it as an away series.”From the preparation point of view, it is ideal [to start with T20s and ODIs,” Shastri said. “They will get to play T20s first, then ODIs, the Tests will come a month later. The first game against Ireland is on the 27th (June) and the first Test starts on the 1st (August). So there’s a lot of time to acclimatise.”For us there is no away, every game is home game because we don’t play the opponent, we play the pitch. Our job is to conquer the pitch. Wherever we go – it could be Bombay, it could be Delhi, it could be London, it could be Johannesburg. It is 22 yards that we have to try and conquer, and that is the endeavour. The boys know that they will be rated if they adapt to different conditions. So, if the other team has to adapt to those conditions, so do we. It’s not a question of where you’re playing, for us every game has to be a home game. You see those 22 yards, you say, ‘how am I going to take 20 wickets on those 22 yards, and how am I going to score 350-400.’ Keep it simple.”India’s schedule in England is in stark contrast to their most recent tour to South Africa, when they arrived only five days before the first Test. The players even chose to train on their own instead of playing warm-up matches. At the time, Kohli had said they were “very well prepared” but later Shastri admitted that 10 more days of preparation in South Africa would have made a difference. India lost the first two Tests, but won the third and then went on to dominate the ODI (5-1) and T20I (2-1) series.”When we were playing the Test series in South Africa, after a couple of Tests, people really thought we were outplayed. And then we won the third [Test] and won the series that followed,” Kohli said on Friday. “Then people really understood how well we played in that series. We as a team knew internally we had played well and that led to the success in the ODIs and the T20s as well because we took the confidence into it. People on the outside might not be able to see the small things that happened when you’re playing a particular Test match of a series, but the point about teams not travelling well… I think we’re one of the teams who are looking forward to other countries and playing.”I think that makes a massive difference and that showed with the mindset of someone like Jasprit Bumrah bowling 144kph in his last spell of the third Test. And that’s where fitness comes in. When you have people that are hungry, fit and ready, you’re not only competing but you’re winning. That’s the difference between getting emotional and letting go of a policy and holding on to it and actually taking the hard calls and moving ahead with the system. I think all those things have come together really nice and as I said, we’re looking forward to playing difficult cricket. It can be anywhere, even in India, because that is the only way we feel we’ll be able to test ourselves as a team and judge ourselves as players and as a team. It’s a very exciting time for all of us.”Kohli said he is back to peak fitness having spent time off the field post IPL. A neck injury, which he picked up at the back end of the IPL campaign with Royal Challengers Bangalore, had denied Kohli a much anticipated county stint with Surrey, a deal which was done at the last minute.Kohli admitted that playing for Surrey, even for just about a month, would have been ideal preparation for him to not just adapt to English conditions but also keep him mentally charged going into the Test series. The last time India played a Test series in England was in 2014, a tour Kohli will not spend too much time thinking about. In 10 innings in that series, Kohli scored 134 runs at an average of 13.40.Kohli said the key thing for him was to enter the Test series fresh and not exhausted, and that not playing county cricket may have helped him in that regard. “In hindsight what has happened was the best thing for me because although, yes, I wanted to go and experience the conditions, that is a place we haven’t played so much. There’s a big gap of four years and you sort of forget how the conditions were when you played the last time.”So I wanted the more difficult phase of those conditions. Now we are going to enter the heatwave. I wanted the damp and the wet conditions, which Puji [Cheteshwar Pujara] played in, Ishant [Sharma] played in and I saw Varun [Aaron] play in as well.”But in hindsight when I look at it now if I was 90% fit in my body and used to the conditions compared to feeling 110 (%) now and going in fresh I would much rather be in this position. Because in hindsight when I thought of it, I thought I need to be fresh for the tour. I need to be looking forward to it rather than thinking ‘oh, I have been in that place for four months now’. And you don’t want that feeling because the Test series is in the latter half [of the English summer].”Since last year Kohli has stressed on managing his workload in order to be match-fit for a longer career. He played in the IPL having skipped the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka and then missed out on the Afghanistan Test recuperating from the neck injury, which he said he has completely recovered from.”I am absolutely ready to go, went through the fitness test as well so body is feeling fine. I am actually very excited to get back on to the field which is a very rare thing when you play so much cricket. But these sort of breaks really help as mentally they make you fresh and make you excited to go back on to the pitch again.”Having fought their way back in the closely fought Test series in South Africa, Kohli said his team was now hungry and keen to play the Test series in England. “This is another series as far as I am concerned individually. But for us as a team this is a very exciting time because we are actually looking forward to playing more difficult Test cricket after what happened in South Africa. That I feel is the best thing that can happen to any side. You don’t want to go to England and say ‘oh, the Test series is one month [away]’. We want it to be actually be sooner. It is just a great phase for Indian cricket.”

Jhulan Goswami is back from a back injury that kept her out of the Women’s World Cup qualifiers in Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff02-May-2017Batsman Poonam Raut has been recalled to India women’s squad for the quadrangular series in South Africa. Raut, who last played in February 2016, is coming off an impressive domestic season where she scored a century in the one-day final to help Railways beat Delhi and defend their crown.

India women squad

Mithali Raj (capt), Harmanpreet Kaur, Mona Meshram, Poonam Raut, Devika Vaidya, Deepti Sharma, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Mansi Joshi, Sushma Verma (wk), Nuzhat Parween (wk), Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad

Fast bowler Jhulan Goswami, who missed the Women’s World Cup qualifier in February, returns after recovering from a shoulder injury. There was no place for opener Thirush Kamini and medium pacer Soni Yadav, both part of the squad that beat South Africa in the final of the qualifiers.Batsman Smriti Mandhana wasn’t picked as she continues to undergo rehabilitation for a knee injury she picked up during the Women’s Big Bash League in December last year.Nuzhat Parween was the lone new face in the squad. The 20-year-old from Madhya Pradesh, who made her T20I debut against West Indies last year, is the second wicketkeeper in the squad, with Sushma Verma being the first choice.This is India’s first assignment under new coach Tushar Arothe, who replaced Purnima Rau last month. The quadrangular series, also involving South Africa, Ireland and Zimbabwe, starts with warm-up matches on May 4 before the teams move to a round-robin section, with each team playing six matches, and then a third-place playoff and final. All the fixtures take place in Potchefstroom.

Jon Holland’s three second-innings wickets cut through South Australia’s top order to strengthen Victoria’s hold on the Sheffield Shield final

The Report by Daniel Brettig28-Mar-2016
ScorecardJon Holland struck telling blows in quick succession•Getty Images

In a season both tightly fought and topsy turvy, taking opportunities has been vital. South Australia floated near the back of the pack before making a late burst to host the Sheffield Shield final. Cameron White regained his place in the Victorian side just in time to play the innings that scraped them in to face South Australia.No team or individual, though, timed their run quite like Jon Holland. In the course of little more than a week, he has leapt from sitting outside the Bushrangers’ best XI to contending for a berth on Australia’s July Test tour of Sri Lanka. Holland tipped the competition decider strongly towards Victoria in an outstanding spell on the third evening, leaving the Redbacks scrambling to build a lead at Glenelg Oval.On an eventful day, Peter Handscomb brought up a notable century, Cameron White shepherded the tail, Daniel Worrall compiled figures of 6 for 96, and 10 wickets fell. Victorian chagrin at being penalised for a ball tampering offence was then channeled into a passage of high-energy and high-pressure cricket to corral South Australia. Holland accounted for Mark Cosgrove, Travis Head and Jake Lehmann, while captain Matthew Wade ran out Sam Raphael.There was no more fitting measure of how the match has progressed than the fact that Victoria’s two young batting talents, Travis Dean and Handscomb, both fought their way to hundreds against South Australia’s all-seam attack. Their opposite numbers in Head and Lehmann failed in both innings, the free-spirited exuberance of their best batting seemingly suffocated by the occasion, to the obvious disappointment of 2,864 expectant spectators.The young opener, Jake Weatherald, bunkered down in the company of Alex Ross after the loss of four wickets in the space of 10 overs, but they have an enormous amount of work to do to set a defendable target. The hosts have also been handicapped by a leg complaint afflicting their spearhead Chadd Sayers, leaving an enormous load for Worrall and Joe Mennie to carry.The day began with a four-over-old ball in the hands of South Australia’s seamers, and Mennie soon pinned nightwatchman Scott Boland lbw. Handscomb was fortunate when he twice edged Worrall between slips and gully to the third man boundary, but there was nothing streaky about the cover drive that took him to three figures. The Redbacks were left to ponder how a fit Sayers might have fared against Handscomb and White, who mixed stern defence with plenty of power.It took the Kensington product Eliot Opie to find a way past Handscomb, who played fractionally inside the line of a well-pitched ball that sent the off stump cartwheeling. This opened up an end for Worrall, who had swung and seamed the ball consistently and beaten the bat countless times. He prompted a drag-on from Dan Christian, had Chris Tremain lbw next ball, and beat Holland outside off stump with a an excellent attempt at the hat-trick.At that point the Bushrangers led by only five runs, but Holland hung around to add a priceless 54 with White that allowed the visitors to pressure South Australia when they batted a second time. Autumn sun broke through the clouds for just about the first time in the match and helped Weatherald and Cosgrove to start in relative comfort. It was during this phase that the ball tampering penalty was levied.However, Holland bowled with considerable guile and sharp spin immediately after tea, varying his pace and flight intelligently and winning a bat-pad catch verdict from the umpire Paul Wilson to defeat Cosgrove. Raphael’s brief stay was ended when Wade ran him out, and Head looked markedly uncomfortable against deliveries biting out of the footmarks.Head had made an uncharacteristic single from 14 balls when he touched a Holland delivery on its way through to Wade, and next ball Lehmann still seemed haunted by the sharp turner that had defeated him on the first day when a tentative prod was squeezed to short leg. Holland was admired by the former selection chairman John Inverarity, and while injuries and team balance have kept him on the fringes of the Victorian side, he has performed repeatedly when asked.Before the Alice Springs match against New South Wales in which he claimed six wickets, Holland’s previous state call-up had been in a Top End fixture the year before, when he pouched eight against Tasmania to claim the Man-of-the-Match award, before promptly being dropped for the final. This time around Holland has grabbed his chance, and Australia’s looming subcontinental assignments over the next 12 months mean there may just be more than a Shield title at the end of it.

Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka Cricket’s chief selector has confirmed that fast bowler Lasith Malinga will miss the tour of Zimbabwe, which starts in the first week of October

Sa'adi Thawfeeq30-Aug-2013Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka Cricket’s chief selector, has confirmed that fast bowler Lasith Malinga will miss the tour of Zimbabwe, which begins in the first week of October. Malinga had requested permission from SLC to skip the tour, stating that he wanted to be with his wife and family, as they expect their second child late in September. He has already made himself unavailable for the Champions League T20 tournament.”The selection committee has accepted Malinga’s request and we have given him permission to forego the tour,” Jayasuriya said on Thursday.Jayasuriya also elaborated on the selection policy for the Zimbabwe tour, saying the selectors would focus on a balanced side, especially for the Test series, because the conditions required the presence of seniors in the side.”We are thinking of bringing in youngsters whenever we can but the Test series is very important for us. We need the senior players in the team also,” Jayasuriya said. “We need to have a serious discussion on how we are going to approach the Test series especially. Just because it is Zimbabwe, we should not get carried away and select a very young side. The conditions are different in Zimbabwe and we will require the services of the senior players, especially for the Test series.”Jayasuriya also said that Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara have indicated to the selectors that they will be available for selection until the 2015 World Cup.”Our policy is to give as much exposure to youngsters but, in this regard, we must also be careful as to how we go about it,” Jayasuriya said. “In Tests and ODIs, we cannot experiment too much with youngsters, we need the three seniors around. As you may have noticed, it is the seniors who have won us matches in these two formats over the last couple of years.”We had a tough series against South Africa and, in the ODIs, we had the three senior cricketers and at least six youngsters. For the T20 series, we tried bringing in youngsters because we thought that is one format they can adjust to very quickly.”Jayasuriya also stressed that the team would face a few losses, while experimenting with youngsters in the playing XI.
On the exclusion of allrounder Jeevan Mendis and opener Upul Tharanga from the 27-member squad named for the Zimbabwe tour, Jayasuriya said that Mendis. had been given enough opportunities and the selectors had decided to back another player. He shared a similar opinion about Tharanga”Upul has not performed to our expectations,” said Jayasuriya. “He scored a big hundred in one game but after that he never showed the consistency that we expected from him.”We have retained Kusal Perera because he is young and he has talent. He has shown what a destructive batsman he can be on his day.”Sri Lanka are scheduled to play two Tests, three ODIs and two T20s on their tour of Zimbabwe.

Alastair Cook praised the role of England’s recalled bowlers, Jade Dernbach and James Tredwell, in helping level the one-day series against South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Sep-2012Alastair Cook praised the role of England’s recalled bowlers, Jade Dernbach and James Tredwell, in helping level the one-day series against South Africa. The pair shared five wickets, with Dernbach talking three and Tredwell two, as the visitors were bowled out for 211 to set up a four-wicket victory.At the toss Cook said the aim was to “freshen up” the attack with the inclusion of Dernbach ahead of Tim Bresnan who has struggled to make an impact this season with the growing suspicion he is not quite the same bowler as before his elbow surgery at the end of the last year. England were already without Stuart Broad who was rested for this series and Dernbach was preferred ahead of allrounder Chris Woakes.He responded with 3 for 44 including the vital wicket of Hashim Amla, bowled off an inside edge, but his most impressive moment came against Dean Elgar when he confounded the left hander with a superbly disguised slower ball that took off stump. Throughout the innings Dernbach used his variations cleverly rather than overdoing the slower deliveries as he has occasionally in the past.”He was really good. He’s a wicket-taker, and he came in and got them at crucial times,” Cook said. “All our bowlers did well, but especially him. He took two important wickets before the batting Powerplay.”The difference here was we kept taking wickets at just about the right times. We never allowed them to get away from us, and that way we were able to keep them to 211.”Tredwell, meanwhile, again proved an able deputy to Graeme Swann who has been rested for the remainder of the series ahead of the Twenty20 matches later this month. Earlier in the season Tredwell slotted in for Swann against Australia at Old Trafford with 2 for 23 and this time claimed 2 for 49 including the innings-changing scalp of AB de Villiers.”Tredwell is just a really, really good performer,” Cook said. “He knows his game really well; he’s a great man to have around, and it’s nice to have that strength in depth. He hasn’t played that much for England. But every time he has, he’s never let us down. He does it week in, week out for Kent – and every time he’s played for England, he’s done it too.”Cook also said that it was always the management’s intention to give Swann the final three matches off and that it was not an immediate response to any increasing concern about his troublesome elbow where he is contending with floating bone fragments.”We were always going to rest Swanny for the last three games. We planned to rest him, quite simply. He was fit to play, but it was a decision Andy and I made before the series started. With the amount of cricket we have coming up, we have to look at the bigger picture – and it’s really nice as a captain to have someone as solid and as good at James Tredwell to come in.”

Surrey clinched a nerve-tingling two-wicket County Championship victory
over Gloucestershire despite Mark Ramprakash being given out for obstructing the
field at Cheltenham

30-Jul-2011
ScorecardSurrey clinched a nerve-tingling two-wicket County Championship victory
over Gloucestershire despite Mark Ramprakash being given out for obstructing the
field at Cheltenham.The veteran batsman was on 35 when he was judged to have impeded Ian Saxelby as
the Gloucestershire player went to gather Kane Williamson’s throw at the
bowler’s end as Jason Roy went for a risky second run.Surrey were cruising at 137 for 4, chasing 184 to win, at the time. When
Zafar Ansari fell lbw to Jon Lewis for a duck two balls later it was 138 for 6
with 46 still required. But after Roy (45) and Gareth Batty (eight) had also fallen, Yasir Arafat (five not out) and Tim Linley (six not out) saw the visitors home to end a superb
match. Surrey took 24 points to Gloucestershire’s five.The hosts had begun the day on 249 for four in their second innings, with a
lead of 112. They soon lost Alex Gidman, caught in the slips by Zander de Bruyn
having added just nine to his overnight score of 57.Wickets fell steadily as Arafat sent back Richard Coughtrie (16) and Will
Gidman (20) for a return of two for 76 and match figures of seven for 162. Linley also finished with seven victims in the game for a total of 136 runs as he accounted for Jack Taylor (10) and Gloucestershire were bowled out for 320 shortly after lunch.That made Surrey favourites and they achieved a solid start in the face of
their modest target as Rory Hamilton-Brown and Steve Davies put on 50 before the
latter was caught behind fending at Will Gidman for 19.It was 60 for two when Hamilton-Brown (39) was taken at first slip by Alex
Gidman off Lewis and 80 for three when off-spinner Taylor struck in his first
over, having De Bruyn pouched by Hamish Marshall at slip – a sharp catch – for
11.Tom Maynard fell lbw to David Payne for two, the ball striking his pad before
the bat, and at 85 for four the match was in the balance. But Ramprakash was a reassuring presence for Surrey after his first-innings century and he looked in little trouble until his controversial dismissal threatened to change the game.The 41-year-old started to walk off and then returned for a further
conversation with umpires George Sharp and Nigel Llong before finally making his
way to the pavilion. In doing so Ramprakash joined an obscure list to be dismissed in bizarre ways.After Ansari’s departure, Batty was well taken at first slip above his head by
Alex Gidman off brother Will with Surrey still 23 short. Only three had been added when Roy edged Lewis to wicketkeeper Coughtrie, having made his 45 runs off 64 balls, with six fours. Despite several scares, Arafat and Linley survived with the latter hitting the winning runs.