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The Supreme Court of India has asked former BCCI president Anurag Thakur to tender an “unconditional, unequivocal” and “categorical” apology to get relief from the contempt proceedings initiated against him

PTI08-Jul-2017The Supreme Court of India has asked former BCCI president Anurag Thakur to tender an “unconditional, unequivocal” and “categorical” apology to get relief from the contempt proceedings initiated against him.A bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra, AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud made it clear that it was not going to consider Thakur’s earlier affidavit of apology and asked him to file a “one-page short affidavit” tendering unconditional apology.”We will grant you one more opportunity,” the bench said. “We suggest that you file a one-page affidavit in categorical language that you tender an unequivocal and unconditional apology for the misinformation or miscommunication that happened.”The court also asked Thakur to be present for its next hearing on July 14 to tender the apology. The bench indicated that it was willing to accept the apology and close the contempt proceedings against him.Senior advocate PS Patwalia, appearing for Thakur, said though his client was willing to tender an unconditional apology, he had a very good case on merit through which it can be proved that he did no wrong.Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae (friend of court) in the matter said if the court is magnanimous in granting pardon to Thakur, then he has nothing to say, but the apology should be unqualified and explicit in terms. The bench, however, said it would not go into the merit of the case.The court had initiated contempt proceedings against Thakur on January 2 this year for filing a false affidavit over writing to the ICC chairman Shashank Manohar, asking for a letter stating whether the appointment of an official from the Comptroller and Auditor General’s office would amount to governmental interference. The ICC does not permit government interference in the functioning of its member boards.”The conduct of the President of BCCI in seeking a letter from the President of ICC in August 2016, after the final judgement and Order of this Court, is nothing but an attempt on the part of the head of BCCI to evade complying with the Order of this Court,” the court had said while issuing a showcause notice to Thakur.Coming down heavily on the defiant BCCI brass, the Supreme Court had removed Thakur and Ajay Shirke as the president and the secretary for “obstructing” and “impeding” its directions for overhauling governance in the board. It had also appointed a Committee of Administrators to oversee BCCI’s functions.Thakur had, on March 6, tendered an “unconditional and unqualified apology” before the Supreme Court and said he had never intended to file any false information. His affidavit explained the circumstances under which the averments made by him led to the initiation of contempt proceedings.

Dane Vilas top-scored for Lancashire with 74 while Haseeb Hameed proved his fitness after suffering an injury scare

Alan Gardner at Chelmsford07-Apr-2017
ScorecardThe first day of the season is as good a day as any to be reminded that Championship success is usually hard-won. Both Essex and Lancashire could feel satisfaction come the close at Chelmsford; both will know that further unstinting effort will be required to sway this contest over the coming days.Lancashire may feel they had the best of it, particularly after recovering from 160 for 6 to pass 300, thanks to a 51-run last-wicket stand between James Anderson and Kyle Jarvis, who then took a wicket apiece before the close. Nevertheless, Essex’s new-look attack acquitted themselves well by bowling out Lancashire after being put into the field. All but two Lancashire batsmen made starts but only Dane Vilas managed to pass fifty, as Neil Wagner and Aaron Beard – overseas pro and homegrown tyro – collected six wickets between them.No one faced more balls than Haseeb Hameed, who provided some proof of his fitness after sustaining a hand injury in Lancashire’s university match. Hameed was watched by James Whitaker, the national selector, and Mark Ramprakash, England’s batting coach, as well as his parents during his first significant innings since making a highly regarded Test debut in India over the winter.Hameed’s tour of India was cut short by a fracture to the little finger on his left hand, which required the insertion of a metal plate. He sustained a blow practising his fielding at short leg before play against Cambridge and then had to leave the field while batting; however, a scan detected no further damage and he batted without discomfort for just over two hours here before falling three runs short of fifty.”The finger’s fine, it was a bit of a freak incident, trapping it in the warm-up and then I tried batting and it got quite painful. So I think we made the right decision in getting it checked out and thankfully it was all okay,” he said.”The surgeon suggested, when there’s a bit of time off, it might be worth getting [the plate] out. But I think there’s a six-week recovery period from having that surgery to remove it, so it wouldn’t make sense now. If I’ve got a bit of time in the future, I probably will take it out.”Ryan ten Doeschate, Essex’s captain, suggested before the game that Lancashire’s batting might present a “chink in their armour” and that looked a shrewd assessment as the visitors experienced a middle-order slide of 4 for 42 on a pristine afternoon. However, Vilas, one of three new Kolpak signings on show, provided the grit that Lancashire desperately needed with 74 before a ticklish thrash between Anderson and Jarvis lifted them towards a more competitive total.For all the topics being discussed at the newly anointed Cloudfm County Ground on the first day of the new season – Hameed’s availability, Alastair Cook’s absence (depriving the crowd of a head-to-head with Anderson), the Kolpak issue, Essex’s survival chances (or Lancashire’s for that matter) – perhaps the closest to local hearts was the decision to drop James Foster for the first time in his 17-year Essex career. Adam Wheater, his replacement behind the stumps, has pedigree as a Division One batsman, as well as the advantage of being from the same east London manor (aka Gooch Country) but it will not be an easy gig.It is accepted around Chelmsford that Foster cannot go on forever but there were rueful shakes of the head when Wheater failed to get a hand on a stumping chance provided by Steven Croft in the first over after lunch. Croft and Hameed had quieted a healthy crowd during a third-wicket stand of 68 but there was a notable frisson of disappointment as the opportunity for Simon Harmer’s first Championship wicket zipped by.By then, Hameed had set about reassuring those nervous about the state of his delicate hands during a composed innings that featured several sumptuously timed drives. Barring a skittish swipe at the first ball he received from Wagner – a team-mate last season, back when Hameed was still a precocious talent smarting at missing out on the U-19 World Cup – he seemed to have everything in the right place, a sort of batting feng shui as he lined up the bowling with the precision displayed during his debut Test series in India. That is, until he fractionally misjudged a delivery from Jamie Porter that kept coming back in at him to clip the top of off stump the over after Croft’s reprieve.For a brief while, there was a vision of England’s possible batting future in the middle, as Liam Livingstone joined Hameed. Livingstone, now at first drop and with a chance to impress after batting in the lower-middle order during his debut season, showcased his revolving-door wrists with a second-ball four that rattled away to the deep midwicket rope and he stroked five more boundaries in between ducking Wagner’s head-hunting bouncers.Livingstone’s attacking instincts eventually got the better of him, a wild flash providing Beard with his first wicket – via a goalkeeper save from Tom Westley (second slip) that was collected on the dive by Varun Chopra (first). Beard also removed Vilas, as a leading edge sailed to mid-off, while Harmer did eventually get Croft, taken at short fine leg when sweeping. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, in his 43rd year and only in the country a few days, was run out after a mix-up with Vilas.

Reece Topley, the left-arm pace bowler, is to leave Essex and join Hampshire on a two-year deal

George Dobell31-Aug-2015Reece Topley, the left-arm pace bowler, is to leave Essex and join Hampshire on a two-year deal. Paul Grayson, the coach, is also leaving the club, while the future of the captain, James Foster, is uncertain.Topley, 21, who made his England debut in the T20 against Australia in Cardiff, rejected the offer of a new contract from Essex and was the subject of interest from eight other counties. It is understood that Hampshire did not offer the most money, but Topley was impressed by the plans of chairman Rod Bransgrove and the coach Giles White and felt the environment at the club would help him fulfil his potential.His signing in the face of so much competition – Surrey, Warwickshire and Worcestershire were among the other interested counties – represents something of a coup for Hampshire. Topley, a tall left-arm swing bowler, has outstanding red and white ball statistics for his age. He was the standout bowler at the 2012 Under-19 World Cup in Australia, is currently the leading wicket taker in this year’s Royal London Cup with 20 wickets and has 125 first-class victims at a cost of 25.78.Topley, who burst onto the professional scene in 2011 with successive five wicket hauls when just 17 and still at school, has said his ultimate ambition is to become the first left-arm pace bowler to claim 100 Test wickets for England.Leaving Essex will be a major wrench, though. Not only has he progressed through the club’s system – he has been there since he was nine – but his father, Don Topley, also represented the club for a decade as a bustling seam bowler and still commentates on the club for local radio.”I am extremely sad to be leaving Essex having played for the county since the age of nine and have thoroughly enjoyed my time in a great dressing room,” Topley said. “I would like to publicly thank all the players for their huge support and firm friendships.”In particular, I must also thank the two 1st XI coaches: Paul Grayson for the fantastic opportunity he has given me and to Chris Silverwood, who I have great admiration for and enjoyed working with.”It is understood Reece was unsettled by changes at the club. Since the return of Ronnie Irani as chairman of the cricket committee, the future of the coach, Grayson, has looked especially uncertain – ESPNcricinfo understands he is no longer working with the team while a severance package is agreed – with Irani his probable replacement.Grayson was appointed coach in July 2007. While Essex won the Friends Provident Trophy in 2008, they have not made the progress some expected since and currently sit mid-table in Division Two. Grayson’s supporters would argue, however, that he has never held much real power and was not given the authority to sign new players or agree contract terms.The future of the captain, Foster, is also unclear with the former England keeper understood to have received offers of employment from outside the game, including a role at a local private school. Topley remains close and appreciative of Grayson and Essex bowling coach, Chris Silverwood, but has a less obvious rapport with Irani. It could well be that Topley joins Hampshire on loan before the end of this season.It continues a worrying trend for Essex. While the club – perhaps as a result of its densely populated catchment area – has a fine record of producing talented players, Topley joins a list that includes Varun Chopra, Ben Foakes, Adam Wheater, Tony Palladino, Billy Godleman, Chris Wright and Tymal Mills as talented players who have recently left the club to pursue their county careers elsewhere.They are likely to sign another seamer – Surrey’s Tim Linely – as replacement for Topley, but losing a 21-year-old and gaining a 33-year-old – whatever his merits – is unlikely to impress Essex supporters.

Moeen Ali’s first century in the Championship for nearly two years steered Worcestershire into a strong position against Gloucestershire

23-May-2013
ScorecardFile photo: Moeen Ali progressed to his first hundred of the season•PA Photos

Moeen Ali’s first century in the Championship for nearly two years steered Worcestershire into a strong position in their Division Two clash with local rivals Gloucestershire at New Road. Having bowled out their neighbours for 234, Worcestershire powered into a lead of 68 as Moeen – badly dropped at mid-off on 99 by Liam Norwell – closed the second day with 122 not out in a total of 302 for 3.While Moeen was all flair and flicks, with 18 fours and three sixes, the diligent Matt Pardoe grafted for nearly five hours for 89, the highest of seven half-centuries so far in his Championship career. Their partnership of 173 in 52 overs built on the advantage secured by Alan Richardson’s first-day return of 8 for 37, the best Championship bowling for the county since Zaheer Khan took nine wickets against Essex in 2006.Worcestershire’s top order has rarely fired so consistently in recent times but after a sticky period following last year’s relegation from Division One, they have been given a shot in the arm by their two-day demolition of Kent last week. With a first win of the season secured at the fifth attempt, suddenly they are a team playing with authority.After rain in the morning had cost an hour’s play, Gloucestershire’s seamers were unable to match Richardson’s destructive performance when Daryl Mitchell and Pardoe resumed their overnight partnership of 65. The first pair moved on to 90 before Mitchell, having hit 10 fours, went for 63, carving a ball from Norwell to Benny Howell at point.If Gloucestershire hoped this would put them back in the game, they were quickly disappointed as the ever-entertaining Moeen revealed his full repertoire in reaching three figures from 130 balls.In a partnership of left-handed batsmen, Pardoe had a different role to play and he carried it through as Worcestershire would have wanted when pushing him up the order in place of last year’s overseas player, Phil Hughes. Tall and watchful but always quick to punish the bad ball, he hit seven fours in reaching 50 for the second match in a row at New Road and he added five further boundaries before the new ball gave Gloucestershire a lift late in the day.In the third over, James Fuller bowled Pardoe, before Thilan Samaraweera became a leg-before victim for Craig Miles from the ninth ball he faced. The final session was twice interrupted by rain and in all 27 overs were lost to the weather.

Cricket South Africa have not been able to secure a sponsor for the Twenty20 series against Australia and have given the exclusive title rights to a charity organisation instead

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2011Cricket South Africa have not been able to secure a sponsor for the Twenty20 series against Australia and have given the exclusive title rights to a charity organisation instead. In the aftermath of the yet-to-be-resolved bonus scandal, corporates have veered away from associating themselves with the body, and only Castle Lager have remained as backers of the Test and ODI teams. As a result, the T20 team, all international events and two of the three domestic competitions are without sponsors.Two of CSA’s long-time sponsors, Standard Bank and the mobile communications company MTN opted out of their sponsorship agreements with cricket during the off-season. Standard Bank said the move was in line with their cancelling of all sports sponsorships, while MTN declined to give a reason for their withdrawal. Since then, the bonus scandal has dragged into its second year and CSA have been unable to bring any new company on board.Instead, CSA has given the Make a Difference (MAD) foundation the title rights for the series free of charge, and will allow the foundation to promote itself at both matches, as a way of giving back to the community. The organisation seeks to give academically talented but disadvantaged children an opportunity to get a good education, something CSA sees as closely aligned to its own development goals. “An important focus for CSA has always been in the mentoring and development of young players to become the very best cricketers in the world. And MAD shares a similar vision,” Majola said.South Africa’s ODI and T20 captain, AB de Villiers, who is not playing in the series because of a finger injury is an ambassador for MAD, after being introduced to the organisation through former rugby hero Francois Pienaar.Richard Glover, CSA’s commercial manager, said that many companies had expressed interest in sponsoring various cricket properties but have asked to hold off until a “line had been drawn under the bonus scandal”. As the season drew close, with only Castle Lager continuing their relationship, Glover remained confident that CSA would secure sponsors before the season started. On September 20, he told ESPNcricinfo that a “sponsor will definitely be announced for the T20 series” against Australia.However, the CSA’s infighting has continued, and no sponsor has been unveiled. Reliable sources have confirmed that four companies have been asked to put their negotiations with CSA on hold until their issues have been resolved. That could happen as soon as this Saturday, when president Mtutuzeli Nyoka faces a second vote of no confidence.Five of the eleven provincial unions – Gauteng, Free State, Boland, Easterns and Eastern Province – have confirmed that they will support the motion against Nyoka. Northerns has said they will vote against it, but it is understood that at least one other union is in favour of the motion, and Nyoka is set to be removed from office.That should end the ongoing battle between him and chief executive Gerald Majola which started when 4.7 million Rand ($671,428) was paid in bonuses after South Africa hosted the 2009 IPL and the Champions Trophy. The payments were not processed through CSA’s remunerations committee (Remco) and Nyoka asked for an external audit to be carried out to investigate them.CSA held an internal audit, which cleared Majola and voted Nyoka out of office unlawfully three months later. Nyoka challenged them in court and, when he was reinstated, also won the right to have CSA’s financials examined. KPMG, who conducted the inquiry, recommended that CSA seek legal advice after finding that Majola may have breached the Companies’ Act on four occasions, and opinion was sought from Advocate Azhar Bham. Majola was severely reprimanded at the AGM in August and CSA vowed to improve their corporate governance methods but denied Nyoka’s request for copies of the audit report and legal advice.They have since met Nyoka and his lawyer to show him both documents, but have also claimed that he has breached media protocol and is no longer fit to be their President. If he is removed on Saturday, CSA’s 15-month-long saga will come to an end, albeit unsatisfactorily for some, the day before the second T20 against Australia. That leaves too short a time frame to rubber-stamp the sponsorship.There is, as yet, no indication of when CSA will announce sponsors for the ODI series against Australia or the domestic one-day and twenty-over competitions. SuperSport have continued to back the first-class competition in accordance with their television rights deal.

India’s dismal performance in England has seen them lose the No. 1 ranking in Tests, and several former captains and players concur that it could be a while before they regain the position

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Aug-2011India’s dismal performance in England has seen them lose the No. 1 ranking in Tests, and several former captains and players concur that it could be a while before they regain the position. A lack of preparation has been pointed out as one of the chief reasons for India’s three consecutive losses, and Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, the former India captain, does not think the Indian board will learn their lesson and plan more meticulously for future series”I don’t want to sound like a pessimist but I fear the players are going to say it’s only a bad dream, just forget it and get on,” he told . “The BCCI is not going to show a great deal of vision. Cricket will continue the way it is but I sincerely hope that some sense does come in.”Sourav Ganguly, who led India to a 1-1 draw in England in 2002, said the performances were worrying and may not just constitute a one-off bad tour. “You can lose Test matches but losing three in a row and not scoring any big total, it is something to be worried about,” Ganguly said. “Is it a one-off affair or the beginning of the demise of the side? We have to see.”What is particularly worrying for India is that their batting has failed despite the presence of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, who have 37,769 Test runs between them. Anil Kumble said things would only get harder for India once those three retired, and the challenge now was just to stay near the top rather than reclaim the No. 1 ranking. “You need to spot four-five players and invest in them, to ensure that they carry the responsibility of Indian cricket in future in place of the veterans,” Kumble said. “We have Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir”They have to be given a long rope. You may not see India come back at the top in quick time. But we have to ensure that with these youngsters, we remained in the top three and climb to top spot after a few years.”Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar said that apart from the fact that India had very little time to prepare for the series, complacency had also played a role in their defeat.”I knew that it will be a tough series for India considering the fact that they were up against a formidable team that’s on song and consistent in their performance in recent times,” Vengsarkar said.”Besides, they have a better attack and as a team they had enough time to prepare themselves for the series. India on the other hand had come back from the gruelling series in West Indies, had a very little time to prepare and adapt to English conditions.”I guess, the Indians had become a bit complacent after their good run in the last few seasons,” he said.Kumble’s sentiments on the need to blood youngsters were echoed by Arun Lal, the former India batsman, who also said the magnitude of the loss in England may serve as a much-needed wake-up call for India and ensure they are better prepared for future tours.”You cannot go on with 35 or 38-year-olds till eternity. There might be slowing down of the reflexes, weakening of eyesight etc. So we need to infuse new talent,” Lal said. “We have to ensure that we have enough preparation before such tough series. The series loss and World No. 1 Test ranking slipping away is in a way good. We need an awakening.”

Sanath Jayasuriya will bring to an end a 22-year international career when he makes his final appearance for his country at the venue – The Oval – where he made his highest score against England in all formats: 213 off 278 balls in the one-off Test 13 yea

Sa'adi Thawfeeq at The Oval27-Jun-2011Sanath Jayasuriya will bring to an end a 22-year international career when he makes his final appearance for his country at the venue – The Oval – where he made his highest score against England in all formats: 213 off 278 balls in the one-off Test 13 years ago in 1998.Asked whether Sri Lanka had anything planned for him, stand-in captain Thilina Kandamby said, “We haven’t decided yet but we should do something. Sanath is one of the legends that we have ever produced, probably the best one-day player we have got in our country. I wish him all the best and I hope he will do well.”Any chance of Jayasuriya, who turns 42 on Thursday, changing his mind and staying back for the rest of the series was ruled out by Kandamby who is most likely to lead Sri Lanka in the opening ODI with a question mark still hanging over the fitness of captain Tillakaratne Dilshan.”Sanath won’t be staying on for the rest of the series. He has already decided to retire after the first one-day. That’s his call and we can’t help it,” said Kandamby. “If he makes a hundred tomorrow that’s the best farewell he can get but that’s not within our control.”Sanath is a brilliant guy so when you have someone like him in your side it gives us a lot of confidence. We know he can deliver with both bat and ball and he is a very important player to have in the team.”Sri Lanka used Jayasuriya’s wily spin to successfully probe on Kevin Pietersen’s weakness against left-arm bowlers during their nine-wicket win in the Twenty20 International against England in Bristol on Saturday. Pietersen had raced to 41 from 26 balls when Jayasuriya was introduced and it needed just two balls for him to disturb Pietersen’s stumps.”We have different plans for Pietersen. He has not been playing well against left-armers. We have that in the back of our mind and we hope that we can get him out early,” said Kandamby.Jayasuriya is the first ruling Member of Parliament to actively play international cricket after winning his seat at his hometown Matara at Sri Lanka’s general elections held last year. For England’s captain Alastair Cook, the circumstances of Jayasuriya’s recall were unexpected and he is one hoping the farewell isn’t too pleasant. “It’s slightly surprising for sure,” said Cook. “But he reinvented the way people play one-day cricket years ago. Hopefully we don’t send him out on a high.”Kandamby said that Dilshan has not been ruled out of tomorrow’s match and that there was a 50-50 chance of him playing. “We’ll take a decision after practice.”In the event of Dilshan being ruled out of the match, Kandamby said that Mahela Jayawardene would open the batting with Jayasuriya as he did in the Twenty20 at Bristol where he went onto score a match-winning 72 not out off 57 balls.

ESPNcricinfo previews the first quarter-final between Pakistan and West Indies in Mirpur

The Preview by Andrew Miller22-Mar-2011

Match Facts

March 23, Mirpur

Start time 1430 hours (0830 GMT)The end of the line for the Rawalpindi Express? Shoaib Akhtar’s international career could finish in Mirpur on Wednesday•Associated Press

The Big Picture

The last time West Indies were in Dhaka, they couldn’t have been in more of a rush to get away – in every sense. First there was their on-field performance, as clinical as anything ever witnessed in a World Cup encounter, as a potentially awkward tussle with Bangladesh was done and dusted in barely 30 overs of one-sided action.Then, however, came the darker aspect of the day’s events. As the West Indies team bus pulled out of the Shere Bangla stadium, it was pelted with rocks by an irate section of the Bangladeshi support – in the mistaken belief, it was later reported, that their own defeated countrymen were on board. Chris Gayle’s alarmed tweet buzzed around the world in minutes, and though the team was later garlanded with flowers by an apologetic supporters’ group, the lack of amusement was tangible. “Is it ok for me to say thank god I left bangladesh???!!!” added Sulieman Benn once the team had departed for India.But now they are back, amid drum-tight security, and while the venue may not be to their liking, the opportunity could hardly be more alluring. Of all the teams in a tricky Group B, arguably no-one had a smoother on-field run to the quarter-finals than West Indies. Unlike England, whose struggles against the lesser teams turned every one of their subsequent games into nailbiters, the Windies took the polar opposite approach. They won the games in which they were favourites with such ease – with only the Irish coming close to giving them a scare in a 44-run defeat – that back-to-back defeats against England and India couldn’t rattle their rock-solid Net Run Rate.As a consequence they may start as underdogs in the knock-outs, but West Indies have landed the opponents that most suit their hot-and-cold style. Pakistan surpassed expectations to finish top of Group A, and in doing so they bookended the single most remarkable statistic in World Cup history – Australia’s 34-match unbeaten run that began in the wake of a Moin Khan-inspired 10-run defeat at Headingley in 1999, and came to an end at the hands of Umar Akmal in Colombo on Saturday. But as their remarkable defeat against the apparent weaklings of New Zealand demonstrated, there’s never any point in predicting predictability from Pakistan.The other three quarter-finals involve clear favourites, and it would be a shock if any of India, South Africa and Sri Lanka failed to advance to the semis. This one, however, is anyone’s game. On form, Pakistan should shade it, and a potential semi-final date with India in Mohali will ensure their resolve is at its sharpest. But as West Indies showed on their last trip to Mirpur, when they get on a roll they have players who can prove unstoppable.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WWLWW

West Indies LLWWW

Watch out for…

In their Chennai defeat against England, West Indies threw punch after punch to leave their opponents weak at the knees, but they lacked the subtlety in between whiles to make their position count. Nevertheless, the star of their show was undoubtedly the 22-year-old Andre Russell, whose performance with bat and ball could and should have been the decisive factor. His energetic seamers claimed career-best figures of 4 for 49, and he followed that up with a rough-diamond 49 from 46 balls. In a contest that could be decided by individual brilliance, he has two strings with which to make his bow.Pakistan have long cultivated a reputation as mercurial performers, but scarcely a match goes by these days without a command performance from Umar Gul. He’s picked off 13 wickets in his six outings in this World Cup, including nine in the past three games, in which time he has been promoted to new-ball status as well. His effortless variations provide a threat at any stage of an innings, but never more so than at the death when his pinpoint yorkers can prove unhittable. With Chris Gayle at the top of West Indies’ order, and Kieron Pollard lurking at the bottom, his ten overs could prove instrumental in deciding the course of the match.

Team news

Chris Gayle and Kemar Roach are expected to slot straight back into the team after missing the India fixture, in place of Kirk Edwards and Ravi Rampaul, who will count himself unlucky to miss out after picking up figures of 5 for 51 in that match. There could also be a recall for the veteran Shiv Chanderpaul, who was dropped after a tally of 70 runs in four matches at the start of the tournament, but whose experience in such a crunch fixture could be invaluable. Ramnaresh Sarwan is the likeliest man to miss out, although Devon Thomas could conceivably hand the keeping duties to Darren Bravo.West Indies (possible) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Devon Smith, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Darren Sammy (capt.), 7 Devon Thomas (wk), 8 Andre Russell, 9 Sulieman Benn, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Devendra Bishoo.Chanderpaul’s return would mean four left-handers in West Indies’ top five, and so the offspin of Saeed Ajmal is being seriously considered in place of the effective but unassuming left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman. Shoaib Akhtar, with his retirement imminent, will hope to earn a recall in place of Wahab Riaz, who was expensive against Australia, but the variation offered by his left-arm line is not an asset that Shahid Afridi would wish to dispense with in a hurry.Pakistan (possible) 1 Kamran Akmal (wk), 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Saeed Ajmal, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Wahab Riaz.

Darren Sammy reckons the Dhaka wicket looks like “a cricket pitch”, which is just as well really. Still, Bangladesh managed to make it look like a minefield on West Indies’ last visit to the venue, as Sammy, Roach and Benn routed their opponents for 58 in 18.5 overs. There is some grass on the surface, but it ought to be full of runs, as Virender Sehwag demonstrated during his 175 in the opening match of the tournament. The weather is set to be humid, with some prospect of dew in the second innings.

Stats and trivia

• West Indies have won 64 of their 114 ODIs against Pakistan, but just two of the past 13 completed matches, dating back to January 2005.
• Shahid Afridi’s highest score in four World Cup campaigns is 37 against Zimbabwe in June 1999. However, he has claimed 17 of his 24 wickets in the current tournament.
• West Indies are bidding to reach their fifth World Cup semi-final, and their first since 1996. Pakistan reached the semis in five of the first seven tournaments, but haven’t got that far since losing the final in 1999.
• For a full statistical preview, click here

Quotes

“This is a ground where we executed our plans perfectly so it’s good to be back here. We feel loved by the people and we are ready for tomorrow.”
“It was a great win. We really worked hard before this tournament and I don’t think in my 14-year career we’ve ever worked as hard. Definitely, the expectation is greater now. We are feeling more confident.”

Shahid Afridi reflects on the achievement of beating Australia in Colombo

Surrey have signed Steven Cheetham, the Lancashire pace bowler, on loan for the remainder of the season to bolster their attack

Cricinfo staff04-Aug-2010Surrey have signed Steven Cheetham, the Lancashire pace bowler, on loan for the remainder of the season to bolster their attack.Cheetham, 22, hasn’t made any first-team appearances for Lancashire this summer and has just one first-class and five one-day games under his belt. Surrey have drafted him in after an injury to Andre Nel so that cricket manager Chris Adams can continue to rotate his fast bowlers.”Steven is a young bowler with terrific physical attributes, who bowls wicket to wicket and is very much at the start of his career,” Adams said. “Due to one or two injuries we need some seam bowling cover for the end of the season and this loan represents a big opportunity for him to enhance his first-class experience.”Cheetham has gone straight into the Surrey squad for Wednesday’s CB40 match against Glamorgan.

The seam-bowling allrounder is the only change from the squad that faced New Zealand

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Feb-2025Sri Lanka have named a squad largely unchanged from the one that toured New Zealand in January this year for the two ODIs against Australia at home later this week. The one change is that seam-bowling allrounder Chamindu Wickramasinghe is out as the squad has been trimmed from 17 for that New Zealand series to 16.From Sri Lanka’s point of view, there is no real context to the series, since they failed to make the cut for the upcoming Champions Trophy. But the two games are important for Australia, who will go straight to Pakistan for the eight-team tournament after these games.Sri Lanka wear a solid look, keeping in mind the venue for the games, R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Sri Lanka ODI squad

Feb 12 – 1st ODI in Colombo</b
Feb 14 – 2nd ODI in Colombo