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The BCCI’s technical committee has recommended that all Ranji Trophy matches in 2016-17 be played at neutral venues to make domestic cricket more competitive

Arun Venugopal29-May-20163:42

Agarkar: Should be good enough to play at opposition’s home

The BCCI’s technical committee has recommended that all Ranji Trophy matches in 2016-17 be played at neutral venues to make domestic cricket more competitive. The committee’s recommendations, according to the BCCI, seek to “rule out the issues related to preparing specific wickets for home teams, as well as to expose players to play in different conditions.” These recommendations will have to be ratified by the board’s working committee. A similar recommendation, to play all Ranji matches at neutral venues, was made before the 2012-13 season but was later turned down.The pitches used in the Ranji Trophy last season came under scrutiny after nine matches finished inside two days. Former India captain Rahul Dravid was critical of the “poor” pitches that stunted the development of young cricketers. He had also said state associations had to be forced to prepare good surfaces.

India A’s tour to Australia approved

The BCCI’s technical committee has approved India A’s tour of Australia in August for two four-day matches and a tri-series. India A had last toured Australia in July 2014 where they played two unofficial Tests against Australia A before playing a quadrangular series that also featured South Africa A and Australia’s National Performance Squad. Australia A had returned the visit with a tour to India in August last year, where it played two Tests against the home side before playing a tri-series that comprised South Africa A as well.

“A lot of people criticise and say Ranji Trophy [knockout] matches should be held in home venues of teams,” he said. “But if teams resort to doing these kind of things, then I think it is better the knockout matches are staged in neutral venues.”While Karnataka coach J Arun Kumar welcomed the panel’s recommendation, his Assam counterpart Sanath Kumar disagreed with the idea.”Apart from not having the home-crowd advantage and the home-pitch advantage, I don’t see anything wrong in that,” Arun Kumar told ESPNcricinfo. “There have been a lot of problems in the past with home-team advantage [resulting in] very bad wickets. Not having crowd support is the only setback but otherwise I think it’s a very fair move.”Sanath Kumar said the existing system, where a team played four games at home and four away, was fair. “I don’t think anybody will now come and watch. [Playing games at home meant] at least a few fans will come and support the team,” he said. “It will be like a knockout match where hardly anybody is watching the game. Instead of this recommendation, they could have had a [neutral] curator to prepare the pitches. That would have been an easier solution.”The technical committee has also recommended that the Duleep Trophy be played entirely as a day-night tournament, with four teams, picked by the selectors, playing in a round-robin format. In January, the BCCI tours and fixtures committee had asked the technical committee to explore the possibility of trialing the pink ball in the tournament. This move is significant considering the board’s keenness to host a day-night Test during India’s long home season where they will play series against New Zealand, England and Australia.Sanath Kumar said there had been discussions about changes in the zonal format of the Duleep Trophy since last season. “[In the coaches and captains enclave last year] we told the BCCI that the zonal system didn’t make much sense,” he said. “In the past we used to play Ranji Trophy at the zonal level and then we go to the knockouts. That time Duleep Trophy had a lot of relevance whereas now Ranji Trophy itself has become an all-India tournament and so Duleep doesn’t have a lot of recognition. Even the players don’t take it seriously.”We suggested that if the selectors select four teams like they do for the Challenger Trophy, it would be a better way of going about things.”

For the first time in in 21 years, West Indian fans must consider a Chanderpaul-less future.
And their first engagement of that future is against Australia, a team West Indies have not beaten in a Test for 12 years, and in a series for 23 years

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale02-Jun-2015

Match facts

June 3-7, 2015
Start time 10am local (1400 GMT)

Big Picture

In the cricket world, March 1994 seems like an epoch ago. Cricinfo was only a year old. Cigarette sponsorship was still a thing. West Indies remained a dominant force, with Desmond Haynes, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Richie Richardson and Brian Lara all in the line-up. It was the month of Allan Border’s last Test, and of Kapil Dev’s as well.Three players made their Test debuts in March 1994, all left-handers who would enjoy long and decorated careers: Matthew Hayden, Stephen Fleming and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Fleming lasted until 2008, Hayden until 2009. Chanderpaul kept going, and going, and going. And now he’s gone, dumped by the selectors at the age of 40. For the first time in in 21 years, West Indian fans must consider a Chanderpaul-less future.And their first engagement of that future is against Australia, a team West Indies have not beaten in a Test for 12 years, and in a series for 23 years. Since then, the Frank Worrell Trophy has been tightly held by Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke, and Clarke will expect his men to be able to retain it during their two-Test battle in Dominica and Jamaica.Australia will certainly be glad to see a Shiv-shaped hole in their opponents’ batting order: in nine home Tests against Australia, Chanderpaul made five centuries and averaged 80.38. But, as Kraigg Brathwaite and Jermaine Blackwood showed in the recent series against England, there are things to like about the young West Indies batsmen coming through.Australia will hope not to be too rusty after a couple of months away from international cricket, and having not played a Test since January. They will be without Chris Rogers, who will be rested after being struck on the helmet at training, and that will necessitate some juggling of the batting order. There is also a question over the make-up of their attack, with Fawad Ahmed a chance of making his debut if the pitch looks like it will suit two spinners.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)
West Indies WLDLD
Australia DDWWL

In the spotlight

The leading West Indian run scorer in their recent series against England, Jermaine Blackwood will hope to continue his form against the Australians. A talented middle-order batsman who was key to West Indies winning the Barbados Test and thus drawing the England series, Blackwood faces the challenge of being the go-to man in a lower middle order now without the experience of Chanderpaul.Australia will likely have one debutant in this Test, and after training on Tuesday it looked certain to be Adam Voges. His is the story of an interminable but ultimately fruitful wait for the opportunity, after he was first called into a Test squad during the 2006-07 Ashes in Australia. Now 35 years old, his time is now.

Team news

West Indies have a middle-order place to fill. Shane Dowrich impressed with half-centuries in each innings of the tour match against Australia, and could come in for his debut. They also have the option of two spinners, with Devendra Bishoo in the squad alongside Veerasammy Permaul.West Indies (possible) 1 Kraigg Brathwaite, 2 Shai Hope, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Jermaine Blackwood, 6 Shane Dowrich, 7 Denesh Ramdin (capt & wk), 8 Jason Holder, 9 Jerome Taylor, 10 Shannon Gabriel, 11 Veerasammy PermaulAdam Voges shook hands with selectors Mark Waugh and Darren Lehmann at Australia’s final training session and appears sure to debut. Steven Smith has been given the job as Australia’s latest No.3 batsman, while Shaun Marsh will open with David Warner. Mitchell Starc seems likely to be preferred as third quick ahead of a second spinner in Fawad Ahmed.Australia (possible) 1 David Warner, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Adam Voges, 6 Shane Watson, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Nathan Lyon, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Pitch and conditions

“It feels like raging turner or green seamer. So, we’ll wait and see what they give us in the middle and then we’ll make a plan from there,” Michael Clarke said two days out from the match. The weather is expected to be fine throughout most of the Test.

Stats and trivia

• Since January 1, 2000, West Indies have played 25 Tests without Shivnarine Chanderpaul. They have won just one of them, against Sri Lanka in Kingston in 2003
• That was also the same year – 2003 – that West Indies last beat Australia in a Test, with their world-record chase of 418 in Antigua
• Steven Smith will be the 13th player to bat at No. 3 for Australia in a Test – including nightwatchmen – since Ricky Ponting last did so in 2011

Quotes

“We played well in the three Test matches [against England]. We need to improve because it’s Australia – no disrespect to England – and we’re trying to do that as much as possible.””

The former Kent batsman Tony Pawson, who became the Observer cricket correspondent, has died at the age of 91.

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2012The former Kent batsman Tony Pawson, who became the Observer cricket correspondent, has died at the age of 91.Pawson played 69 first-class matches, mostly for Kent and Oxford University, scoring seven hundreds as he made 3807 runs at 37.32. He was Kent’s oldest surviving capped player.As a 15-year-old, in 1937, he scored 237 at Lord’s when playing for a Lord’s XI against a CF Tufnell’s XI and in 1947 he represented MCC against the South Africans playing in a team alongside Denis ComptonCricket was not the only sport where he made his name. He won a blue at Oxford, represented England at football and at the 1948 London Olympics as well as playing two football league matches for Charlton Athletic. In 1982 he was a member of the England fly fishing team that won the World Championship and in 1988 was awarded on OBE for services to angling.Kent’s honorary curator, David Robertson, said: “Tony Pawson enjoyed his cricket, and set out to make sure spectators shared that enjoyment. I have many happy boyhood memories of his batting and fielding at Canterbury. His running between the wickets, especially with Godfrey Evans as his partner, was always an eagerly awaited feature of the game.”Jamie Clifford, the Kent chief executive, added: “The club is saddened to learn news of Tony Pawson’s passing and our thoughts are with his family and friends. Tony made a great contribution to Kent Cricket and many of our members have fond memories of watching him play at the St Lawrence Ground.”During his time as a cricket correspondent he was also chairman of the Cricket Writers’ Club in 1980 and 1981.

Leicestershire ended day two of their County Championship Division Two clash against Middlesex facing the prospect of an innings defeat

31-Aug-2011
ScorecardLeicestershire ended day two of their County Championship Division Two clash against Middlesex facing the prospect of an innings defeat after England captain Andrew Strauss claimed his maiden first-class double century at Lord’s.The visitors were dismissed shortly before the scheduled close for 193 in reply to Middlesex’s 496 for 2 declared, the highlight of which was Strauss’ unbeaten 241 off 344 balls. Led by Steven Crook with 4 for 45 and Tim Murtagh (3 for 41), the Middlesex attack made life extremely difficult for Leicestershire, who seem certain to be asked to follow on in the morning.The visitors began hesitantly, with Will Jefferson in particular struggling against the moving ball. Matthew Boyce cover drove Corey Collymore for four before despatching Murtagh to the fence at extra cover. However in the 15th over, having just driven Murtagh for four, Jefferson edged behind to make it 42 for 1.It took Greg Smith 33 balls to find the boundary. But in Ollie Rayner’s second over the 22-year-old sought to take advantage of the short distance to the Mound Stand, only to chip the ball up to Dawid Malan at mid-wicket.The visitors were 86 for 2 at tea, but that became 101 for 5 when Steven Crook picked up three wickets in 10 balls. James Taylor was bowled before, two overs later, Josh Cobb was trapped leg before. In Crook’s next over Boyce, who made 46 in 122 deliveries, had his bails trimmed by the 28- year-old allrounder to leave Leicestershire reeling.Ned Eckersley (28) and Wayne White (37) then added 50 in nine overs for the sixth wicket before Eckersley was caught behind off Toby Roland-Jones. Ten overs later White, falling away to the off side, went lbw to Collymore to spark another collapse, which saw Rob Taylor slap Murtagh straight to short extra cover, Nathan Buck edge to third slip and Matthew Hoggard lose his off stump.Earlier in the day, Strauss registered the highest score by a Middlesex batsman at Lord’s for 12 years as the home side bumped their first-innings total up to 496 for two, before declaring at lunch.Strauss took 40 minutes converting his unbeaten 184 overnight into a maiden double century, as Hoggard beat the outside edge of the England captain’s bat on a number of occasions. But in the 10th over of the day Strauss brought up the landmark with a crisply pulled four off Buck. His double hundred had come from 282 balls and it included 21 fours and two sixes.Malan played some attractive shots to move into the 40s, but, on 47, fell to a catch at slip off a skied pull. That ushered in Chris Rogers, who deposited both White and Cobb in the Mound Stand for sixes on his way to a run-a-ball 33.

Skipper Andrew Gale rushed Yorkshire to a four-wicket win against Durham this morning, scoring 34 of the 54 runs they required at the outset
standing they should stay in contention for the County Championship Division
One title

19-Aug-2010
ScorecardSkipper Andrew Gale rushed Yorkshire to a four-wicket win against Durham this morning, scoring 34 of the 54 runs they required at the outset. Adil Rashid scored 15 of the final 24 as victory was achieved in 50 minutes at Chester-le-Street.Resuming on 36, Gale was in no mood to hang around, even going down the pitch twice to strike the pacy Mitch Claydon for two of the 12 fours in his unbeaten 70. Gale made a streaky start, driving wide of off-stump in the opening over of the day and edging Claydon just over first slip to the unguarded third-man boundary.His only other scare came on 54 when he tried to pull a ball from Claydon which kept low but survived the confident lbw appeal. In Steve Harmison’s opening over he had four balls at Steve Patterson, none of which the nightwatchman needed to play at. But with the target down to 26, the ex-England paceman struck twice.He had Patterson lbw without adding to his overnight three, then Gerard Brophy steered a short, innocuous ball straight to Ben Stokes at point. Liam Plunkett replaced Claydon and contributed a wide as Gale and Rashid collected the remaining runs in surprisingly frenzied fashion.Rashid had already failed to connect with a drive when, with 17 needed, he flashed well wide of off-stump and got a thick edge just over gully. Gale then went down the pitch again to Plunkett and miscued to mid-on before turning the same bowler to fine-leg for four.Chris Rushworth replaced Harmison with five needed and Rashid drove him through mid-on for four and one.Yorkshire are six points behind LV= County Championship leaders Nottinghamshire, who have a game in hand. The sides meet at Trent Bridge on September 7 and Yorkshire are also relying on Lancashire to do them a favour as the Red Rose men still have to play Nottinghamshire twice.Given that Jacques Rudolph and Adam Lyth have both passed 1,200 championship runs this season with averages above 50 and Anthony McGrath is just behind, Yorkshire are more deserving of a title challenge than champions Durham.Their highest runscorers are Michael Di Venuto with 862 and Ben Stokes with 740 and as eight bowling bonus points have been dropped this season, compared with one in the last two years, they look destined for a mid-table finish.But they can still have a hand in deciding their successors as they have to play Nottinghamshire at home and Somerset home and away.

In response, Brathwaite and Carty took the hosts to 70 for 1 at stumps

Hemant Brar01-Dec-2024Jayden Seales registered astonishing figures of 15.5-10-5-4 as West Indies bowled out Bangladesh for 164 on the second day of the second Test at Sabina Park. Seales’ analyses were the most economical in Test cricket since 1977 (minimum 60 balls). In response, West Indies lost Mikyle Louis early but Kraigg Brathwaite and Keacy Carty took them to 70 for 1 before bad light forced early stumps for the second successive day.It was Shamar Joseph, though, who first rocked the Bangladesh innings. At one stage, the visitors were 83 for 2. In the next 34 balls, they collapsed to 98 for 6 as Shamar picked up three of the four wickets to fall.He first ended a patient stand of 73 between Shadman Islam and Shahadat Hossain by castling the latter for 22. Soon after, he had Jaker Ali caught behind with a short ball. The batter was late on the pull; he top-edged it onto his shoulder and the ball lobbed behind the stumps for an easy catch to Joshua Da Silva.In his next over, Shamar found the outside edge of Shadman to provide Da Silva his fourth catch of the innings. In between, Seales had Litton Das caught at first slip for 1.After lunch, however, Shamar and Alzarri Joseph overused the short-ball ploy against Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam. The two batters hung around for 116 balls and added 41. Eventually, Taijul fended a short ball from Alzarri to third slip.Seales then snared the last three wickets for five runs. Taskin was the first to depart. He tried to pull a short ball but the edge flew behind the stumps. Da Silva leapt and parried it towards second slip where Alick Athanaze dived backwards to pouch it with both hands.Seales had Mehidy top-edging a hook into the hands of fine leg in the same over before uprooting Nahid Rana’s leg stump to wrap up the innings.The Bangladesh seamers also started miserly, giving away only 16 runs in the ten overs before tea. After tea, Rana breached the 150kph mark multiple times and had Louis caught behind for 12.Taijul also found help from the surface and neither Brathwaite nor Carty could get him away. Seven of his ten overs were maidens but he could not pick up a wicket.

Clear and sunny weather awaits the teams in Dublin after the first T20I was cut short by rain

Srinidhi Ramanujam19-Aug-20232:01

Takeaways: Is Bumrah World Cup ready?

Big picture – India batters will want a proper hit

Jasprit Bumrah’s comeback was the main talking point in the rain-hit opening T20I in Malahide, but now the focus quickly shifts to the batters from the two sides.India batted 41 balls with openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal consuming 39 of those before rain stopped play. The likes of Gaikwad, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson will be keen to make noteworthy performances, if they get a chance, with an eye on the next T20 World Cup that is less than a year away. Among them, Samson – who is also in contention for the Asia Cup – will want to impress the selectors with the squad to be announced on Monday.Related

• Bumrah and Prasidh's promising comebacks good news for India's World Cup plans

• Jasprit Bumrah strikes twice in first over on his comeback

• India finish just ahead of Ireland in rain-hit contest

For Ireland, it was the lower order that helped them to a modest 139 in the first T20I. The top six, which scored just 64 runs between them with Curtis Campher scoring 39 of them, will have to step up against the quality Indian bowling on Sunday if they want to level the series. Andrew Balbirnie, Paul Stirling and Lorcan Tucker were all among runs in the T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier in July and will be expected to put up a fight here.

Form guide

Ireland LLWWW
India WLWWL

In the spotlight – Gaikwad and McCarthy

Ruturaj Gaikwad survived a mix-up with Jaiswal in the second over of the chase to remain unbeaten on 19 before rain stopped play. He had a successful IPL season where he scored 590 runs in 15 innings at a strike rate of 147. With the team management making him the captain for the Asian Games, scheduled for September end, Gaikwad will be hoping to get some big scores before heading to the tournament.1:16

Bishnoi: Can’t take Ireland lightly in T20s

Barry McCarthy provided a reminder of his batting prowess in the opener, scoring an unbeaten 51 off 33 from No. 8 to lift Ireland from 59 for 6. The allrounder had also finished as the joint-second-highest wicket-taker for Ireland with nine wickets from five matches in the recent T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier.

Team news – will India continue with Arshdeep?

Ireland are unlikely to make changes to their playing XI despite the loss in the first game.Ireland (possible XI): 1 Paul Stirling (capt), 2 Andrew Balbirnie, 3 Lorcan Tucker (wk), 4 Harry Tector, 5 Curtis Campher, 6 George Dockrell, 7 Mark Adair, 8 Barry McCarthy, 9 Craig Young, 10 Josh Little, 11 Ben WhiteArshdeep Singh hasn’t been as effective of late as he had been in the first bit of his international career, though there was the 3 for 38 in the win over West Indies in the fourth T20I. But he returned 1 for 35 in the first T20I against Ireland – and gave away 22 in the final over as McCarthy smashed two sixes and a four – and India do have Avesh Khan and Mukesh Kumar in their line up.India (possible XI): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Rinku Singh, 5 Sanju Samson (wk), 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Arshdeep Singh/Avesh Khan, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Jasprit Bumrah (capt), 11 Prasidh Krishna.

Pitch and conditions

The average first-innings score in T20Is in Malahide is 161. Teams batting first have lost 10 out of 17 T20Is here. It is expected to be sunny and pleasant throughout the day.

Stats and trivia

• Balbirnie has scored 286 runs in 13 T20Is at a strike rate of 138.8 in Dublin, the most for a batter at this venue.
• Only six times have India won a men’s T20I by a margin of fewer than five runs. Two of those have come against Ireland in their previous two meetings.

Quotes

“Ireland have been playing well, you can’t say that any team is big or small in T20 cricket. In this format, in one over everything can change, just like the last over in this game. If those two wickets didn’t fall, there would be a difference of 10-12 runs. It was because of Sanju and Ruturaj we finished the match. So Ireland have been doing well in this format.”

Sam Billings drafted into XI as like-for-like Covid replacement

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jun-2022England wicketkeeper Ben Foakes has tested positive for Covid-19 and will play no further part in the third Test at Headingley. Sam Billings has been drafted in as a Covid replacement, subject to ICC approval.Foakes was unable to keep wicket on Saturday due to back stiffness, with Jonny Bairstow taking the gloves. Foakes subsequently tested positive after taking a lateral flow test in the evening.Related

• Ben Stokes hails 'unbelievable' mindset switch as England power to 3-0 series win

• Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root rampage to England's seven-wicket win, and series clean-sweep

• Ollie Pope, Joe Root break England's chase after Jack Leach stars with maiden ten-for

• 'It has changed the way I look at Test cricket. There is another side – entertainment'

• Potts leads spirited England attack as New Zealand falter in costly evening session

Billings has been in action for Kent in the Vitality Blast but will go straight into the playing XI and keep wicket, with England seeking five more New Zealand wickets before beginning their second innings.England said in a statement that there had been no further cases and “the rest of the England party follows health protocols of symptom reporting and subsequent testing if required”. Marcus Trescothick, the team’s batting coach, tested positive on Tuesday and has been self-isolating throughout the third Test.The news casts doubt on Foakes’ participation in the India Test starting on Friday, although England said that they hoped he would be fit to play. India have also been affected by Covid, with Rohit Sharma, the Test captain, currently isolating after a positive test. The rearranged Test will provide a conclusion to last year’s series, with India leading 2-1.Billings was in London on Saturday evening ahead of Kent’s County Championship match against Surrey at the Kia Oval and made a last-minute, late-night journey up to Leeds, arriving in the early hours of Sunday morning.He will win his second Test cap in similarly hectic circumstances to the first, when he drove nine hours along Australia’s east coast to Sydney and played in the final Ashes Test after injuries to Bairstow and Jos Buttler.

Cricket Australia informs CSA that it had been left with no choice but to reschedule the tour

Firdose Moonda and Andrew McGlashan02-Feb-2021Australia’s three-Test tour of South Africa, scheduled to start in March, has been postponed, with Cricket Australia informing Cricket South Africa that the Covid-19 situation in South Africa has left it with “no choice” but to reschedule the travel plans.”Due to the public-health situation in South Africa, which includes a second wave and new variant of the virus, and following extensive due diligence with medical experts, it has become clear that traveling from Australia to South Africa at this current time poses an unacceptable level of health and safety risk to our players, support staff and the community,” Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia’s interim CEO, said.Former chairman of CSA’s interim board, Judge Zak Yacoob, had said on January 21 that the tour was likely to be rubber-stamped in late January, even though he had warned that the ever-changing situation with the pandemic could result in a rethink. At the time, South Africa was experiencing over 10,000 positive cases every day, with a peak of 21,980 on January 8. Numbers have since dropped to an average of 5000 per day, but with Variant 501.Y.V2 now rampant, and possibly spreading more easily than Covid-19, even CSA’s best efforts were not enough to persuade Australia to tour.Related

• Australia looking at 2023 window for postponed South Africa Test series

• Relations between CSA and CA 'strained', admits Graeme Smith

• Australia set to tour Bangladesh later this year for T20Is, not Tests

• Cricket South Africa rejected formal Australia offer to host Test series

• Cricket South Africa 'disappointed' at Cricket Australia's tour cancellation

“We acknowledge the significant amount of work by CSA in planning for the tour, during which we made it clear that CA was prepared to take on additional cost and effort to make the series happen,” Hockley said. “This decision has not been made lightly and we are extremely disappointed, especially given the importance of continuing international cricket at this time, our valued relationship with CSA, and our aspirations to compete in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (final).”However, we have been consistent since the start of the pandemic that the health and safety of our people is always our number one priority and unfortunately despite best efforts to agree a bio-security plan, the risks are simply too great at this time. As difficult and disappointing a decision as this is, especially for Justin [Langer, the Australia head coach], Tim [Paine, their captain] and the team, we have a duty of care to our people and their health and safety can’t be compromised.”Australia had toured England in August-September last year for a set of ODIs and T20Is, when the Covid-19 numbers in England were low, before some of their players went to the UAE to take part in the IPL.Restrictions in South Africa had eased as of Tuesday morning. While the country remained at Level 3 of its lockdown (with Level 5 being the strictest), public parks and beaches were open, and the curfew had been eased – from 11pm to 4am as opposed to 9pm to 5am as was the case through January. Social gatherings, including spectators at sports stadiums, continue to be prohibited and the president, Cyril Ramaphosa, warned that the level of transmission remained relatively high.It was through these rising infections that South Africa hosted Sri Lanka over the festive season, when the lockdown tightened during the Boxing Day Test. The two teams were housed at the Irene Country Club in Centurion and the tour took place without incident. CSA were planning on using the same venue for the Australia series.Matches were slated to be played at SuperSport Park and the Wanderers, with the Test series due to start on March 3 and finish on March 25. The country club is considered a “lifestyle” hotel, with access to a dam, driving range and various outdoor activities. ESPNcricinfo understands that Cricket Australia was also in talks to build an additional makeshift gymnasium on the property and both CSA and the country club were doing all they could to accommodate the touring party’s requests.The rescheduling of this series is a major financial blow to CSA, which has already lost money after England pulled out of their white-ball tour in November, with the ODI series yet to be played. Concerns over the integrity of the bio-secure environment in Cape Town, where the England series took place, arose after three South African players and two hotel staff tested positive for Covid-19. Two members of the England camp also returned positive tests that were later clarified as false positives, by which time England had opted to return home. CSA had to forego US$ 1.5 million in television rights as a result. The Australia series will result in losses to the tune of Rand 30 million (US$ 2 million) to Rand 40 million (US$ 2.6 million), further adding to CSA’s woes. Their forecast losses for the current four-year cycle hover between Rand 654 million and Rand 1 billion (US$ 43.7 million and US$ 66.9 million).The Tests were also an opportunity for both Australia and South Africa to make gains on the World Test Championship table, with Australia aiming to finish in the top three and challenge for a place in the final and South Africa hoping to settle on a new Test captain and move into the top half. “While disappointing for both playing groups and cricket lovers all over the world, this is a prudent decision considering the prevalence and virulence of the Covid-19 strain in South Africa,” Joe Connellan, Australian Cricketers’ Association interim CEO, said.Connellan said the player body would work with CA and CSA in “exploring new options for this series to be rescheduled”.

England will play a Test at Colombo’s R Premadasa stadium for the first time when they tour in March

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-2019England will play a Test at Colombo’s R Premadasa stadium for the first time when they tour in March. Galle and Colombo will be the host cities for the two-Test series, with points going towards the World Test Championship.Although there had been some concerns about the security situation in the country, following a series of bombings over Easter earlier this year, New Zealand toured Sri Lanka in August and former Test captain Kumar Sangakkara told ESPNcricinfo that the situation had “improved dramatically”.”It’s safe, it’s secure, Sri Lanka is completely back to normal and we’re looking forward to welcoming more and more visitors from around the world,” he said. “England is touring next March and from a UK perspective that is very significant, because we get a huge amount of followers that come and enjoy the country while watching great cricket.”The tour will begin with a three-day warm-up match in Katunayake, followed by a four-day fixture at the P Sara Oval in Colombo, before the teams move on to Galle for the first Test, starting on March 19. The second Test will be held a week later at Khettarama, which most recently hosted a Test against Zimbabwe in 2017.On their last visit, in 2018, England secured an unexpected 3-0 whitewash in Sri Lanka, the first time they had managed such a feat in Asia. Sri Lanka currently sit higher in the WTC table, however, with 60 points to England’s 56.England itinerary
March 7-9 – Tour match v SLC Board President’s XI, Katunayake, CMCG
March 12-15 – Tour match v SLC Board President’s XI, Colombo, P Sara Oval
March 19-23 – 1st Test v Sri Lanka – Galle, Galle International Stadium
March 27-31 – 2nd Test v Sri Lanka – Colombo, R. Premadasa Stadium