England players get Bangladesh tour choice
ICC to probe Tests washout
LONDON, Aug 24, (AFP): England’s players will be allowed to skip the tour of Bangladesh later this year if they have concerns about security in the country, limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan has revealed.
Morgan, Test captain Alastair Cook and team members will meet the England and Wales Cricket Board’s security director Reg Dickason on Thursday to discuss the matter.
An attack in Dhaka last month claimed by the Islamic State group saw 20 hostages killed, including nine Italians, and Australia have cancelled senior and under-19 tours of Bangladesh in the past year.
“They’ll debrief us on the findings on both tours (Bangladesh and India) and we’ll chat about it. It has to be quite open,” Morgan said in comments reported by British media on Wednesday.
“People have missed tours in the past so you have to make guys feel safe to go. It’s a decision you’d rather get out of the way sooner rather than later.
“There’s always room for a personal
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decision. You also have to understand guys might have different priorities.”
England will play three ODIs and two Tests in Bangladesh in October and November before heading to India.
Bowlers Andy Caddick and Robert Croft pulled out of England’s tour of India in 2001 for security reasons, while England forfeited a World Cup match against Zimbabwe in 2003 after refusing to play in Harare.
The International Cricket Council said Wednesday it will launch a review after two Tests in the West Indies and South Africa were abandoned due to poor ground conditions.
The outcome of the West Indies Test against India was branded ‘farcical’ after only 20 overs of play was possible.
In Durban, both South Africa and New Zealand were left ruing the fact that four days were lost and play was impossible even though rain had stopped.
The ICC released a statement saying that “the outfields at Kingsmead, Durban, and Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, have been rated as “poor” by the match referees.
Andy Pycroft and Ranjan Madugalle, both from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC match referees, filed a report stating that they were “concerned” about the quality of the outfields for the first Test between South Africa and New Zealand, and the fourth Test between the West Indies and India, respectively.
“The reports have been forwarded to Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), who now have 14 days to provide their responses,” the ICC said.
It said the ICC will launch a review of the respective responses.
South Africa-New Zealand and West Indies-India Tests were both interrupted by rain.
But once the rain had stopped, the umpires abandoned the Tests because the grounds were unfit for further play.
Former West Indies captain Viv Richards called for an inquiry, describing the situation as “unacceptable”.
As hosts of the Test the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board announced that they had also launched an investigation.
In Durvan, Cricket South Africa chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the pitch had only recently been relaid and blamed unseasonal rain and earlier flooding.
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said that both teams had been left disappointed.
“We were dying to get out there,” said Du Plessis.
But he added: “The message was clear from the umpires that the players’ safety was their main concern.”
COLOMBO, Aug 24, 2016 (AFP) -Skipper Angelo Mathews Wednesday led from the front with his allround showing to help Sri Lanka register a comprehensive 82-run win against Australia in the second One-Day International to level the series at 1-1 in Colombo.
Australia, who were chasing a record 289 for victory at R Premadasa Stadium, were bowled out for 206 in 47.2 overs with Matthew Wade topscoring with 76 runs.
Left-arm spinner Amila Aponso claimed four wickets while mediumpacer Thisara Perera took three wickets to choke the Australian run chase.
But it was man of the match Mathews’ two wickets and a 57 with the bat that made Sri Lanka register their biggest win against Australia in terms of runs.
Sri Lanka’s previous best was a 79-run triumph at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in 2003.
Australia’s James Faulkner recorded his first ODI hat-trick but Sri Lanka, who
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chose to bat first, still managed to post 288 in 48.5 overs.
In reply Australia, who won the first of the five ODIs by three wickets, were dealt early blows after losing their openers to Thisara Perera.
David Warner was caught behind for 1 while Aaron Finch, who scored a half-century in the first ODI, was bowled for four with Australia left struggling at 16 for two.
Skipper Steve Smith tried to fight back with his 33-ball 30, his innings laced with five boundaries, but his wicket off Aponso spelt more trouble for the visitors.
George Bailey and Wade put together a 61-run fourth wicket partnership to keep Australia in the hunt but the required runrate just kept mounting.
Bailey, who scored 27 off 46 balls, finally succumbed to the pressure of scoring quick runs after being bowled by Aponso, who registered impressive figures of 4-18 in just his second ODI.
Leg-spinner Seekkuge Prasanna soon joined forces with Aponso to get Moises Henriques, who scored four runs, stumped as Sri Lanka gained control of the match.
Matthew Wade then staged a gritty fightback with support from Travis Head as the duo managed 64 runs between them to keep Australia’s hopes alive.
Wade’s 88-ball knock was studded with three boundaries as the wicketkeeper-batsman finally became Thisara Perera’s third victim and the Australian resistence wilted.
Head, who scored 31, soon got out to Mathews as the visitors lost their way into the chase, losing their final five wickets for 24 runs. The hosts rode on half-centuries from Mathews, Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera to put up a respectable score against a persistent Australian bowling attack led by Faulkner (3-45).
In-form batsmen Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal put together a 125-run third wicket partnership to build a solid platform.
Mendis, who followed up his 67 in the first ODI with a run-a-ball 69, hit nine boundaries and forced Australian Smith to use seven bowlers until the 21st over.
The pair put quick runs on the board before a triple strike by leg-spinner Adam Zampa checked the hosts’ surge.
Chandimal, who top-scored with an unbeaten 80 in the previous game, was denied his sixth consecutive ODI fifty after Zampa trapped him lbw for 48.
The 24-year-old Zampa accounted for dangerman Mendis and then got Dhananjaya de Silva to leave Sri Lanka struggling on 158 for five.
The hosts were rescued by another crucial 103-run sixth-wicket partnership between Mathews, who scored 57, and Kusal Perera who made 54.