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West Indies’ two-T20 series against New Zealand will mark the return of Kieron Pollard from injury. Sunil Narine will also be back in national colours and so will Samuel Badree

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jul-20141:41

‘I am short of practice’ – Badree

The switch to T20 cricket brings a familiar look to West Indies. Their two-match series against New Zealand will mark Kieron Pollard’s return from a year-long injury break. Sunil Narine, who was sidelined from the Tests owing to IPL commitments, will take up national duty again. So will Samuel Badree, the no.1-ranked T20 bowler.All three players had been involved in the IPL, along with some of the New Zealand squad. Pollard had shared a dressing room with the big-hitting Corey Anderson at Mumbai Indians. Badree was a team-mate of the New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum at Chennai Super Kings and he believed the insights he had gained would come in handy.”Obviously Brendon McCullum is one of their key performers in this version,” Badree said. “I’ve been with him in the IPL at Chennai and I know him quite well. Kane Williamson seems to be in good form, I don’t know who the other opener will be. I don’t think they’ve brought specialist openers for these two games. So I’ll work with the analyst before the game and come up with my game plan.Kieron Pollard is expected to return after a year-long injury layoff•WICB”Always mentally ready for any challenge. Physically, some might say I’m a bit short on practice, given the weather conditions and the fact there’s no cricket on in Trinidad & Tobago, but that’s no excuse. I’ve been working in the nets and so on so like I said looking forward to two games against New Zealand.”West Indies had trialled an inexperienced team under a new captain during the three-Test series. Though there were some heartening individual performances, they lost the series 2-1. Most of the T20 squad is consistent with the one that turned out for the World Cup in March. Krishmar Santokie, the left-arm seamer, might make his first appearance on this tour. His assortment of slower balls and yorkers helped him play all of West Indies’ games at the World Cup and a couple of matches for Mumbai in the IPL as well.”Always be watchful of the batters. That’s my main thing,” Santokie said. “On occasions, it depends on the situation of the game, you might have to change things. I’ve been working on some more variations in the nets but nothing in particular.”Regardless of what kind of pitch you play on. Everywhere in the world, variation is the key and that’s what I bring to the team.”

Dennis Lillee has parted ways with Cricket Australia after turning down an offer to renew his contract as a coaching consultant with the fast bowlers

ESPNcricinfo staff06-May-2014Dennis Lillee has parted ways with Cricket Australia after turning down an offer to renew his contract as a coaching consultant with the fast bowlers.The has reported that Lillee demanded more money for his services as a consultant, and Cricket Australia was not willing to meet his request.”Unfortunately Dennis Lillee didn’t accept Cricket Australia’s offer to renew his contract,” a Cricket Australia spokesman said. “He is a great of the game and the door will always be open to him if he wants to return and be involved in any way. We’ve made a point in recent times of being open to bringing in coaching consultants when required.”Lillee has been widely credited with helping to reignite the career of Mitchell Johnson, while he has also worked with bowlers such as Pat Cummins and James Faulkner.Cricket Australia said in January last year that Lillee had been made a pace-bowling advisor, but his preferred terms for a renewed contract were not met this year.Cricket Australia this week confirmed a contract extension for bowling coach Craig McDermott, whose roles was also expanded to include the shorter formats as well as Tests, while Ali de Winter will work alongside McDermott, largely at the National Cricket Centre.

Goal rounds up some of the most exciting World Cup 2018 group stage fixtures – including Spain vs Portugal and England vs Belgium

With the World Cup set to kick off on June 14, Goal rounds up some of the biggest and best clashes to take place in Russia – including Spain vs Portugal which sees the new and old guard of La Furia Roja battle it out against the European champions, and Luis Suarez facing off against Mohamed Salah when Uruguay and Egypt play each other.Getty ImagesEgypt vs Uruguay

Mohamed Salah propelled Egypt to the finals after scoring a 95th-minute penalty against DR Congo to ensure that the Pharoahs would appear in their first World Cup since 1990.

The 25-year-old endeared himself to the world after an emphatic debut season at Liverpool where he smashed records and netted 44 goals in all competitions, and though he was unable to lift the European Cup with the Reds, he will be looking to redeem himself with a successful World Cup campaign.

He is set to face off against none other than Luis Suarez for Uruguay in their sides' opening fixture. Suarez was the Salah of yesteryear for Reds supporters before he moved to Barcelona in 2014 – and his was one of the scoring records that Salah broke this season.

It'll be an exciting game with Salah and Mohamed Elneny facing off against Suarez and Paris Saint-Germain star Edinson Cavani – and a chance to assert each forward's abilities.

Match Information: Egypt vs Uruguay | Friday June 15 | 1pm UK time (8am US ET)

AdvertisementGettyPortugal vs Spain

Portugal vs Spain is easily one of the most exciting fixtures of the tournament. Portugal are a threat in this competition as they are helmed by a confident Cristiano Ronaldo fresh from winning the Champions League as well as leading his side to a European Championship victory two years ago.

The current Spanish team features a mixed assortment of promising young talent including Marco Asensio, David de Gea and Isco as well as talismen in Andres Iniesta, David Silva and Gerard Pique.

Match Information: Portugal vs Spain | Friday June 15 | 7pm UK time (2pm US ET)

EITAN ABRAMOVICHArgentina vs Iceland

What will happen when Argentina – one of the most storied national sides of all-time – comes up against Iceland, one of the smallest of the qualified nations and who are set to make their first ever appearance in the World Cup?

Lionel Messi has yet to lift a major honour on the international stage and has finished as runner-up in four of his last Copa America finals. Despite his great successes with Barcelona – he has long since been the Spanish side's all-time top-scorer and has won every major club trophy imaginable, as well as lifting the Ballon d'Or on five separate occasions – some critics still feel that to truly cement his place as one of football's greats he must win the World Cup with his nation.

Match Information: Argentina vs Iceland | Saturday June 16 | 2pm UK time (9am US ET)

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GettyGermany vs Mexico

The defending champions will be looking to make their World Cup success a back-to-back feat, starting with their opening fixture against Mexico, as the current Germany squad is still as strong as the one four years ago – even without hero Mario Gotze in the squad.

The Germany squad is rife with experienced players in the shape of Thomas Muller, Sami Khedira and Toni Kroos as well as young talent such as Leroy Sane, who had a magnificent season with Manchester City, winning the title in the process, where he scored 23 goals.

Add the likes of Timo Werner, Marco Reus and Manuel Neuer and Germany are once again favourites to defend their title.

Match information: Germany vs Mexico | Sunday June 18 | 4pm UK time (11am US ET)

Afghanistan have won the Laureus “Spirit of Sport” award in recognition of their swift rise in world cricket and their maiden qualification to the one-day World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Mar-2014Afghanistan have won the Laureus “Spirit of Sport” award in recognition of their swift rise in world cricket and their maiden qualification to the one-day World Cup. Afghanistan have also qualified for two successive World T20s, and are now established as one of the strongest teams outside the Test nations.”Afghanistan’s success on the pitch has, indeed, captured the imagination of the whole cricketing world,” a Laureus release said, after the awards ceremony in Kuala Lumpur. “The enthusiasm for the game shown especially by young players, often against almost insurmountable odds in terms of pitches and facilities, is a story being told again and again.”Noor Mohammad Murad, CEO of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, accepted the award on behalf of the team. “We are very proud to receive Spirit of Sport Award,” Noor said, “it recognises the hard work of players, officials and administrators over the past 12 years in building cricket in our country.”Cricket is more than a game in Afghanistan. It is a tool which is making an impact in the development of peace, unity and development. I am sure this award will motivate us in continuing to build cricket and its impact in our country.”The Laureus World Sports Awards, regarded as the “Oscars of sports”, are held annually, to celebrate the greatest achievements in sport. Previous cricketing winners of the award include Steve Waugh’s Australia team, which was named “Team of the year” in 2002.

There has been this sense of quiet inevitability to Ireland’s World T20 campaign so far. From the start, they have maintained that they are here to win three games and get into the Super 10

Abhishek Purohit in Sylhet19-Mar-2014There has been this sense of quiet inevitability to Ireland’s World T20 campaign so far. From the start, they have maintained that they are here to win three games and get into the Super 10.Of course, that should ideally be any side’s goal coming into the tournament, but Ireland have achieved two-thirds of it so convincingly they can now go back to doing what they often do. Making statements. This time, it was a rarer one – for their fellow Associates. Ed Joyce, Man of the Match in the emphatic victory over UAE, said Ireland wanted to let them know who was “top of the tree.” Which is partly why Ireland wanted to win big over UAE, which they did.”We have obviously got four points and there is the chance that we could lose the last game. Netherlands could have four points, Zimbabwe could have four points,” Joyce said. “It was important to win well but also make a statement against our fellow Associates that we are still top of the tree there. So it was good to get a relatively easy win.”We have played well against the others for a really long time now. We are aware that the teams around us are improving all the time. We have played a lot of close games against teams like UAE and Afghanistan and Scotland in the last few years. We have come out on top most of the times. We definitely can’t take anyone for granted.”In the event they do go down to Netherlands in their final group game, net run-rate will come into the frame, which was the reason why Ireland went harder as they closed in on UAE’s total. “It could come to run-rate. Once we were about 80-odd, we talked about it, made a conscious effort to increase the run-rate. Kevin [O’Brien] came in, he usually wouldn’t do so. It didn’t work out but we knew we were close enough, the game was won anyway.”Ireland had already seized control when they restricted UAE to 123 for 6. Paul Stirling’s offspin brought two early wickets after which the seamers, led by O’Brien, tied UAE down throughout the innings on what Joyce felt was a good batting surface.”We pride ourselves on the way we bowled and the wicket was probably more an Irish and UK wicket than we are used to here which is why we picked [seamer] Tim Murtagh ahead of [spinner] Andy McBrine. It was a good choice by the captain and the coach, so credit goes to them.”But huge credit goes to the bowling attack. It is a very good wicket and to restrict them to 120-odd, Man of the Match should have gone to one of the bowlers, really. They did a fantastic job, we fielded reasonably. We’ve still got a way to go with our fielding but we bowled very well, with great discipline.”

Round-up of the President’s Trophy matches that ended on January 16, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2014Seamer Ahmed Jamal finished with a match haul of seven wickets, and the opener Mohammad Nawaz struck a century to help National Bank of Pakistan crush Pakistan Television by an innings and 53 runs at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.PTV, put in to bat, were bundled out for 125 in the first innings as the pacers Ataullah and Wahab Riaz shared eight wickets between them to run through a batting line-up that offered no resistance barring a 36 from the captain Zohaib Ahmed.Nawaz then helped National Bank seize the advantage by scoring 170- his maiden first-class ton- and putting up big stands with Fawad Alam, Kamran Akmal and Riaz, before the team decided to declare at 397 for 7 with a lead of 272 to boot.Nawaz Ahmed scored 85 in PTV’s second essay with the bat, but once again, the remaining batsmen failed to provide any support as Jamal ran through their top and middle order to finish with 6 for 42, and dismiss the team for 219.United Bank Limited opener Abid Ali hit a fifty in both innings and Atif Maqbool notched a total of eight scalps, as the team beat State Bank of Pakistan by 122 runs in Karachi.Abid hit 57 in the first innings, but the team could only muster 147 in total as the State Bank seamer Mohammad Naved finished with 6 for 55 to run through the line-up inside 48 overs.State Bank, however, did not fare any better themselves in their first outing with the bat, and lost wickets right from the off. Most of their batsmen made starts, but only Rizwan Haider scored more than 21, as Maqbool and Kashiff Bhatti took seven wickets between them to dismiss the visitors for 145.Abid made United Bank’s slender advantage count by scoring 73 with 11 fours. He fell in the 38th over, but Saeed Bin Nasir chipped in with 55 to help the team to 254, meaning that State Bank needed 257 for victory.But just like they did in the first innings, State Bank stumbled during the chase and failed to string together any meaningful partnerships. Mohtashim Ali’s 46 was the only score of note, as Bhatti, Maqbool and Tariq Haroon shared nine wickets between them to bowl State Bank out for 134 and seal the win.

Cricket Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom has expressed hope that the ICC’s proposed model of funding Associates and Affiliates will not increase the divide between the lesser known cricket nations and the Full Members

Nagraj Gollapudi04-Feb-2014Cricket Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom hopes that the proposed model of funding Associates and Affiliates, which was agreed to in principle by the ICC board last month, will not increase the divide between the lesser known cricket nations and the Full Members but, instead, follow through on the promise to grow the game in these countries.Deutrom hinted that, instead of a percentage of the Associates’ fund being redirected to high-performing non-Full Members, as was proposed at the ICC meeting in January in Dubai, it would be more beneficial to them if a “tiny” portion from the ICC’s surplus that goes to Full Members be redirected their way. He believes that the current method of distributing funds to the Associates may need less change than initially thought necessary.According to Deutrom the current funding distribution to Associates is already based on “as meritocratic basis as possible both on and off the field”, and that has only proved beneficial. “Therefore, we were pretty certain that we could continue to implement our current funding policy by the ‘scorecard’,” he told ESPNcricinfo.Deutrom is one of six who represents the Associates at ICC chief-executive meetings, but is not a director on the boards that met in Dubai last week. At the Dubai meeting, the ICC board had overturned the original proposal listed in the ‘position paper’, drawn up by the three most powerful cricket boards (the BCCI, the ECB and Cricket Australia), which had suggested that 50% of Associate Member funding go to the top six Associates. That would have meant that Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland, UAE, Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea would receive 50% of the funds that are meant to be shared among 96 Associate and Affiliate members. The remaining half would be split among the other 90 members, according to the position paper.That idea was not supported at the ICC Board meeting last week with the ICC’s press release stating, without offering any explanation, that it had been recommended that “a larger percentage” of money go to both “high performing” Associates and Affiliates.The ICC release stated that there had been “unanimous support” to the principle that “a larger percentage from the increasing Associate Members’ surplus will be distributed to the higher performing non-Full Members”. In an email sent to the various Associates and Affiliates, available to ESPNcricinfo, Neil Speight, the head of Bermuda Cricket Association, who is also part of the powerful Finance and Commercial Affairs committee in the ICC, said that “we are confident that Associate and Affiliate Members are well placed to continue to receive substantial support from the ICC moving forward”.Deutrom, however, said that increasing the overall percentage of ICC funds to the select “high performing” Associates and Affiliates may not help to close the performance gap both between the “high-performing” Associates and the rest of the non-Full Members as well as the high-performing Associates and Affiliates and the Full Members.Deutrom explained how the current system of revenue distribution works for a high-performing Associate like Ireland. “Including World Cup qualifications, TAPP (Targeted Assistance Performance Programme) and High Performance Programme support, Ireland is already receiving about $2m per year from ICC. A preliminary view of the numbers shows that this might not change under the new model,” Deutrom said. “We are keen to ensure that no model is agreed to that sees us on more or less the same footing as before – I genuinely don’t believe this was the intention behind what are hugely encouraging proposals for a country like Ireland.”Equally, with a smaller overall percentage of funds flowing to the Development Programme than in the current cycle, it is hard to look fellow Associates and Affiliates in the eye and ask to have more from their share.”Deutrom suggested the Ireland and fellow performing non-Full Members could receive a major boost if the ICC decided to release a “tiny” portion from its overall surplus revenue instead. “Under the financial modelling in the proposal, based on $2.5bn generated from ICC commercial rights, the Full Members will receive nearly $1.5bn in contribution costs, the Test fund and 75% of the surplus (not including event host and participation fees) over an eight-year period. I wonder whether it might be possible to liberate a tiny fraction of that to ensure that the supposed doubling of funds to a country like Ireland (eg. $2m to $4m per year) is an actual doubling.”It was important, Deutrom said, to review the ICC Development Programme to ensure it was still delivering for the game. “There is a growing sense that the game needs to take a harder look at what we’re trying to do with global development – for example, how to balance expansion of the number of members against deepening roots in existing members – and, at a narrower level, what our High Performance Programme should look like, particularly if our focus now needs to embrace preparing ourselves for Test cricket, and not just limited-overs cricket.”Also, as a special case, he pointed out, at the cost of being “parochial”, that it was time to pay special attention to Ireland and provide them with bigger funding over and above what they are getting. “I am also Ireland’s CEO, and so I also have to look at it parochially. My strong feeling is that we have been patient for the best part of seven years during our dominance at this level in all formats, and have developed to the point that few among the Associate Members doubt we (and probably Afghanistan too) deserve a chance to play more against the Full Members and that we should be funded accordingly,” Deutrom said. “No country previously elevated to Test level had achieved what we have [at the point when they got Test status], on and off pitch, and we believe that we now deserve a chance to move forward the way the game should be encouraging us to.”

Sri Lanka will play two practice matches in preparation for the ODI series against New Zealand, at the Sinhalese Sports Club

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Nov-2013Sri Lanka will play two 50-over practice matches in preparation for the ODI series against New Zealand, at the Sinhalese Sports Club. A side consisting of most of Sri Lanka’s top players will take on a virtual A team on November 5 and 7, before the Sri Lanka squad travels to Hambantota for the first ODI.Dinesh Chandimal will lead the second-string team, which also features Lahiru Thirimanne. Fast bowler Shaminda Eranga, who was omitted from the Sri Lanka squad for the series, and fellow seam bowlers Suranga Lakmal and Thisara Perera will also play for the second side. Middle-order batsman Ashan Priyanjan will play for the top team.Sri Lanka have not played any international cricket since the home series against South Africa ended in early August, but have in that time played a first-class tri-series. The A team, which featured several Sri Lanka players, has also played a home tour of New Zealand A, and a Twenty20 series against Kenya, during the hiatus.The limited-overs series against New Zealand features three ODIs, starting November 10, and two T20s.Team 1: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews (capt), Ashan Priyanjan, Nuwan Kulasekara, Sachithra Senanayake, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis
Reserves: Angelo Perera, Ramith Rambukwella, Isuru UdanaTeam 2: Kusal Perera, Upul Tharanga, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dinesh Chandimal (capt & wk), Kithuruwan Vithanage, Chaturanga de Silva, Thisara Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Dilruwan Perera, Shaminda Eranga, Suranga Lakmal
Reserves: Nuwan Pradeep, Ishan Jayaratne, Milinda Siriwardene

Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura has been fined 20% of his match fee for a minimum over rate breach of the ICC Code of Conduct during the fourth ODI against Bangladesh in Mirpur

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-2014Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura has been fined 20% of his match fee for a minimum over rate breach of the ICC Code of Conduct during the fourth ODI against Bangladesh in Mirpur. In addition, Chigumbura’s team-mates received 10% match fines, in accordance with Article 2.5.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which states that “players are fined 10 per cent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double that amount.”The match referee Ranjan Madugalle imposed the fines after Zimbabwe were ruled to be one over short of their target when time allowances were taken into consideration. If Chigumbura is found guilty of one more minor over-rate offence in ODIs over the next 12 months, he will receive a one-match suspension as per the provisions of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel.Zimbabwe lost the ODI by 21 runs to fall behind 0-4 in the five-match series. They had earlier been whitewashed 3-0 in the Tests that preceded the one-day games.

A round-up of all the games played in Group B of the World Twenty20 Qualifiers on November 18, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2013
ScorecardFile photo: Steve Tikolo has been consistent since his recall to the Kenyan squad•AFPKenya cruised to their first win of the tournament with an eight-wicket victory over Denmark in Dubai. Denmark batted first and simply couldn’t muster meaningful partnerships as Kenya’s seamers kept the top and middle-order in check. Only three batsmen crossed double digits as Denmark stumbled to 84 for 8 by the end of their quota of overs. Nehemiah Odhiambo took best figures of 3 for 15.Kenya’s opening pair effectively ended any notion of a contest as they put on 71 runs in 7.1 overs. Alex Obanda fell on 30 off 21 to Kamran Mahmood, and despite Nehemiah being run out for just 3, Collins Obuya and Steve Tikolo did the needful to see Kenya home with 10.5 overs to spare. Tikolo himself finished on an unbeaten 48, continuing on his run of consistency with the bat ever since he was recalled to the national squad.
ScorecardCalum MacLeod struck an unbeaten 82 to lead Scotland to an eight-wicket win – their first of the tournament – over Nepal.Nepal batted first, losing opener Subash Khakurel for just six. Despite being reduced to 35 for 3, Captain Paras Khadka and Binod Bhandari put on 47 runs for the fourth wicket to help steady the innings somewhat. Nepal finally scraped to 137 for 7, with Scotland seamers Safyaan Sharif and Gordon Goudie taking three wickets each.Scotland’s innings started inauspiciously, with opener Richie Berrington falling with the score on 17. MacLeod and Matt Machan added 48 for the second wicket, before Machan fell caught and bowled to Khadka. This brought Kyle Coetzer to the crease, and MacLeod found a suitable ally as together they knocked off the remaining 73 runs in 9.4 overs to give Scotland an eight-wicket victory. MacLeod finished on 82 not out.