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Michael Yardy hit an unbeaten ton as Sussex ended day two at Derbyshire 105 runs ahead with two wickets in hand.

16-May-2013
ScorecardMichael Yardy made a century in 151 balls•PA PhotosMichael Yardy hit an unbeaten ton as Sussex ended day two at Derbyshire 105 runs ahead with two wickets in hand. Yardy finished the day on 121 from 192 balls, leading his side past the home team’s opening effort of 223.Summer signing from Surrey, Chris Jordan, weighed in with 92 as he and Yardy put on 179 for Sussex’s sixth wicket, with the visitors struggling at 109 for 5 when the pair joined forces at the crease.Mark Footitt starred with the ball for Derbyshire, picking up 5 for 104 from 20 overs, but the home side will see it as an opportunity lost.Derbyshire began the day on 158 for 6, but Ross Whiteley could not add to his overnight score of 12, caught by Joe Gatting off Jordan. Jonathan Clare and Richard Johnson pushed the score past 200 before Clare was bowled by James Anyon for 25, with the same bowler dismissing Tim Groenewald the next ball.Footitt was caught behind by Ben Brown off Monty Panesar for 6, leaving Johnson unbeaten on 22 and the home side all out for 223.Footitt set about going through the visitors by dismissing Luke Wells – who had struck 23 off 16 balls before he was caught by Chesney Hughes – and then Chris Nash for 12.Enter Yardy, who, to begin with, found willing partners difficult to come by. Rory Hamilton-Brown made just 6 before he was trapped in front by Footitt, before Gatting was caught and bowled by Clare for 13, with Sussex struggling at 79 for 4.Brown lasted just eight balls before he was caught by Footitt off Clare, before Jordan came to the crease. He and Yardy took to the home attack, scoring freely with Yardy’s ton coming off 151 balls, including 12 boundaries.Jordan reached 92 before he was finally dismissed by Groenewald, with Whiteley taking the catch to leave Sussex 288 for 6.Australian Steve Magoffin made just 9 before he became Footitt’s fourth victim, before the same bowler bowled Anyon for 5. Monty Panesar survived 14 balls until the close, with Yardy keen to add what could be vital runs early on day three.

Australia’s debutant Ashton Agar produced the greatest innings by a No. 11 in Test history, only to fall for 98 as he sought the shot to bring up his hundred

The Report by David Hopps11-Jul-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAshton Agar fell for 98 in a fearless innings but gained two world records in the process•Getty ImagesNo last man has ever made a Test hundred. Ashton Agar came within inches of achieving it in his maiden Test innings. His eyes lit up at the opportunity to pull Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann flung himself forward to hold the catch at deep midwicket. He was denied the ultimate prize, but his extraordinary innings will remain part of cricket folklore forever.Before Agar’s fearless intervention, life was going swimmingly for England. James Anderson was producing a contented exhibition of reverse-swing bowling. Swann was finding substantial turn. Australia lost five wickets for nine runs in 32 balls and were in disarray at 117 for 9. But if England had imagined that a decisive advantage in the first Investec Test was theirs for the taking, as Australia’s first innings shrivelled on a parched Trent Bridge morning, they were mistaken.Agar might have missed a maiden hundred but for the man dubbed ‘Ashton Who?’ two world records in a day was enough to be going on with. He walked off the ground with a smile and a shrug that won further admiration. His 98 had taken only 101 balls with 11 fours and two sixes. The cricketing world knows his name now.Agar’s two world records

Ashton Agar’s 98 is the highest by a No. 11 batsman in Test history. The previous highest was 95 by Tino Best of West Indies, also against England, at Edgbaston in 2012. The previous-best for Australia was by Glenn McGrath, who handed Agar his Baggy Green on Wednesday; McGrath scored 61 against New Zealand at the Gabba in 2004.
The 163-run partnership between Phil Hughes and Agar was the highest ever for the tenth wicket in Tests.

Agar was the unregarded teenager who told Australia that the game was not yet up. He now holds the highest score by a No. 11 of all time, surpassing Tino Best’s 95, also against England, at Edgbaston only last summer. When Best set his mark, that was explosive hitting; this was batting.He dominated a transformational stand of 163 in 33 overs for the last wicket – another world record – with Phillip Hughes, a specialist batsman who drew strength from his example. He even gave Australia a first-innings lead of 65 and nobody expected that. The Agar family, who had travelled halfway around the world to watch him make his debut, were in jetlag heaven.England’s shock reverberated into the start of the second innings, Joe Root and Jonathan Trott dismissed by Mitchell Starc in 7.3 overs up to tea. Root got a feather on a leg-side flick – his doubts were not strong enough for his captain to agree to a review – and Australia successfully reviewed to gain an lbw against Trott, even though there was no definite proof of an inside edge that the umpire Aleem Dar had suspected.Maintaining the threat once the new ball had softened was a different proposition. Australia’s pace bowlers dried England’s scoring rate but found no reverse swing. Alastair Cook was intent on circumspection and even Kevin Pietersen played with utmost sobriety. The last session dripped by. Agar’s left-arm spin, although possessing stately promise, lacked threat, although he did have Pietersen dropped at the wicket – a very taxing chance for Brad Haddin – on 25.Agar will bask forever in the memory of how he twice deposited Swann’s offspin straight for six and pulled Steven Finn defiantly to the boundary in a youthful show of Australian defiance. One on-drive late in his innings off Anderson, played with perfect balance, back leg off the ground in the style of Pietersen’s flamingo, was a gem.Australia’s innings might have ended on 131 when Agar, on 6, got the benefit of the doubt on Swann’s appeal for a stumping from the third umpire, Marais Erasmus. He must know a good story when he sees one. Agar began tentatively but Finn’s hapless attempts to browbeat him with short balls on such a somnolent surface failed miserably as the young debutant lived the dream.Agar pulled him more and more confidently; Finn’s tactics looked more and more misconceived. By the time Finn pitched the ball up, Agar had the confidence to drive him eagerly through extra cover. Finn’s four overs cost 32 and he has rarely looked so impotent.England’s employment of deep fields to Hughes, a specialist batsman who was blocking, with the intention of bowling to Agar, a No. 11 dismissing the ball to all parts, looked increasingly clownish, a manual that no longer applied.England had to abandon plans to restrict Stuart Broad to a watching brief. Broad had officially passed a fitness test before play on an injured shoulder but he had bowled gingerly in front of a posse of England backroom staff. He could barely throw the ball in. Until 10 minutes before lunch – a session extended to two-and-a-half hours – he stood there and watched, unemployed for his own protection.It has been quite a week for Broad. He has had a cortisone injection in his shoulder, been cold shouldered for laddish remarks on Twitter about Andy Murray’s girlfriend and then struck on the shoulder by a bouncer from James Pattinson. As the overs ticked by, and he was not called upon, he probably got a chip on his shoulder to complete the set.Glorious blue skies greeted Australia at the start of play. All it required was some glorious batting to go with it. For half-an-hour, Australia prospered. Hughes punched Anderson confidently in front of point, Steve Smith met the introduction of Swann’s offspin by a spritely blow over extra cover to register the first half-century of the series. Thirty-three runs came in untroubled fashion.Then, as if by instruction, the mood changed abruptly. The ball spun markedly as early as the second morning; it reverse-swung by the 31st over. The nature of Test cricket in England is not what it once was.England had hinted that they might contest the Ashes on dry surfaces and they have been as good as their word. Australian wickets fell in a rush. The air was rent with England appeals. The skies were still blue, but it no longer mattered.Smith had played with adventure, but his eye let him down when he drove ambitiously at Anderson and edged to Matt Prior, beaten by just a shade of outswing. Swann, presented with the sort of parched, cracked surface he must have dreamed that his home ground would one day produce, found substantial turn to bowl Brad Haddin, second ball.Then in the next over Anderson, cupping his hands around the ball, signalled that he felt it was already time for reverse swing, the result of a dry ground and England’s wise ball management. Peter Siddle was worked over, dealt in turn a lavish inswinger and then an aggressive outswinger which he edged to Prior.Anderson proceeded with lithe contentment. Starc was his third wicket of the morning, all to wicketkeeper catches, as he dabbed at a ball that swung away from him.Pattinson was quickly dispensed with, thrusting forward to an offspinner which failed to turn, the batsman’s review of the lbw decision failing when replays showed the ball thudding into leg stump. In walked Agar, about to deliver something quite extraordinary.

Darren Stevens hit the fastest hundred of the county season from 44 balls under the lights at Canterbury

19-Jun-2013
ScorecardDarren Stevens claimed the fastest century of the season to date•Getty ImagesDarren Stevens hit the fastest hundred of the county season from 44 balls under the lights at Canterbury to outshine Sussex’s Luke Wright and pilot Kent to a remarkable three-wicket win in the Yorkshire Bank 40.Set to score a mammoth 337 for victory, Kent edged home in a tense finish just before 10.30pm to complete a stunning chase with nine balls to spare. Stevens contributed a blistering 53-ball innings of 118, Rob Key chipped in with 52 and Sam Northeast all but saw them home with a maiden one-day century off 90 balls.Facing an asking rate of 8.4 an over from the off, Kent made a brisk start to their pursuit as openers Key and Northeast posted 109 inside 13 overs. Soon after reaching a 40-ball 50 with eight fours, Key holed out to long-on against Chris Liddle then, after Northeast’s 41-ball 50 with five fours and a six, Alex Blake edged behind with Kent handily placed at 151 for 2 at the mid-point of their reply.The hosts accelerated as Stevens took 17 off an over from legspinner Will Beer and 20 came off his replacement, Rory Hamilton-Brown. Stevens notched a 24-ball half-century then moved through the gears, scoring his second 50 off only 20 more to match Mark Ealham’s 44-ball ton, the fastest ever for Kent, in a 1995 Sunday League clash with Derbyshire.Stevens hit 10 fours and six sixes and in the process became the front runner for the Walter Lawrence Trophy, awarded for the fastest hundred of the summer. He finally holed out for 118 and marched off to a standing ovation to leave centre stage free for Northeast.With a modest previous List A best of 69, Northeast plundered 115 with 11 fours and a six but, with only 14 needed for victory, was stumped by Ben Brown when attempting a tired-looking drive against Beer.Ben Harmison quickly departed leg before and with the tension mounting, Calum Haggett chipped to midwicket and Mitch Claydon was run out for 8, having hit his first ball for six.It took a leg-side wide from Sussex saint-turned-sinner Wright to clinch Kent’s fifth win in eight Group A starts and complete a fourth defeat for the shell-shocked Sharks.Having earlier been given first use of a sublime St Lawrence pitch, Sussex made the most of a short boundary on the Old Dover Road side of the ground to improve their one-day best total against Kent within 37.2 overs – beating their previous record of 314 for 7, set in the Gillette Cup at Tunbridge Wells in 1963 which, in its inaugural year, was a 65 overs per side competition.Wright and his opening partner Nash set the ball rolling with an opening stand of 194 in 18.3 overs as Wright plundered 13 fours and five sixes in a 54-ball ton.He clubbed one more of each before his knock ended on 115 when his edged cut shot against Haggett ballooned off the gloves of Geraint Jones, standing up to the stumps, to be caught at backward point.Nash and Wright coasted past their county’s previous best opening stand of 145 in all one-day cricket against Kent, set by Bill Athey and James Hall and, at 153, beat their record for any wicket in limited-overs cricket against Kent, set here by Wright and Matt Prior in August 2012.In the process, Wright had beaten Josh Cobb’s 62-ball hundred for Leicestershire against Somerset in May to set a short-lived mark for the fastest of the season.Only 17 short of his hundred, Nash aimed to sweep the occasional left-arm wrist spin of namesake Brendan Nash, only to be caught at backward square-leg. His 83 came off 58 balls with 11 fours and a six. Stevens joined forces with Nash and then Riley to temporarily stem the haemorrhaging of boundaries thereafter and, come the end, the Sussex total somehow proved inadequate.Michael Yardy (46) perished in pursuit of late runs when he chipped to Stevens as Haggett closed his eight-over stint of 2 for 97 – the most costly one-day bowling figures in Kent’s history.

A placid St Lawrence pitch dictated that Kent’s County Championship clash with second division rivals Hampshire ended in a dull draw in Canterbury

18-Jul-2013
ScorecardMichael Carberry was one of a few batsmen to make the most of a flat pitch•Getty ImagesA placid St Lawrence pitch dictated that Kent’s County Championship clash with second division rivals Hampshire ended in a dull draw in Canterbury.After four days of slow scoring on a docile wicket that led to the loss of only 23 wickets and three centuries, the sides shook hands on a draw at 4.50pm with Hampshire on 200 for 4 in their second innings – an overall advantage in the match of 92 runs.Hampshire, trailing by 108 on first innings and resuming on their overnight total of 15 without loss, had little or no trouble in batting out the final day to secure their sixth draw of the campaign for a seven point return. As for Kent, who have yet to win on home soil, they banked eight points for their seventh draw in 11 starts.The hosts knew they would need quick wickets at the start of the final day if they were to push for their second successive Championship win, but they needed 14 overs before celebrating their first breakthrough.With the total on 45 Jimmy Adams made a late decision to shoulder arms to England off-spinner James Tredwell and departed leg before. Former Kent opener Michael Carberry moved to his second half-century of the game by pulling a Sam Northeast long-hop for four to reach the landmark from 133 balls and with eight fours.The left-hander perished 16 runs on however, when he edged behind to give Tredwell the second of his return of 3 for 87. Liam Dawson, who also scored a first innings 50, proved rock solid second time around in scoring an unbeaten 78 off 166 balls.He lost third wicket partner James Vince to a top-edged sweep that ballooned to Rob Key at leg slip then Sean Ervine who, in attempting a back-foot force against Charlie Shreck, only picked out Darren Stevens close in at gully.Dawson and Adam Wheater batted through the 50 minutes after tea without further alarm allowing the teams to shake hands on the stalemate.

The ECB has ditched the May Test matches which have been a part of the English summer since 2000 by shifting the two-match series against Sri Lanka next year to June with the T20 and ODIs being played beforehand

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Sep-2013The ECB has ditched the May Test matches which have been a part of the English summer since 2000 by shifting the two-match series against Sri Lanka next year to June with the T20 and ODIs being played beforehand.Playing Sri Lanka’s Tests in mid-June should help avoid problems of clashing with the IPL, which has created availability issues with some players not arriving until shortly before the first Test, and also opens up the chance for England players such as Kevin Pietersen to have a longer stint at the tournament.This would have been a tougher proposition had England been obliged to play three Tests, as originally suggested by the Future Tours Programme. However, as Sri Lanka Cricket trimmed the home series against England to two Tests, in order to have Sri Lanka players available for the entire 2012 IPL, the ECB is no longer bound to provide more than two Tests on the reciprocal tour.Last time Sri Lanka visited, in 2011, five players including Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene missed one of the two warm-up matches due to IPL commitments and the same situation occurred with New Zealand this year when Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor arrived late.Sri Lanka in England 2014

Only T20 – May 20, The Oval
1st ODI – May 22, The Oval
2nd ODI – May 25, Durham
3rd ODI – May 28, Old Trafford
4th ODI – May 31, Lord’s
5th ODI – June 3, Edgbaston
1st Test – June 12-16, Lord’s
2nd Test – June 20-24, Headingley

The IPL will start later next year, due to the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh, but is likely to be concluded by early June although it means that the Twenty20 and ODI series of Sri Lanka’s visit will face the scheduling clash and subsequent player availability issues. However, if this type of schedule is maintained in future years it may open up a clear window for the IPL.For next year it means England will have a run of seven Tests in little more than two months next summer with the five-match series against India beginning in early July.Touring teams have struggled to adapt to conditions for May Test matches in England; the only team to win a Test in May (and even that began on May 31) was Pakistan in 2001. England have only lost one other match in their early-season Test series, first introduced against Zimbabwe in 2000, when Sri Lanka levelled the 2006 series at Trent Bridge.0:00

McGlashan: ‘June start will give larger window for IPL’

Forecast of rain on Friday morning coupled with an already wet outfield has threatened the start of the practice match between the New Zealanders and BCB XI

Mohammad Isam in Chittagong03-Oct-2013Forecast of rain on Friday morning coupled with an already wet outfield at the MA Aziz Stadium has threatened the start of the three-day practice match between the New Zealanders and BCB XI. Besides being an important tune-up for the New Zealand side, the match will also help Bangladesh take a final call on two positions being contested by three batsmen.As of now, Marshall Ayub is ahead of Naeem Islam and Mominul Haque to fill in the No. 3 spot, according to Bangladesh coach Shane Jurgensen. If he does take the place of Mohammad Ashraful, it will be a Test debut for Marshall.There is also a battle for the No. 4 position between Naeem and Mominul, with the former in the BCB XI side. “The practice match is important to give an indication of who stands where,” Jurgensen said. “I think Marshall [Ayub] has really put his hand up in the practice match at Khulna a few weeks ago. We also got the option of Naeem [Islam] and then we have Mominul [Haque], who is a gutsy cricketer. He can bat for long periods.”I think obviously Marshall [is ahead] at the moment, with his hundred in Khulna. He was quite impressive, batted for long periods. But it’s still not fixed. It’s exciting to have competition though: Naeem got runs in the Dhaka Premier League, Mominul got a hundred there too.”But there has already been substantial rain in Chittagong over the last week, including Thursday evening, the eve of the game. Unlike the other cricket-specific stadiums in the country, the MA Aziz Stadium has a flat outfield from where water doesn’t easily drain out. The outfield in the other venues has a reversed bowl shape to it, so that the water trickles out quickly after a spell of rain.The Bangladesh team management visited the venue in the afternoon, after which Jurgensen didn’t sound too confident of an on-time start on the first day.”I would be surprised if it does [start on time],” Jurgensen said. “There are a couple of wet patches in the outfield. They [the groundstaff] informed us that they had a bit of rain here in the last few days. We went there early in the afternoon; I suppose it will take a while to dry out.”However, the teams’ scheduled training sessions on Thursday were cancelled not because of the rain, but due to logistical delays. New Zealand’s flight to Chittagong was shifted from Wednesday to Thursday afternoon because there was a general strike in Chittagong. By the time they arrived, it was evening.The two home sides, Bangladesh and BCB XI, arrived early in the morning on Thursday but their gear and baggage arrived in the afternoon. The Dhaka-Chittagong highway has severe traffic, and the truck took 17 hours to complete the journey of around 400km. Jurgensen wasn’t best pleased, as it disrupted his plans leading up to the first Test.He also hinted at being disappointed at how the selection of the first Test team was rushed. Reportedly, the Dhaka Premier League clubs arm-twisted the BCB into changing the practice match squad, so that their players can be available for the league matches.The announcement of the Test squad was supposed to take place on the second day of the three-day match, which would have given the selectors, Jurgensen and Mushfiqur Rahim enough time to make a call on the undecided batting positions.”We haven’t been able to train because the luggage took a lot of time to come to Chittagong. We can’t control that, and I can’t control what happens in domestic cricket. But these things happen at times. We got to kick off again tomorrow.”When you are a head coach you are planning for a series that is really important, maybe sometimes the intensity of international cricket is maybe missed. I have had plans in place for quite a few months, so it was a little bit disappointing that it took us a while to get together and get things settled, but at the same time that is how it is.”

Ian Bell wasted no time in hitting his straps in Australia and Michael Carberry seized on the chance afforded to him by Alastair Cook’s absence as England put up a solid display in their first innings of the Ashes Tour.

Brad Elborough in Perth01-Nov-2013
Scorecard0:00

Could Carberry stake a claim?

Ian Bell wasted no time in hitting his straps in Australia, resuming where he left off in the previous Ashes, and Michael Carberry seized on the chance afforded to him by Alastair Cook’s absence as England put up a solid display in their first innings of the tour.Bell closed the second day at the WACA unbeaten on 77 with Jonathan Trott on 64 as England reached 2 for 270. The warm-up is heading for a draw as England trail Western Australia by 181 runs after the home side declared in the day’s first session at 5 for 451.Bell was quickly back into the form that saw him named Man of the Series in the Ashes in England and Carberry demonstrated that England have a competent opener should they need to make a change at the top of the order.While Carberry grasped the opportunity to make runs on a good batting wicket, Joe Root, yet to convince as an opener in Test cricket, missed out. He is the only batsman dismissed in the game so far not to reach a half-century.Each of the five WA batsmen dismissed in their innings made it to at least 50, highlighted by Chris Lynn’s entertaining 104. But Root managed only 36 from 60 deliveries before he was trapped lbw by Glamorgan allrounder Jim Allenby.Root shared in a 100-run opening stand with Carberry, who was the more aggressive of the pair. Carberry made 78 before he slashed at a short and wide delivery from spinner Ashton Turner and was caught by Allenby at backward point.Carberry, 33, has played just one Test for England, against Bangladesh in 2010 and is thought unlikely to start the Ashes barring injury. But finding form will put pressure on Root – who was recently awarded a central contract – to deliver as well as put another name in the mix for the middle order. He still has a possible two further four-day games, in Hobart and Sydney, to spend some time in the middle before the first Ashes Test starts in Brisbane on November 21.But it was Bell who again suggested he could be the key to England’s chances of claiming a fourth consecutive Ashes series for the first time since 1890.He enjoys playing against Australia. In the recent Ashes series in England he was the difference between the two sides, leading the scoring with 562 runs at an average of 62.44. In the 2010-11 series in Australia, he was also crucial to the tourists’ success, scoring 329 runs in six innings, at an impressive average of 65.80. Only Cook (766 runs at 127.66) and Trott (445 at 89.00) averaged more in that series.Trott was in no hurry in his first innings on tour, bringing up his 50 in 101 balls, compared to Bell, who took only 71 deliveries to bring up his half-century.Ian Bell was quickly back into his stride•Getty ImagesAfter turning six starts into just two half-centuries against Australia in England this year, Trott appears keen to spend as much time in the middle in the lead up to the Test series to help improve on his tally of 293 runs that he contributed the last time the two sides met.After Bell bought up his milestone he belted former Australia spinner Michael Beer and Turner for big sixes. He looked comfortable at the crease from the first ball and hit two fours in the first over he faced and was confident in leaving balls alone that were passing close by his stumps.WA were hampered by the loss of opening bowler Burt Cockley, who left the ground half-way through his third over with a knee injury. He wasn’t the only fielder from the home side forced from the ground, after keeper Tom Triffitt was hit in the face by a ball from Beer that appeared to bounce unexpectedly high. He required six stitches.England’s bowlers had earlier struggled for a second consecutive day, managing to take only one more wicket before WA declared. The hosts added 82 runs to their overnight score in 18 overs with Turner unbeaten on 62, meaning that each of WA’s top 6 batsmen made half centuries.Allenby took his overnight 34 to 53 before he was trapped lbw by Steven Finn in the 10th over of the day, Finn’s first. Unfortunately, it failed to inspire Finn, who bowled five overs for 36 runs, finishing with 1 for 123 from 23 overs in the innings. But he will still consider himself very much in the mix for the vacant fast bowling position in the Brisbane Test, as his competition was not much more impressive.Chris Tremlett took up the attack this morning and bowled only four over for 17 runs, while Boyd Rankin’s final contribution was 1 for 92 from 20 overs.James Anderson was easily the pick of the England attack, conceding only 55 runs in 23 overs, bowling nine maidens. But he managed just one wicket on a deck that is offering the bowlers little.

A court has stayed the BCCI communication sent to the Rajasthan Cricket Association restraining Lalit Modi from participating in activities of affiliated units of the Indian board

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-2013The Rajasthan High Court has stayed the communication sent by the BCCI to the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) restraining former IPL chairman Lalit Modi from participating in activities of affiliated and constituent units of the Indian board.The petition seeking the stay was filed by Nagaur District Cricket Association (NDCA), which claimed that Modi was an office bearer of the body, a constituent unit of the RCA that is governed by Rajasthan Sports Act. The NDCA said the BCCI’s order was “in violation of the legal provisions contained in Local Sports Act”.The petition also said that Modi, being an NDCA member, was entitled to contest the RCA elections in November.Modi had been expelled from the BCCI during a special general meeting (SGM) of the board in Chennai on September 25. “He shall forfeit all his rights and privileges as administrator,” the BCCI had said. “He shall not in future be entitled to hold any position or office, or be admitted in any committee or any member or associate member of the board.” The BCCI communication on Modi was received by the RCA on October 3.The BCCI’s disciplinary committee had found Modi guilty on eight different charges of “various acts of indiscipline and misconduct”. The charges, relating to irregularities in various financial and administrative matters of the IPL, including the sale of franchise and media rights, were pressed by the BCCI in 2010 soon after Modi’s swift and dramatic exit from the league he founded.

India allrounder Ravindra Jadeja has been fined 10% of his match fee for using offensive language against Shane Watson, after the Australia batsman was dismissed during the final ODI in Bangalore

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Nov-2013India allrounder Ravindra Jadeja has been fined 10% of his match fee for using offensive language against Shane Watson, after the Australia batsman was dismissed during the final ODI in Bangalore.Watson, who had scored a quickfire 49 off 22 balls during the chase of 384, was caught at short third man off Jadeja, before the bowler gave him a send-off. The match referee Andy Pycroft ruled that Jadeja had breached Article 2.1.4 of the ICC code of conduct. Jadeja had apologised for his actions, though, so there was no formal hearing or heavier penalty – such a level one breach could draw a reprimand and a fine of up to 50% of the match fee.After his ruling, Pycroft said: “Mr Jadeja’s reaction after dismissing Shane Watson was clearly in breach of the code as the players are always expected to respect their opponents, no matter what the match situation. Mr Jadeja apologised for his action when on-field umpire Nigel Llong spoke to him immediately after the incident and reminded him of his responsibilities.”There was some tension in the air all through Watson’s stay at the crease in Bangalore. He seemed to have done damage to a hamstring halfway through his bowling spell and had to leave the field, and then came out to bat only at No. 8, when Australia were 138 for 6. Watson punched his first ball into the covers, where Shikhar Dhawan fielded it and hobbled exaggeratedly, seemingly mocking Watson and drawing several shakes of the head from him. There were also words exchanged between Virat Kohli and James Faulkner later, with the umpire having to intervene and MS Dhoni having a word with his players.

Graham Ford, the Sri Lanka coach, has said that his team’s young batsmen are in the “apprenticeship stage” of their careers, and so are required to bat down the order though they have the games suited to batting higher up

Sa'adi Thawfeeq07-Dec-2013Graham Ford, the Sri Lanka coach, has said that his team’s young batsmen are in the “apprenticeship stage” of their careers, and so are required to bat down the order though they have the games suited to batting higher up.”It has been a bit of a concern for both Chandi [Dinesh Chandimal] and [Lahiru] Thirimanne who are bats capable of batting in the higher part of the order, their games are more suited to it,” Ford said ahead of Sri Lanka’s departure for the UAE, where they will play a full series against Pakistan. “We have current [senior] players filling those slots [up the order], so it has been quite difficult. Still, the selectors have tried to give them opportunities up the order when possible, and that’s why it looks like they’ve been shifted around.”The top three slots in the one-day batting order are occupied by Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara, all three of whom have indicated to the selectors that they will be around till the 2015 World Cup. That means Chandimal and Thirimanne are left with closing out the innings, even though they are not “finishing” batsmen, Ford said. “Perhaps it is not ideally suited to their styles because they are not really the 50-overs finishing type of batsmen. They are more of the batsmen who get in the engine room and set up the innings.”They’ll have to work a little bit on adjusting their style. They are both young players and they have very important roles to play in the future.”However, with Jayawardene missing the two T20s and the five-match ODI series against Pakistan on personal grounds, it gives one of the youngsters an opportunity to partner Tillakaratne Dilshan as opener. It’s likely to be a toss-up between Kusal Perera and Dimuth Karunaratne. “They are both very exciting young cricketers,” Ford said. “Kusal is tremendous talent. He is such a natural player and plays with such flair. A really good guy to have in the team and he can certainly put the opposition on the back foot pretty quickly.”Dimuth is more of a traditional type of player. He has done well in the longer form and it’s confidence-boosting for Sri Lanka to know that they’ve got those two options – one, more of a stabilising type of player and the other one who can really take the game to the opposition and put the bowlers under pressure. Depending on the strategy and tactics you can decide on which option one wants to use.”Ford said the absence of fast bowler Shaminda Eranga from the team was not because he has been overlooked, but because he is being monitored carefully with a view to manage his workload for the busy season ahead. Following the series against Pakistan which also comprises three Tests, Sri Lanka travel to Bangladesh for two Tests and a one-day series, followed by the Asia Cup and the World T20, then the IPL and a tour of England for two Tests and a limited-overs series.”Eranga is very much in the plans. There is a lot of cricket ahead and it’s really going to be tough on the fast bowlers. We get to situations when there are five Test matches in a row. He is bowling beautifully and he is fit as can be, but he doesn’t fit into the starting ODI line-up in the combination they would put out in the UAE conditions. But come the next World Cup [in Australia-New Zealand], he will be close to [the first eleven] in those sort of conditions. He is a very important part of the Sri Lankan bowling unit.”Ford said Sri Lanka need to further develop their fast-bowling skills. “I don’t want to be critical about my group of players but there are few areas of concern. People are working on some of the weaker and softer areas, and at the same time we got a lot of strong areas. We’ve got to [take advantage] of those strong areas and put the opposition under pressure.”