Lahiru Thirimanne has not played for Sri Lanka since the end of the England tour in June © Getty Images Lahiru Thirimanne, the Sri Lanka batsman, might need a break from cricket to sort out his problems, said the A team coach Avishka Gunawardene. Thirimanne had played in the four-day matches against West Indies A in October and averaged 9.83 from six innings, continuing his struggles in long-form cricket. Since…
Morne Morkel's fitness at '90-95%', misses WACA Test
Morne Morkel has spent time on the sidelines because of a back injury © Getty Images Fast bowler Morne Morkel was left out of South Africa’s XI for the first Test against Australia at the WACA because he wasn’t 100% ready to bowl long spells, according to his captain Faf du Plessis. Although du Plessis had declared Morkel “fit and in contention,” the day before the match, at the toss…
South Africa bat; spinner Maharaj debuts
Play 00:52 Smith demands aggression, not sledging Toss South Africa chose to bat v AustraliaLive scorecard and ball-by-ball details Faf du Plessis won the toss and South Africa will bat in the first Test against Australia at the WACA. The South Africans named left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj to make his Test debut and left out fast bowler Morne Morkel, who is returning from a back injury. Du Plessis said Morkel…
Billings bides time for Test call-up after Vaughan backs spin technique
Sam Billings has been backed as a potential Test batsman by Michael Vaughan © Getty Images Sam Billings, the Kent batsman whose technique against spin bowling is considered one of the best among England’s coming generation of batsmen, says he is flattered to have been talked up by Michael Vaughan as a potential reinforcement for the Test tour of India, but insists that he remains a work in progress in…
Sri Lanka overcome Zimbabwe's resistance in last-hour win
Sri Lanka 537 (Kusal Perera 110, Tharanga 110, Cremer 4-142) and 247 for 6 dec. (Karunaratne 110, de Silva 64, Mumba 4-50) beat Zimbabwe 373 (Cremer 102, Moor 79, Lakmal 3-69, Herath 3-97) and 186 (Cremer 43, Dilruwan 3-34, Herath 3-38) by 225 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball details Graeme Cremer followed his hundred in the first innings with a dogged 43 © Associated Press Graeme Cremer soaked up 175 balls and…
'No security concerns for Moeen, Rashid'
Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid in harness for England © Getty Images Reg Dickason, England’s security advisor, has played down any concerns that England’s Muslim players, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, may have about touring India after media reports that Pakistan umpire Aleem Dar would not stand in the series because of the further potential for nationalist protests. Dar was never scheduled to stand in the India vs England Test…
Bangladesh can benefit from security feat
Security drills were a regular feature of England’s tour of Bangladesh © STR/AFP A patient crowd in Mirpur waits for “VIP movement” to pass through, beyond the barricade. This is the Dhaka term for a motorcade that is given high priority in traffic and the one that is about to pass through, the England cricket team convoy, is of the highest importance. It starts with an advanced team of police…
'No security concerns for Moeen, Rashid
Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid in harness for England © Getty Images Reg Dickason, England’s security advisor, has played down any concerns that England’s Muslim players, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, may have about touring India after media reports that Pakistan umpire Aleem Dar would not stand in the series because of the further potential for nationalist protests. Dar was never scheduled to stand in the India vs England Test…
'If chasing target takes till tea time, so be it' – West Indies batting coach
Toby Radford on Kraigg Brathwaite: ‘He is very unflappable as a character. When he gets into his bubble, he just wants to bat’ © AFP West Indies batting coach Toby Radford‘s advice to his players going into the final day in Sharjah is bat calmly till tea if required, in their attempt to get 39 more for a rare away-Test win. The main thing to avoid, he said, was being…
Arthur puts Pakistan batting collapse down to 'fatigue'
Sarfran Ahmed, one of Pakistan’s overnight batsmen coming into day four, was out to a tame shot © AFP If you Google “Pakistan batting collapse”, you will find dozens of results. Batting lapses are a recurring feature for the team, with hardly a series going by without their batsman being rattled. They became the No. 1 Test team this year, but the ride to the top was not always smooth,…