Abhinav Mukund, who batted 297 minutes to anchor India A’s second innings with a 163-ball 59, believes a lead of 150 would make for a difficult fourth-innings chase for Australia A on a slow pitch with variable bounce

Deivarayan Muthu in Chennai31-Jul-2015Abhinav Mukund, who batted 297 minutes to anchor India A’s second innings with a 163-ball 59, believes a lead of 150 would make for a difficult fourth-innings chase for Australia A on a slow pitch with variable bounce.”These two [B Aprajith and Shreyas Gopal] are really good batsmen. Both of them have good first-class scores. Hopefully, these two bat for a while tomorrow morning,” Abhinav said. “If we get anything about 150, it is going to be a tough chase. Trust me.”Abhinav, who was caught behind in the first innings attempting a flashy cut off the back foot, said he had made a conscious decision to step forward, get close to the pitch, and attack the ball.”I think in the first innings I misjudged the ball that was probably fuller and I went back for it,” Abhinav said. “Could have played from forward and there was a conscious effort for me to play forward [in the second innings] and not backward. There was plan to smother the ball in front.”Abhinav, who lobbed a simple catch to short leg off Ashton Agar after tea, conceded that he had been undone by the extra bounce. Three balls later, Shreyas Iyer was dismissed for 49 as India A slipped from a promising position.”I thought I was quite well set and did not expect the ball to bounce as much. I thought Ashton Agar got more bounce than Steve O’Keefe. It was a little harder to play. I usually tend to sweep the ball a bit more but because of the bounce I was not able to do that. I was just looking to rotate the strike.”

Former South Africa fast bowler Andre Nel is set to coach provincial side Easterns at the Africa Cup T20 tournament

Firdose Moonda02-Sep-2015Andre Nel, South Africa cricket’s original scary eyes, is back. Not to inflict another bruise on a hero, like he did when he felled Allan Donald with a fierce bouncer in a first-class match, or to stick his tongue out at the opposition and induce impromptu bat-swinging breakdance like he did against Sreesanth, but to teach others how to.Nel, who has been coaching at a school and a university academy, will coach provincial side Easterns at the Africa Cup T20 tournament, a coming-of-age position for the now-placid paceman. “I feel like life has come full circle for me because this is where I started and now I just want to help Easterns get back to the where they were,” he told ESPNcricinfo. Nel was part of the Easterns provincial side that won the premier first-class competition in the 2002-03 season, before South African domestic cricket was franchised.Since the franchise system formed, Easterns have been one of the feeder teams to the Titans. But as a semi-professional side, Easterns have underwhelmed in the three-day and List A competitions, with no titles to their name. Nel wants to begin changing that in his first assignment, a T20 competition, played between South Africa’s provincial teams as well as invited outfits from Zimbabwe, Kenya and Namibia, which starts this weekend.Easterns are grouped with their franchise partners, Northerns, Western Province and Zimbabwe. Only the top team in each pool advances to the knockouts, so Nel knows he has a difficult task ahead. “We’re in a tough pool and everybody expects us not to win so it’s definitely going to be a challenge,” Nel said. “But if everything in life was easy, everyone would be doing it.”But Easterns have two major advantages. The weekend’s fixtures, which incorporate all six matches in the group, will be played at their home ground, Willowmoore Park and they have a rejuvenated international in their squad. Quinton de Kock will turn out for Easterns in a bid to continue with his new-found form and play himself back into the national team after he was dropped during the Bangladesh series.Nel hopes to nudge de Kock in the right direction by putting no pressure on him and providing advice as someone who also had to work his way back into the senior side.”He has been through a tough time. I know what it is like to be dropped and then have find your way back and the most important thing is to be humble. When you get in quite young, there is extra pressure on you to stay in the side and you have to take that out of the equation.”I just want to give him the freedom to go out and express himself. Sometimes maybe he gets too nervous. He must just go out and be Quinton de Kock and not try to be someone else.” Although Nel was no batsman, his only other advice for de Kock is “work on his on-side game.”The technical tidbits will be saved for the bowlers and Nel has a number to work with, including Junior Dala, who featured regularly for the Titans last season.Dala is quick with an unusual slingy action and Nel is looking forward to moulding him for future success. “I worked with Junior at the University of Johannesburg academy so I know him pretty well. He has just come back from Sri Lanka with the South African Emerging side so he is definitely on the radar and he should be. He is looking strong and fit and he offers something different.”

Fifties from Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed helped Peshawar Region cruise through to beat Karachi Region Blues by seven wickets and win the final of the Haier Mobile T20 Cup in Rawalpindi

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Sep-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball-detailsFile photo – Mohammad Rizwan struck eight fours and a six in his unbeaten 58•AFP

Half-centuries from Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammad Rizwan helped Peshawar Region beat Karachi Region Blues by seven wickets and defend their T20 title in Rawalpindi. All of Peshawar’s seven wins in the tournament have come batting second, and this one meant Karachi crashed to their fifth loss in the finals of the T20 Cup.Chasing a challenging target of 177, Peshawar began strongly with opener Rafatullah Mohmand bashing 43 of the 48 runs for the opening wicket. Rafatullah and his partner Israrullah fell in a space of eight balls, but Iftikhar and Rizwan then took charge, adding an unbroken 110 off only 64 balls to ace the chase. Rizwan crunched 58 off 34 balls while Iftikhar hit 57 off 40 balls as Peshawar sealed the win with seven balls to spare.After having inserted Karachi, Peshwar struck in the first over with Imran Khan removing Shahzaib Hasan for a duck. Khalid Latif (23) and Khurram Manzoor (41), though, worked past the early blow and kept runs flowing. Imran Khan Jnr broke the 52-run partnership in his first over when he had Latif caught and bowled. Three overs later, Manzoor was run out. Imran Khan Jnr then broke Karachi further with the wickets of Asad Shafiq and Anwar Ali and finished as the tournament’s joint highest wicket-taker – 16 from seven matches at an average of 12.12.Sarfraz Ahmed, who had pushed himself down the order, provided some late impetus with an unbeaten 47 off 26 balls. He scored three consecutive boundaries in the penultimate over as Karachi tallied 29 runs in the last 12 balls. But it wasn’t enough.

An unbeaten century from Craig Ervine guided Zimbabwe to a series win over Ireland in the second one-day international at Harare Sports Club

The Report by Liam Brickhill in Harare 11-Oct-2015
Scorecard and ball by ball detailsFile Photo – Craig Ervine hit nine fours and two sixes during his unbeaten 101•Associated Press

An unbeaten century from Craig Ervine guided Zimbabwe to a series win over Ireland in the second one-day international at the Harare Sports Club. Ervine batted for more than 40 overs in stifling heat to set up Zimbabwe’s five-wicket win with an over and a half to spare. He shared in a 98-run third wicket partnership with Sean Williams that laid the platform for Zimbabwe, after which Tino Mutombodzi helped to keep things ticking over and Sikandar Raza’s 29-ball 33 took the game away from Ireland. All the while, Ervine continued to pick gaps and the odd boundary, bringing up his ton and the end of the match with his ninth four.

Ireland coach calls for more fixtures

John Bracewell, the Ireland coach, has said that his side needs more fixtures against quality opposition to keep improving. Ireland ran Zimbabwe close in the first two games of their ongoing ODI series but lost both in the penultimate over.
“At the moment Zimbabwe have shown greater composure at the pressure points and that counts for a lot,” Bracewell said. “They have been playing a lot of tough cricket for a period of time, and that really helps you deal with pressure points. You have just come out of a series against Pakistan, you had a competitive series against New Zealand. You are getting used to competing because you are playing a lot more cricket.
“We have recognized that as a country, we need to have more fixtures, exactly like how you guys are doing – having series, being competitive, playing day in and day out, and on surfaces that are going to test you.
“We have been an event-based country. We fire up for World Cups and that is pretty much all we get. We get fragments of games in between that. We now need to play basically around the clock like all the international teams. The gap will narrow on teams the more cricket we get.”

As the match neared its conclusion, the result seemed a foregone conclusion and the question was whether or not Ervine could reach his ton within the limited runs remaining. The jovial, celebratory atmosphere in the ground was a far cry from the pressure cooker Ervine had entered into when Zimbabwe lost both of their openers within the first nine overs of their chase.Chamu Chibhabha and Richmond Mutumbami had approached their task with attacking intent, but when they fell in consecutive overs the Ireland attack had their tails up and a clear opening with Zimbabwe at 51 for 2 in the ninth over. The response from the left-handed pair of Ervine and Sean Williams was to go on the counterattack, and Ervine motored into the 20s with a flurry of boundaries, the pick of which was a shimmy-and-swipe off George Dockrell that flew high over long off.Williams, meanwhile, used the sweep to particularly good effect and brought up the fifty partnership with a one-kneed swat to the long-leg boundary. He continued to be proactive against spin, but eventually perished playing one shot too many when he lifted offspinner Andrew McBrine straight to Ed Joyce at long on. Zimbabwe were 149 for 3 then, and Ireland might have surged once more but Mutombodzi, elevated up the order, picked up where Williams left off to keep Zimbabwe ticking over.At the other end, Ervine was in cruise control, setting himself to bat right through the innings and anchor Zimbabwe’s chase. An inspired piece of fielding from George Dockrell in the covers eventually got rid of Mutombodzi in the 37th over, and had Niall O’Brien been able to hold a thick edge off Ervine’s bat in the next over, standing up to the stumps to John Mooney, Ireland might have been able to wrest back control of the match.Just as the pressure threatened to build once more, Ervine found a brace of boundaries on the leg side off Tim Murtagh and then moved into the 90s with a clean six down the ground followed by a controlled sweep for one off Paul Stirling’s offspin. When Raza kicked his own batting into overdrive, it seemed Ervine might not reach his hundred, but he departed with 13 still needed and Elton Chigumbura left it to Ervine to take Zimbabwe home – and reach his second ODI hundred in a successful chase – with his eighth and ninth fours off John Mooney.His efforts bettered an industrious day with the bat for Ireland. They had been put in to bat by Zimbabwe in the morning, but responded in bellicose fashion. Paul Stirling weathered the early loss of his captain and opening partner in his own inimitable style, rushing into the 70s at close to a run a ball before he was trapped lbw by Raza.Niall O’Brien continued the fight with a half-century that included three huge sixes, and Gary Wilson ensured their good work was not undone as he marshaled Ireland’s charge at the death. Zimbabwe picked up regular wickets, but Wilson found even more regular boundaries as Ireland reached an imposing 268 for 7. But after an early wobble in their chase, Zimbabwe managed to stay ahead of the asking rate for most of the afternoon thanks to Ervine and a vocal home crowd cheered their moral-boosting victory.

Yasir Shah is expected to be fit for the second Test against England in Dubai after recovering from the back spasm which ruled him out of the opening contest

Umar Farooq in Abu Dhabi16-Oct-2015Yasir Shah is expected to be fit for the second Test against England in Dubai after recovering from the back spasm which ruled him out of the opening contest. However, team manager Intikhab Alam hinted there could be a surprise addition to the squad after Pakistan’s attempts to call up Zafar Gohar for this match were thwarted by visa issues.Responding to criticism from Pakistan’s captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, over the lack of spin cover in the initial 16-man squad, Alam told ESPNcricinfo. “We don’t want to reveal anything at the moment but we have some plans.”That could throw an intriguing couple of names into the frame. A long shot would be Saeed Ajmal, who tormented England here in 2012, but has had to remodel his action and was not effective for Worcestershire in the County Championship this year, while another option may be offspinner Bilal Asif even though his action is under scrutiny after the one-day series in Zimbabwe.Bilal was reported after taking 5 for 25 in Harare, but the reporting and assessment process laid down by the ICC allows him to continuing bowling until the results of the tests are known. The testing has to take place within 14 days of the report and he is due to travel via Dubai to Chennai, one of the ICC’s approved testing centres, on October 18 and be tested the following day. He would be available for selection until the results come through, a process that takes a further 14 days and means, in theory, he would at least be available for the Dubai Test starting on October 22.Ajmal, meanwhile, who on Friday was traveling from Faisalabad to Lahore, told ESPNcricinfo he was not expecting to be called-up. “Of course everyone might be thinking about me right now but I can confirm that they haven’t asked about my passport,” Ajmal said. “But I am sure in the present scenario they are definitely thinking about me.”At the toss Misbah expressed his frustration at the lack of an extra spinner in the squad, thoughts echoed by the head coach Waqar Younis when he spoke to TV on Friday. Pakistan’s plan was to play two fast bowlers and at least two specialist spinners but they were forced to bring in Imran Khan as part of a three-man seam attack after Yasir and Gohar didn’t make it.Over the last two days Yasir has been seen jogging around the ground during intervals and having a bowl in the nets. “He is fit and will be match fit by the second Test,” Alam said. “We no more require Zafar as he was only named replacement for the first Test but he didn’t make it, so we have plenty of time ahead of the next game to decide.”With Yasir set to be available it would appear unlikely that Pakistan would alter their first-choice spin pairing even though Zulfiqar Babar, by lunch on the fourth day, had bowled 48 wicketless overs. The first Test was still awaiting its first wicket for a spinner.

Four women umpires will officiate in the Women’s World T20 Qualifier in Bangkok from November 28 to December 5

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2015Four women umpires will officiate in the Women’s World T20 Qualifier in Bangkok from November 28 to December 5. The ICC said in a release that New Zealand’s Kathy Cross, Australia’s Claire Polosak, England’s Sue Redfern and West Indies’ Jacqueline Williams have been picked for the tournament, in which Bangladesh, China, Ireland, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Thailand and Zimbabwe’s women teams will compete for two spots in the 2016 World T20.Cross, the most experienced of the four, had become the first woman to be named in an ICC umpires’ panel in 2014, having been added to the Associate and Affiliate panel. She umpired in the Women’s World Cup in 2000, 2009 and 2013, the Women’s World Cup Qualifier in 2011 and the Women’s World T20 Qualifier in 2013.Polosak is the youngest of the four at 27, and recently carried out the duties of third umpire in the Matador One-Day Cup, becoming the first woman to officiate in Australian List A cricket. Redfern has played cricket for England, bowling left-arm spin in six Tests and 15 ODI’s from 1995 to 1999, after which she took up umpiring. Williams, who is from Jamaica, recently made her international debut, standing in the first ODI and T20 between West Indies Women and Pakistan Women in the Caribbean. She is set to become the first woman to officiate West Indies’ first-class tournament, the WICB Regional Four-Day tournament, once she returns home from Thailand.Cross said she was happy to finally get the opportunity to officiate with other women, a big step for women in the game. “Each tournament brings something new for women’s cricket, and this latest development hopefully shows that the quality of [women’s] umpiring is getting better and better, as the calibre of [women’s] teams is certainly improving,” Cross said. “I have enjoyed the experience of officiating in different parts of the world, but I have been alone, as a woman, in the middle for quite some time.”So, it’s great for all of us to have this opportunity in Thailand this week at such an important tournament. I think that the selection of four females can set down a pathway for more people to come through the system.”Also officiating in the tournament will be umpires Allan Haggo and Nigel Morrison, and match referee Graeme Labrooy.

As selectors and medical staff fret over his workload, Josh Hazlewood thinks he is getting better with each successive spell this summer

Daniel Brettig in Hobart08-Dec-20151:36

‘Feel as good as I have in my career’ – Hazlewood

As selectors and medical staff fret over his workload, Josh Hazlewood thinks he is getting better with each successive spell this summer. Even so, he realises that a quick demolition job on West Indies in Hobart is likely to be his best chance of turning out in both the showpiece Melbourne and Sydney Test over the Christmas/New Year holidays.Much extra responsibility fell upon Hazlewood’s broad shoulders when Mitchell Johnson retired after the Perth Test and then Mitchell Starc suffered a foot fracture early in the Adelaide day/night match that followed it. His response was a commanding nine-wicket performance that suggested he thrived on being thrown the ball more expectantly by his captain Steven Smith.However the selection chairman Rod Marsh has stated that it is unlikely Hazlewood will be risked in all six Tests this summer, meaning it will be largely up to the bowler himself to earn the right to play by taking wickets in a swift enough manner to give him the required rest between matches – as was the case two summers ago when Johnson, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle were retained throughout the 5-0 Ashes sweep due to matches ending quickly.”I definitely wouldn’t want to be rested for either of those last two games and especially not this one, the first against the West Indies,” Hazlewood said. “I hope I can play all of them, depending on how much workload we have. If we can take these 20 wickets as quickly as possible I don’t see why I can’t play all three Tests.”The quicker you get the 20 wickets obviously the easier it is on the body. We had a tough initiation in Brisbane and in Perth on those wickets but we will be patient, it’s something I think we need to work on against the West Indies, build pressure that way and then the wickets will come hopefully.”Marsh has previously been part of a selection panel that angered fast bowlers by withdrawing them from the Test team for preventative reasons. In 2012 both Harris and Starc were left nonplussed to be asked to cool their heels after strong performances in the previous match, the former missing a Trinidad Test after excelling in Barbados and Starc scratched from Boxing Day despite bowling Australia to victory over Sri Lanka in Hobart.”I guess with my history of injuries people are entitled to their opinion but I feel as good as I have through my career,” Hazlewood said. “I think I showed last summer I bowled quite a few overs in the Tests I played and got through the majority of the winter tours as well. I’m feeling better the further I get in my career.”You have got to be honest with the selectors and coach and Smithy. They value the fast bowlers’ opinions on how you feel, as long as you are honest it’s good communication to and fro. They take a lot from how the bowler feels and how the physio sees things.”There is another decent break after this game and then the hardest ones are probably the last two back to back. But I am feeling pretty good at the moment, and hopefully it stays that way.”Australia are in very much a transitional phase due to the aforementioned retirement of Johnson and Harris, plus those of Michael Clarke, Shane Watson and Chris Rogers. But in Hazlewood they appear to have a bowler who can thrive on the extra responsibility on home turf, while also knowing from the experiences of the Caribbean earlier this year how to bowl to a brittle West Indian line-up, who had their own preparation affected by rain on their afternoon training session at Bellerive Oval.”We are obviously going to miss both Mitches, they both bring different things to the bowling attack but I guess it is good that I am the one who Smithy turns to,” Hazlewood said. “Especially in that second innings in Adelaide, that added pressure I enjoy, hopefully it brings the best out of me, if I continue to bowl like that that would be good.”I thought we bowled quite well in the West Indies as a group, Nathan Lyon included. If we can do something like that in these three Tests and build pressure on them, keeping building those dots up, the wickets will come.”

A couple of months after announcing his retirement, Virender Sehwag has said he was “hurt” by the manner in which he was dropped from the Indian team in 2013

Gaurav Kalra30-Dec-20155:56

Hurt by the way I was dropped – Sehwag

A couple of months after announcing his retirement, Virender Sehwag has said he was “hurt” by the manner in which he was dropped from the Indian team in 2013. Speaking exclusively to ESPNcricinfo in Delhi, Sehwag revealed he learnt of his axe from the newspapers and the decision wasn’t communicated to him by the selectors, team management or BCCI.”I hadn’t scored runs in two Tests against Australia,” Sehwag said. “So, I was thinking I would get a couple of more opportunities to perform well in the last two Tests [of the series] and then get dropped if I didn’t perform. If the selectors would have given me that option to play two more Tests and then retire.”Sehwag was left out after the second Test against Australia in Hyderabad in March 2013 after failing to post a half-century in eight innings. He returned to domestic cricket but failed to make a case compelling enough for a national recall. In 20 Ranji trophy matches for Delhi and Haryana since his last Test, Sehwag scored 1269 runs at an average just under 40 with three centuries. Sehwag admitted that it took him a while to adjust to playing on the domestic circuit after having had a long international career.”When I got dropped, I was thinking that I’m a good player and can get back into the Indian team but I was still living in the mindset that I am an aggressive opener and can score runs but I did not realise that domestic cricket is totally different to international cricket and I was still playing in the same way,” he said. “I did not score runs that [2013-14] season and my highest was 50-odd [56] and I was struggling to cope up with [conditions in] Delhi.”I then changed my thinking next year and batting style by giving myself a little more time and I scored 500 plus runs, but I needed to score that in the previous season and maybe I would have gotten back into the team. It was too late but I was playing because I wanted to play the game.”Sehwag is widely regarded as one of the greatest opening batsmen of the modern era, but he was quite candid about his desire to play in the middle order towards the end of his career. Despite the retirements of Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, Sehwag was never offered that option.”I told the management [about wanting to bat lower down] but they felt that I was still good enough to play as an opener and they didn’t want to take chances with the opening pair. I tried my best but could not get an opportunity in the middle order,” he said. “When I played my last series, Tendulkar was still there, Kohli and Dhoni were there. Pujara was playing as the No. 3 batsman. Tendulkar was playing at 4, Kohli at 5 and it meant that I had to bat at No. 6 after Tendulkar as you could not ask him to bat at No. 3 or 5. So, there was no chance for me to bat in the middle order.”While Sehwag retired with an impressive Test record, his performances outside the subcontinent were inconsistent. Some knocks like the 195 at MCG in 2003 are considered modern day classics, but overall Sehwag averaged just 35.84 in 36 Tests and made just 5 of his 23 Test centuries outside Asia. He conceded that as an area he struggled to match his peers in.”You don’t think of these things when you play,” he said. “When you retire, you look back and see that my Test average outside Asia is 40 and it is 49 overall. If I can change something, I’d like to change that average outside Asia. I tried as hard as I could outside Asia but I couldn’t do that. I gave my best but didn’t score as much as I can. Dravid, Tendulkar, Sourav and Laxman did it and scored hundreds as well.”

Sri Lanka have picked fast bowler Dilhara Fernando for the T20 series against India, which begins on February 9. Dilhara, 36, last played for Sri Lanka in mid-2012

Andrew Fidel Fernando28-Jan-2016

SL squad for India T20s

Squad: Dinesh Chandimal (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Seekuge Prasanna, Milinda Siriwardana, Danushka Gunathilaka, Thisara Perera, Dasun Shanaka, Asela Gunaratne, Chamara Kapugedera, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilhara Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Binura Fernando, Sachithra Senanayake, Jeffrey Vandersay
In: Dilhara Fernando, Seekuge Prasanna, Dasun Shanaka, Asela Gunaratne, Kasun Rajitha, Binura Fernando
Out: Shehan Jayasuriya, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Angelo Mathews, Isuru Udana, Kithuruwan Vithanage, Lasith Malinga, Kusal Perera

Sri Lanka have picked fast bowler Dilhara Fernando for the T20 series against India, which begins on February 9. Dilhara last played for Sri Lanka in mid-2012. Legspinnning allrounder Seekkuge Prasanna also makes a comeback.T20 captain Lasith Malinga misses out due to injury, as does allrounder Angelo Mathews, seamer Nuwan Kulasekara, and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath. Malinga is still recovering from a knee injury that kept him out of the tour to New Zealand. It is learnt that he will require another fortnight to regain full fitness. Dinesh Chandimal leads the side in Malinga’s stead.Mathews is nursing a groin strain that prevented him from bowling in New Zealand on Sri Lanka’s previous T20 assignment. His injury is less severe than Malinga’s, though, and Sri Lanka Cricket are hoping he will be available for the Asia Cup at the end of the month.Sri Lanka lost the T20s to New Zealand, earlier this month, 2-0. Among the others missing out from that squad are batsmen Shehan Jayasuriya and Kithuruwan Vithanage, pacers Suranga Lakmal and Isuru Udana. Of course, batsman Kusal Perera, who was suspended for testing positive for a banned substance, also misses out. Nuwan Pradeep was not considered for selection due to injury. There is no place for Ajantha Mendis, despite good returns in the recently-concluded domestic T20 competition.Asela Gunaratne, who bats in the middle order and bowls offspin for Sri Lanka Army, and Kasun Rajitha, the Badureliya Sports Club seamer, are the only uncapped members of the squad that will visit India. Middle order batsman Dasun Shanaka, who played one T20 international last year, keeps his spot after his record-setting run in domestic T20.Fernando’s inclusion comes as something of a surprise, after the selectors had invested heavily in youth over the past three years. Now 36, he bowled himself into contention in the recent T20 competition, taking 11 wickets in four matches, with an economy rate of 8.40. Fernando is said to have much of the pace of his younger years, and has been consistently penetrative across formats this season. Fernando had finished third on the Premier T20 Tournament wicket-taker’s list, but there is no place in the squad for Mendis, who finished second, with 12 scalps from six games. Prasanna picked up nine wickets in that tournament, at an economy rate of 6.79.Shanaka, 24, has been in sublime form for the Sinhalese Sports Club this season, cracking two breakneck hundreds in his seven Premier T20 innings. He had hit a Sri Lanka record 16 sixes on his way to 123 from 46 balls in one of those innings, and was also the top run scorer for the tournament. Gunaratne had not been in quite such hot form, but hit an important 65 not out in the final of that competition, to guide Army to the championship.Rajitha also has a good domestic T20 record, with 23 wickets from 11 matches and an economy rate of 6.77. He had not played the Premier T20 tournament, but has made a good start in the Provincial T20 tournament, taking a pair wickets in each of the first two matches. Rajitha had also been impressive in a tour match against India last year, albeit in the longer form of the game.Elsewhere, quick Dushmantha Chameera and legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay, who played on the recent New Zealand tour, retain their places. Left-arm seamer Binura Fernando, who played in the two T20 series last year, also finds a place. Prasanna, Thisara Perera and Milinda Siriwardana comprise the all-round options, with Tillakaratne Dilshan’s offbreaks also on offer.Lahiru Thirimanne does not have a place in the team, despite having played well in Sri Lanka’s 2014 World T20 campaign. Opener Danushka Gunathilaka – who dazzled briefly in New Zealand – and Chamara Kapugedara, are in the squad.Sri Lanka play three T20s in India, beginning in Pune on February 9, followed by games in Delhi on February 12 and Visakhapatnam on February 14.

Australian Andrew Tye joins a Gloucestershire squad which won the Royal London Cup last season

David Hopps31-Mar-2016Director of cricket: Richard Dawson
Captain: Gareth Roderick (Champ), Michael Klinger (T20, 50)
Last season
In: Chris Liddle (Sussex), Josh Shaw (Yorkshire, loan)
Out: James Fuller (Middlesex), Geraint Jones (retired), Cameron Herring, Robbie Montgomery (both released)
Overseas: Michael Klinger, Andrew Tye, Cameron Bancroft (April-May)2015 in a nutshell
Gloucestershire pepped up spirits during the first year of a new coaching team – Richard Dawson and Ian Harvey – to such an extent that they won the Royal London Cup final at Lord’s, reviving memories of the times, a decade and more earlier, when they dominated the limited-overs game. Michael Klinger was formidable with the bat and Geraint Jones wandered happily off into the sunset.2016 prospects
Gloucestershire’s squad lacks depth, especially in the bowling department, which suggests limited-overs cricket will again be their chief focus. Their Royal London triumph could be the catalyst for bigger T20 crowds at Bristol (they missed the quarter-finals by a point last season) and their intent is shown by the signing of a second overseas player, Andrew Tye, whose effectiveness for Perth Scorchers won him a place in Australia’s T20 squad. Cameron Bancroft, the WA keeper/batsman, deputises for Klinger in the Championship. Progress for Chris Dent and Roderick should help the runs tally, but James Fuller’s departure for Middlesex invites questions about their Championship attack. Bet365.com don’t fancy them for a 50-over repeat: they are out at 16/1.Key player
Wicketkeeper-captains always have it tough, but Gloucestershire have entrusted the role to Gareth Roderick in the Championship with Michael Klinger not back until late May. Roderick, born in South Africa, also bats top order, all of which means that Gloucestershire need him to shoulder a heavy burden if they are to maintain their progress.Bright young thing
George Hankins broke the record set by Kent’s Daniel Bell-Drummond for most runs in a season at Millfield School last season and continues their tradition of producing county cricketers by winning a two-year contract. Fresh back from the Darren Lehmann academy in Adelaide, he already had some sizeable 2nd XI scores to his name.ESPNcricinfo verdict
After winning the Royal London Cup, Gloucestershire will seek to spice up their T20 cricket which will make South Group stronger than ever.Bet365 odds: Specsavers Championship, Div 2: 10/1; NatWest Blast n/a; Royal London Cup 16/1