With the final round of matches in the Intercontinental Cup set to kick off on November 29, it will be the last time these two new Test teams will feature in Associate cricket’s most important multi-day tournament

The Preview by Peter Della Penna in Abu Dhabi28-Nov-2017On June 5, 2015 in Scotland’s city of Stirling, few signs portended Afghanistan’s future status at the end of their opening-round match of the Intercontinental Cup. The team had mostly sat through dreary, wet conditions over the course of the previous four days before slipping to 94 for 8, eventually conceding a 98-run first-innings lead to Scotland in a drawn match.Afghanistan were just two months removed from their first World Cup appearance, where their lone win came in a one-wicket thriller against Scotland in Dunedin, and still struggling – at times – to assert themselves consistently against Associate competition. Later that same summer, at the World T20 Qualifier in Scotland and Ireland, losses to Oman and Hong Kong put them in a precarious position: needing to finish on top in a must-win encounter against Papua New Guinea at Malahide, failing which they would miss out on the 2016 World T20 in India.Two and a half years later, things are much sunnier on the eve of the final round of I-Cup in Abu Dhabi than they were in Stirling, both on and off the field. Afghanistan have had five straight wins in the I-Cup, including four on the trot by an innings. They have turned into demons in the shorter forms as well, using victories over Zimbabwe and West Indies at the 2016 World T20 to catapult themselves past Ireland as the pre-eminent Associate. That is, until Afghanistan was granted Test status and Full Membership along with Ireland by the ICC in June.

Round seven fixtures starting November 29

Hong Kong v PNG (Sharjah)
Ireland v Scotland (DSC , Dubai)
Namibia v Netherlands (ICC Academy, Dubai)
UAE v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)

The next four days are Afghanistan’s swansong on the Associate-cricket scene. Currently first on the I-Cup table, 12 points ahead of Ireland, a win over UAE will give them their second I-Cup title. It would be the perfect finish before they begin to fully embark on Test cricket.”It’s been quite a good journey the last six or seven years starting from 2010, I-Cup games,” allrounder Mohammad Nabi said on the eve of the match while reflecting on Afghanistan’s journey. “We played our first game against Zimbabwe A and we enjoyed that. It’s quite good memories over the years, quite good wins as well. The first time we played the I-Cup, we won the title as well.”People think that Afghanistan just plays the T20 game well, but I know Afghanistan team plays four-day and Test very well because of quality spinners and quality fast bowlers. We have the kind of batsmen that can play four-day and Tests.”Though they won the 2009-10 I-Cup and had a strong record over the course of the 2011-13 I-Cup campaign, Afghanistan were beaten convincingly by Ireland in the final. It showed they still had a learning curve to work their way through. Their next cycle that started in 2015 got off to an inauspicious start, but part of their dominance – since that damp week in Stirling – can be traced to the emergence of a new wave of talent.Nawroz Mangal is carried around the field by his team-mates•Peter Della PennaNowadays, it’s hard to imagine life without Rashid Khan in an Afghanistan shirt but he was still many months away from making his senior team debut when the draw wrapped up in Scotland. In left-arm wristspinner Zahir Khan, Afghanistan have found a solid foil for Rashid, creating a left-right one-two wrist-spinning tag team to keep opposition batsmen constantly under threat in multi-day cricket.Nawroz Mangal’s retirement has opened the door for the next generation of batsmen too. Nasir Jamal and Ihsanullah Janat have ensured there has been no drop-off in scoring since coming into the team, easing the pressure off captain Asghar Stanikzai and Nabi.But this round is not just about saluting Afghanistan into the Full-Member world. Ireland, too, have a point to prove, that they merit their promotion to Full Membership not just on past glories but on current form. Unlike the conveyor belt of talent coming through the Afghanistan pipeline, Ireland have struggled when age and injuries have caught up with them.Ed Joyce, Ireland’s finest-ever batsman, has been laid low for much of the past six months by a series of ailments and appears to be hanging by a thread to be able to take the field for the maiden Test against Pakistan in May 2018. Boyd Rankin has similarly been troubled by the injury bug, exposing a lack of depth and variety in the pace bowling department.The umpires wait for wet weather to clear in Stirling•Donald MacLeod / Cricket ScotlandRegardless of whether or not Ireland field a full-strength side in Dubai, Scotland will be raring to knock them off in an effort to make a major statement that the promotion of Associates to Full Members should not stop at Ireland and Afghanistan. Their recent four-day record is deceiving. The most snake-bitten team weather-wise, Scotland have four draws – all three home matches were heavily affected by rain – in six matches plus an abandonment against Hong Kong when all four days were wiped out in Mong Kok. Even their one result, a loss to Netherlands, had the entire first day lost due to a wet outfield in Voorburg.Yet, Scotland were finalists in 2010 and over the past year have shown signs in other formats that they are narrowing the gap with Ireland and Afghanistan. After reaching the semi-finals of the Desert T20 Challenge to start the year, they recorded 50-over wins against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe during the home summer. A win over Ireland would be another feather in their cap in an impressive 2017.Netherlands are also looking to firm up third place with a win over Namibia. Finishing right behind Ireland and Afghanistan in the four-day competition, coupled with a possible first-place finish in the WCL Championship (to earn a spot as the 13th team in the proposed ODI league) would go a long way to enhancing their claims for more opportunities against Full Members beyond the guaranteed matches that would come via the ODI league.But more than anything else, this week is Afghanistan’s opportunity to bask in Associate glory one last time. Six months ago, they would have needed a win in this final match to give themselves a shot at Test cricket. The ICC’s decision in June to grant them Test status took that pressure of a win off them.However, this is a prideful team. They are proud of their Associate roots, proud of the opportunities they have earned through the merit-based Associate pathways, and proud to claim one more piece of Associate hardware before heading out into a brave new world as a Test nation.

If they have headaches at the top, their lower order is painfully weak right now. With their batting conundrums showing no signs of ceasing, can India avert a 4-1 scoreline?

Nagraj Gollapudi03-Sep-2018″Running away, boys, running away.””Unreal boys, unreal.””Who’s 2-1 up, boys? Who is 2-1 up?”Virat Kohli was loud and clear in England’s ears in the first session of the Southampton Test on Saturday. No one heard those remarks more clearly than Kohli’s opposite number, Joe Root. The England captain had decided to drop himself to No. 4 and promote Moeen Ali as one-down. Moeen did not last long. So as Root walked in to take guard with England’s lead still slender, Kohli felt India could start ringing the alarm bells despite England leading 2-1 in the five-Test series.Yet it was Root, who walked up quietly beside Kohli at the post-match presentation later on Sunday afternoon to offer his commiserations to the Indian captain after England won the Pataudi Trophy 3-1.Test cricket, you brute. Kohli was once again reminded of that dictum, for the second time this series. At Edgbaston, India were on the verge of victory after four days of attritional battle. Yet on the final morning, the lower order lost the nerve. At Lord’s, India, as their coach Ravi Shastri said, were “blown away.” With the series on line, India came up with a clinical and collective performance at Trent Bridge, which pumped them for an inspired contest in Southampton.Yet all the relative failings in their batting, which have been evident each time India have been set a target away from home in the past 12 months, swelled up once again and crashed the dreams of winning a series in England, a realistic goal at the outset of the series for the No.1-ranked Test team.India’s biggest weakness has been the weak foundation at the top, intensified by non-existent contributions from the lower order. The negligible contributions of their top order because of the openers’ struggle to survive the first hour is a sore niggle India have carried for a while now. The contributions from the top three batsman in the four chases India scented an overseas win in through the last eight months have been: Cape Town (target: 208): 13, 16, 4; Centurion: 9, 4, 19 (287); Edgbaston: 6, 13, 13 (target: 194); Southampton: 17, 0, 5 (target: 245).There have been some unplayable balls, but you cannot say that for every opener. Glitches and shortcomings in technique, improvised bowling plans by the opposition (like M Vijay painfully found out), failure to apply for longer periods of time have all contributed to the opening malaise. In this series, India sent Vijay back home, have played three different openers and it will not come as a surprise if 18-year-old Prithvi Shaw debuts at The Oval later this week.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe burden thus has fallen on Kohli, who has been the lodestar of India’s batting ever since he became the captain. No batsman on either side has shown the flexibility of mind and application like Kohli, who became the first Indian captain to score 500-plus runs in an overseas Test series. But even Kohli, by his own admission, has fallen prey to distractions as he showed chasing a wide, fuller delivery from Sam Curran twice in this series. Both of those errant shots came at crucial junctures. At Edgbaston, on the final morning, Kohli took India to the final bend, but then slipped. Then, on the first day in Southampton, just as a partnership with Cheteshwar Pujara began flourishing, Kohli played a loose shot on the cusp of a half-century.On Sunday, Ajinkya Rahane played his most assured innings of this tour. His duel with Moeen in the second session was one of the best sessions of Test cricket this series. Planting his front foot well forward, Rahane met the ball in front of his pad to negate the turn Moeen was getting from the footholes. Rahane would swiftly slide his feet back if the ball was fuller. Rahane would end up raising his bat quietly for what was only his second fifty in the fourth innings across his career – incidentally both came in Southampton.Sadly, though, Rahane has failed otherwise to impose himself on the old ball, falling easily to his nemesis Ben Stokes. His average this series so far has been 27.50 as compared to England’s No. 5 who averages 41.As watchful and mindful Rahane was, critics have already started highlighting the fact that he hit only one boundary – a four – during his 207-minute vigil. They are also pointing out that Rahane never set the tone for attack. But the balls and the circumstances did not allow him to do that either. All said and done, India do have a problem against quality spin. And it is not new. Four years ago too, Moeen had crippled India.That brings us to the biggest weakness of Indian batting – the lower order comprising Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik/Rishabh Pant and R Ashwin. England’s lower order and tail (Nos. 6-10) have scored 900 runs at an average of 29.03 which includes centuries from Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes, and three half-centuries, two of which are by Curran. This set of batsmen has contributed 51.84% of runs England have scored so far. India’s lower order and tail, meanwhile, have scored 411 runs at an average of 12.08 with a solitary fifty, scored by Pandya in the second innings of the victory at Trent Bridge.ESPNcricinfo LtdNarrow that down to Nos. 6 to 9 and the problem worsens further for India. England’s batsmen at those positions have scored 851 runs (49%) in contrast to 360 by India’s, which is 21%. Seven out of the nine wickets Moeen took in Southampton comprised India’s lower order and tail. A cursory look at the way Pandya, Ashwin and Pant struggled in both innings and the manner of some of the dismissals will explain their weak state of mind. If India have headaches at the top, India’s lower back is painfully weak right now.If one thing you could have been sure of, though, at least based on the words of the captain, the coach and the players, was that Kohli’s team knew how to scrap. They knew how to respond if they were roughed up. They did stand up at the Wanderers. They again stood up at Trent Bridge. However, as Kohli said on Sunday, India do not know how to “cross the line” yet consistently when the occasion presents itself. Scrapping cannot be merely words and a few good results. It means when it really matters, as it did in Southampton, you deliver.Kohli was a defeated man as the sun softened on the Ageas Bowl on Sunday afternoon. He urged his troops that they could not be satisfied by just competing. They ought to put in more efforts, be braver in tough situations and, be present in the situation.Kohli felt the final scoreline does not signify the true nature of the series – he pointed out India had made England earn their two victories outside of Lord’s. True, but in the end, would he really want 3-1 to become 4-1 at The Oval?MS Dhoni’s teams lost 4-0 in 2011 and then 3-1 in 2014. Kohli and Shastri have pointed out that this team has more balance and, crucially, a better fast-bowling attack India have had than at any other point of time. But the bowlers are striving and have succeeded despite the dry nature of the pitches this summer. They have also been resolute with the bat and saved India embarrassment as Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah showed in the first innings in Southampton.But India’s frontline batsmen ought to show they can seize the opportunities overseas; those opportunities do not come often. If they don’t, the words used to sledge the opposition will serve as mere rhetoric.

The wristspinner has barely played any first-class cricket since his Test debut, and he’s looking to make up for it now, playing for India A

Varun Shetty at the Chinnaswamy04-Sep-2018It is the third day of India A’s first unofficial Test against Australia A, and Kuldeep Yadav goes round the wicket to Marnus Labuschagne. He pushes cover a few yards back, to where the 30-yard circle would be in limited-overs cricket, and pushes long-off back onto the boundary. Labuschagne, Australia A’s No. 6, has been driving freely all through his innings of 37.Now, Kuldeep’s loopy trajectory brings Labuschagne forward, looking to pick up a single into the open straight field on the off side. The ball dips and lands half a yard short of the batsman’s stride, and spins through the gate to knock back his stumps.In that moment is contained all the skill and nous Sachin Tendulkar might have been referring to around a month ago when he said Kuldeep was ready for Test cricket.But how often does Kuldeep get the chance to engineer a wicket like that? The answer? Not much at all.When Kuldeep played the Lord’s Test a couple of weeks ago, it wasn’t just his first Test since August 2017, but also his his first red-ball match in that period. India got through an entire domestic season between those two Test matches. Kuldeep’s previous first-class match before that August 2017 Test in Pallekele, meanwhile, was his Test debut against Australia in Dharamsala, in March 2017.To put it simply, before this unofficial Test in Bengaluru, Kuldeep’s last three first-class games were all Tests, spread over nearly a year-and-a-half. It was the period in which he became a regular in the India limited-overs teams, when he was involved in series against Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, South Africa and England. With that packed schedule, he might well not have had the chance to join his state side in the Ranji Trophy. It shouldn’t be a surprise at all, then, that Kuldeep with the red ball isn’t yet as threatening as Kuldeep with the white ball.By his own admission, Kuldeep thinks he needs more game time in this format.”You have to change your mindset when you come to play with the red ball,” he said at the end of the day’s play. “You need to be very patient. You’re not going to take wickets every time you come up to bowl. For me it’s very important to be patient and not to try too much.”And that was the brief given to him when he was released from the Test squad before the fourth Test in England.”I spoke to MSK [Prasad, chief selector] sir and Ravi [Shastri] sir. They wanted me to play a lot of cricket. I went there [England] and played one Test match. It was likely that only one spinner would be able to play over there so there wasn’t much of an opportunity there. Here I had the opportunity to play. There was no advantage to sitting on the sidlelines.”I was itching to go out and play because you only improve when you have match time. The growth is much slower when you’re sitting on the sidelines. So this game and the next one are really important to me. This is all adding to my experience. The more I bowl with the red ball, the quicker I get used to it. And West Indies is going to come over to play as well. So if I find my rhythm here, it’ll be easier for me to perform in that series. This is a good step for me. Personally, I’m very happy with the move of playing here. “The return to India hadn’t begun too well. On the first day of the match, when Mohammed Siraj picked up an eight-wicket haul, Kuldeep had struggled to hit consistent lengths and trouble the visitors’ top three, which consisted entirely of left-handers. He had come on first change that day, and was largely ineffective even with the older ball, often dropping the ball too short or pushing it through too quickly. Though he was the only other bowler apart from Siraj to pick up wickets, he was the most expensive of India A’s five frontline bowlers.”For me it’s very challenging to transform to red-ball cricket,” Kuldeep said after the third day’s play. He had taken two late wickets, including the one of Labuschagne, as Australia A pushed to set a fourth-innings target.Associated Press”Mentally you’ve to adjust a little – the conditions were very different in England. It was a Duke’s ball. The wickets are quicker,” Kuldeep said. “Back here in India, the SG ball gets much softer and tougher to bowl with. So those are the challenges. But after practising for a couple of days, I got used to it. I wasn’t that comfortable in the first innings, but with every over, it got better.”If you’re playing white-ball regularly and suddenly you’re selected for Test team and start bowling with the red ball, then it’s challenging. In this match, I bowled around 30-plus overs, and now I’m feeling much better. I’m getting in the rhythm and really enjoying bowling right now.”Kuldeep career is somewhat peculiar in that he has, in a short span of time, oscillated between being the big hope for the future and a work in progress. Before Tendulkar’s comments, Ravi Shastri had proclaimed that Kuldeep, the “tough little nut”, had arrived as a player. After a string of impressive limited-overs performances, so much was expected from India’s left-arm wristspinner that Virat Kohli, long before the start of the Test series in England, had said Kuldeep was making a case for red-ball selection.It might have put Kuldeep in a bit of a spot, then, all these expectations, when he did make it into the XI for the Lord’s Test. Not only had he pipped Ravindra Jadeja to the role of second spinner, but he’d also replaced a seamer in the most seam-friendly conditions of the series. Having not played any red-ball cricket in nearly a year, Kuldeep stood little chance of shining in gloomy London. He ended up with three significant zeroes in that match, two with the bat, and one in the wickets column.There’s no doubt Kuldeep has the ability to bowl well in the longest format, as he showed on his debut in Dharamsala. But he needs regular exposure to red-ball cricket, and bowl a lot of overs, to find his rhythm and maintain it.In the second innings against Australia A, Kuldeep started off tight, then grew a little wayward, and then regained his control. In contrast to the first innings, he appeared to have a plan at all times on the third day. Early on, he eased nicely into a containing role, which his older team-mate K Gowtham had been trusted with in the first innings. Kuldeep hit a good length more often than in the first innings and appeared, overall, to be bowling a lot slower as well. As he grew more confident through the day, he even began going round the wicket to the right-handers. From that angle came the beautifully set up wicket of Labuschagne.The 36.5 overs he has sent down in the first unofficial Test should hold Kuldeep in good stead when he bowls in the second game against Australia A. By the time that match is done, he should be fairly well prepared for West Indies’ arrival. This is how India should nurture their most promising wristspinner. He cannot be learning the craft sporadically and directly at Test level. Few have survived trying to do that.

A rundown of the six teams gunning for promotion over the next 11 days at the World Cricket League

Peter Della Penna in Muscat08-Nov-2018Oman Canada’s spot in the 2018 World Cup Qualifier was famously usurped by Nepal thanks to a 51-run tenth-wicket stand on the final day of round-robin play, but Oman’s fate was arguably decided just as dramatically over the course of one week in Namibia last February. Oman handed 4-1 Nepal their only loss in group play and were in dominant positions against both Namibia (defending 165, they had Namibia 65 for 7 in the 16th over) and UAE (chasing UAE’s 159, they were 93 for 3 in the 27th over) before faltering badly on both occasions to end up relegated at 2-3.Most recently, Oman got off to a sensational start at the Asia Cup Qualifier with wins over Nepal, Malaysia and Singapore. Yet a no-result against Hong Kong left them needing a win over UAE to secure a spot in the final. In a bit of déjà vu, they stumbled once again to lose by 13 runs. Dating back to their epic upset of Ireland at the opening round of the 2016 World T20, Oman have shown they have the quality to take down top-tier Associates but they must now show at Division Three that they can maintain consistency in a tournament format where hosts have traditionally held an overwhelming advantage.Player to watch: Bilal KhanUSA’s Ali Khan has been in the Associate world headlines this summer for his growing collection of T20 franchise deals, and his Omani namesake left-arm speedster is arguably Ali’s equal in the pace department. Bilal can reverse-swing it at 135-140 kph and land searing yorkers when necessary. He tied with Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichhane for the tournament lead taking 17 wickets at Division Two in February, and caused fits at the Asia Cup Qualifier with another 10 in five matches.Collins Obuya launches down the ground•IDI/GettyKenyaKenya’s mighty fall from grace continued in Namibia where they went winless over eight days against teams they wouldn’t have dreamed of losing to 15 years earlier at the height of their powers during a semi-final run at the 2003 World Cup. An administrative shake-up followed the debacle in Namibia with Cricket Kenya chief Jackie Janmohamed and two others resigning less than a week later.But the players have mostly come out unscathed from February’s mess as Kenya have only made two changes to the squad for Oman. Collins Obuya, one of the last holdovers from the 2003 glory days, is one of several who need to step up with the bat to shore up a frail middle order to give Kenya a chance at climbing back up the Associate ladder.Player to watch: Dhiren GondariaThe 23-year-old top-order batsman can give it a healthy whack when he’s in a good mood. He was Kenya’s leading scorer at 2018 Division Two with 167 runs, including two fifties. More recently, he topped Kenya’s run charts again at the Africa T20 Region B Qualifier with 266 runs, including 90 off 46 balls in the opener against Uganda.Chetan Suryawanshi drives down the ground•Peter Della PennaSingaporeAn often overlooked team out of a highly competitive Asia region, Singapore missed out on promotion to Division Two last year on net run rate despite beating Canada, who were promoted ahead of them to Namibia with both sides equal at 3-2. While Singapore do not have the top-to-bottom depth of other teams, they still possess players with match-winning capability.Among those who fit that category is Anish Paraam, their leading scorer not only at the last Division Three in Uganda but more recently again at the Asia Cup Qualifier where he made 218 runs, including a century in Singapore’s lone win against Malaysia. Legspinner Anantha Krishna led the team with 10 wickets at the last Division Three in Uganda and could be even more potent on the expected spin-friendly tracks in Oman.Player to watch: Chetan SuryawanshiThe do-it-all captain is Singapore’s most consistent batsman, keeps wicket and, if the occasion calls for it, will take off his pads mid-innings to roll his arm over. Whereas most of Singapore’s batsmen opt for orthodox cricket, the former Kolkata Knight Riders squad member isn’t afraid to shuffle around the crease and give it a whack to keep bowling units off balance.Monank Patel walks off after top-scoring with 108•Peter Della PennaUSAThe Americans come into the tournament under a cloud of turmoil with Ibrahim Khaleel sacked just over a month ago as captain in an episode that exposed friction within the squad. The squad instability continued through October at the CWI Super50 Cup in Barbados as three more players – David Wakefield, Srini Salver and Usman Ashraf – were dumped after just a handful of matches in favor of two US passport-holders contracted to Barbados: Hayden Walsh Jr. and Aaron Jones.This will be USA’s fifth crack at trying to overcome their Division Three jinx, having failed during previous attempts in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2017. In spite of an impressive win over Jamaica to end the Super50 Cup on a high, the odds are stacked against USA thanks to their losing record against each opponent at Division Three. Singapore (3-2), Kenya (3-0), Uganda (3-1), Oman (5-4) and Denmark (6-2) all have the edge in head-to-head competition against USA in one-day cricket, including six straight wins for Denmark and four in a row by Oman.Player to watch: Monank PatelThe former Gujarat Under-17 batsman was the standout player at USA’s squad selection camp in Texas this past June scoring an unbeaten century off 80 balls. He showed it was no fluke by scoring 109 in the win against Jamaica late last month to finish as USA’s leading scorer at the Super50 Cup with 290 runs.Uganda captain Roger Mukasa sprints off after taking the final wicket to secure victory•Peter Della PennaUganda After suffering the rare fate of relegation as tournament hosts last year, Uganda gained promotion straightaway in dramatic fashion last May in Malaysia, winning Division Four by holding their nerve in a pair of thrillers to finish off round-robin play against Denmark (one-run win on DLS Method), and Jersey (defending 90 to win by seven runs). Captain Roger Mukasa had the Midas touch on both occasions, taking five wickets for 10 runs across five overs bowled in crunch time.Uganda’s resurgence has coincided with the recent influx of Asian players into the squad. Foremost among them is Irfan Afridi, the nephew of former Pakistan captain Shahid, who finished as the leading wicket-taker at Division Four with 15 scalps.Player to watch: Dinesh NakraniSince the dynamic Kenneth Kamyuka migrated to Canada in 2009, Uganda’s line-up over the last decade has mostly consisted of grinders. But the 27-year-old former Saurashtra batsman Nakrani has added some muscle to the batting order since qualifying on residency earlier this year. Nakrani was the leading scorer at the Africa T20 Region B Qualifier with 320 runs, including 88 not out against Kenya in the tournament opener and an unbeaten 102 off 50 balls in the rematch victory over Kenya.Nicolaj Laegsgaard erupts after taking a wicket•Peter Della PennaDenmarkCoach Jeremy Bray’s charges raced out to three wins at Division Four in May before surviving two late stumbles against Uganda and Vanuatu to narrowly gain promotion on the net-run-rate tiebreaker over Malaysia into Division Three. On paper there is nothing terribly intimidating about the Danes, but they possess the necessary skills for and against spin to thrive in Omani conditions.Leading the Danes is 26-year-old Brondby product Hamid Shah, who has progressed through Denmark’s junior squads to become a confident captain and batsman. Hamid made 90 earlier this week in a warm-up against the UAE and was Denmark’s most consistent batsman in Malaysia, finishing with 179 runs at an average of 59.66. He was only outdone on aggregate by the evergreen wicketkeeper-batsman Freddie Klokker, who scored 221 runs including an unbeaten century against Bermuda.Player to watch: Nicolaj LaegsgaardThe towering 21-year-old left-arm spinner was a medium-pacer before coach Bray converted him into a spinner two years ago. Laegsgaard made his international debut in Malaysia taking two wickets in three matches but with a stifling 2.80 economy rate as his height and bounce caused plenty of problems. His confidence has grown even more this summer after taking a team-best nine wickets in five matches to help Denmark to an undefeated record at the Europe T20 Region A Qualifier.

Eight years after his axing on the eve of England’s World T20 triumph, Kent’s forgotten man returns to the fray

Andrew Miller27-Oct-2018After 3172 days on the sidelines, and having missed a whopping 384 international fixtures between call-ups, Joe Denly completed a remarkable return to England colours in the one-off T20I in Colombo.For much of the afternoon, it had seemed as though Denly would be doing nothing more than pulling on his kit and watching, first, his team-mates, and then, the rain, ruin his big day. But, having made a somewhat laboured 20 from 17 balls after appearing at No. 7 in England’s order, he confirmed the wisdom of his recall by producing a startling display with the ball.Tasked with opening the bowling with his skiddy, accurate legbreaks, Denly conceded just three runs off the bat before dismissing Kusal Mendis with the final ball of his first over; then removed Niroshan Dickwella in his second, and claimed two more wickets in the final over of the innings to finish with career-best T20 figures of 4 for 19, and the Man of the Match award too.Perhaps that should be no surprise, given he was already one of a select band of players to take a wicket with their first delivery in T20Is.Further chances may well come for Denly this winter – he was, after all, an original pick for the three-match Test series that gets underway in Galle on November 6, rather than the injury replacement for the limited-overs leg of the winter, after Liam Dawson suffered a side strain midway through the second ODI.Nevertheless, there was a pleasing symmetry to the format in which Denly made his return to the fray. Because, way back in the mists of time, in Dubai in February 2010, it had been Denly’s performance in a T20 series against Pakistan that condemned him to an exile that, in terms of matches missed, is second only to the West Indies allrounder Rayad Emrit, and longer even than that of New Zealand’s Jeff Wilson, who filled his own 344-match gap between appearances by forging a legendary 60-Test career as an All Blacks winger.Denly himself had made a promising start to his England career at the end of the 2009 home season, scoring a matchwinning half-century on his ODI debut against Ireland in Belfast and, at the age of 23, he was presumed to be one to watch for the future – even if an untimely knee injury, courtesy of an Owais Shah football tackle at The Oval in September, had dented his progress a touch.But, when England rocked up to the UAE en route to their tour of Bangladesh in early 2010, Denly became the fall guy in one of the more remarkable – and successful – selectorial U-turns of recent times.Getty ImagesWith a T20 World Cup looming large on the horizon, it became catastrophically apparent to England’s brains trust, Andy Flower and the then-T20 captain, Paul Collingwood, that the notion of opening the batting with Denly and Jonathan Trott simply wasn’t dynamic enough to challenge the best teams in the world.Denly, in fact, had launched his England T20 career with consecutive first-ball ducks against Australia at Old Trafford and South Africa at the Wanderers – at least he hadn’t been dying wondering, you might argue. But when, against Pakistan in the UAE, he followed up with scores of 1 from 3 balls and 5 from 10 – taking his overall T20 record to an egregious 20 runs from 29 balls at an average of 4.00 – there was simply no mitigating such failures.And besides, the most significant match of that brief stop-over in the Emirates had not been either of the two official internationals against Pakistan at Dubai, but rather England’s warm-up against England Lions in Abu Dhabi earlier that week.Trott (24 from 27) and Denly (4 from 3) were stunningly and comprehensively shown up by the Lions opening pair of Michael Lumb (58 not out from 35) and Craig Kieswetter (81 from 66 balls). Kieswetter, in fact, had just that very week completed his residency qualification to be considered for full England selection, and sure enough, he was fast-tracked, at Denly’s expense, into the ODI side in Bangladesh the following month.From there, the rest was history. Kieswetter and Lumb both made their T20I debuts in England’s opening match of the World T20 in the Caribbean in May, and their gung-ho alliance was precisely what was required to unlock the team’s potential. At No. 3, Kevin Pietersen thrived on the squad’s change of attitude to produce a Man-of-the-Tournament display, and England powered to their maiden global trophy, beating Australia by seven wickets in a final in Barbados in which Kieswetter’s 63 from 49 balls proved the decisive contribution.As for Denly, well, his career has had to come full circle in the interim. He admitted last month that his career “went missing” for two or three years after his axing in the UAE, adding that he had to learn to “start enjoying his cricket again” before he could dare to dream of a recall.It took a return to Kent, after a few enjoyable but unremarkable seasons at Middlesex, to unlock that latent ability that had put him on the radar a decade ago. And now, after what his England captain Eoin Morgan described as a “bit of a Garry Sobers year” in county cricket, which led to a sweep of trophies at this month’s PCA Awards, he’s back in the format where he thought it had all slipped away. And excelling with a string to his bow that had scarcely been acknowledged in those intervening years.

Jadhav has put injury behind him to become a prime candidate for the No. 6 spot for India at the World Cup. But he knows he has to keep things simple with the ball and keep scoring runs to get to England

Shashank Kishore in Dubai20-Sep-2018MS Dhoni is a man of many twists. In 2013, he turned around Rohit Sharma’s limited-overs career by slotting him as an opener. Rohit responded immediately with a match-winning 83 in an ODI against England in Mohali. Two years later, he comforted a shattered KL Rahul, who had just made 1 and 0 on Test debut in Melbourne. He was persisted with, even promoted to open the batting – Dhoni had just retired a Test earlier – and he responded with a century.In January 2016, he handed Jasprit Bumrah an ODI debut less than 24 hours after he had landed in Australia to be part of the T20I series. Bumrah wasn’t supposed to play the ODIs, but was slotted in after India had failed to defend 300-plus twice and 295 once in the series. They had nothing to lose, and Bumrah impressed upon initiation. Later that year, Rahul’s ferocious IPL ball-striking earned him a No. 4 slot under Dhoni’s captaincy during a T20I in Florida. He smashed an unbeaten 51-ball 110.One of his last out-of-the-box moves before giving up the ODI captaincy was to hand Kedar Jadhav the ball in the nets in Dharamsala when New Zealand toured in October 2016. Up until then, Jadhav had just nine wickets in nine years of representative cricket across formats, and had bowled less than three balls per match on an average. But all that was to change soon.The late arrival of lunch forced players to stay on in the nets, working in batches. While the regular spinners Amit Mishra and Axar Patel were elsewhere, Jadhav was thrown the ball. Dhoni liked what he saw immediately and employed him purely as a partnership breaker in the series. It may have been an innocuous move then, but that quirk may have just helped India narrow down their search for an ideal No. 6 at next year’s World Cup.Make no mistake, Jadhav is a batsman, a finisher, but it’s his bowling utility that has now been looked at as key in India’s jigsaw. In the Asia Cup fixture against Pakistan, he proved his bag of simple yet effective tricks could lend the balance that India dearly missed in England. After losing Hardik Pandya to a back injury midway through the match, they needed someone to fill in at least five overs. Jadhav stepped in and bowled nine miserly overs to finish with career-best figures of 3 for 23.”If you’ve to play in the Indian team, as long as you keep contributing, you should be happy. Since the time Dhoni asked me to bowl in the New Zealand series, my life has completely changed and I feel confident about it,” Jadhav said. “My bowling is all about trying to read the batsman. My plan is to bowl stump-to-stump, if you score, it’s fine but if you miss, wickets are there for me.”One of the key aspects of Jadhav’s bowling is his understanding of his limited skillsets. He bowls with a low arm, bowls very slow, leaving the batsmen to force the pace most times, and thrives because the angle from which he delivers the ball facilitates low bounce even on good surfaces. It makes many wonder what it takes to deliver such miserly spells match after match. Is it the efforts put in at training? Not really, if you go by Jadhav’s words.”Honestly, I bowl one or two overs before the match at training. I don’t bowl much at the nets. I feel if I try and become a bowler, I will lose whatever I have. So I stay within limits,” he laughed. “Upfront when your fast bowlers bowl well, that means batsmen will try to score runs off the spinners. It gives us more opportunities to take wickets, so it works.”Kedhar Jadhav walks back to the pavilion after hurting his left hamstring•BCCIThe Jadhav of today is far from the bowler who first shone through in 2016. There was a period last year when Jadhav psychologically feared being injured every time he stepped onto the field. Recurring fears of twinging a hamstring or turning his ankle prevented him from being swift in the infield. Cue in a few angry gestures from Virat Kohli when Jadhav conceded easy singles, and murmurs of a lack of fitness. In reality, it was the fear of injury that kept weighing him down, and not without cause.In the last six months alone, he’s injured his left hamstring three times, the last of which, on the opening day of the IPL, left him needing surgery in London in June. He’s now returned after three months of intense rehabilitation, and is more confident.”I don’t have it in my mind that I will get injured again,” Jadhav said. “In the last four months, I’ve learnt a lot about training and fitness, and it has definitely made me a better cricketer. Previously, when I got injured and underwent rehab, I would take it easy and feel I’m fit and there’s no chance of an injury. Many times, I skipped my routines as a result. But after the third injury, regardless of how I feel, every day I start my day with training: both gym and running. So that gives me confidence that I’m getting stronger and fitter every day, and that helps me on the field.”Bowling aside, he is aware his primary role is that of a finisher with the bat. In 42 matches, he’s been needed to bat on just 23 occasions. Out of these, he’s been unbeaten eight times, facing 25 balls or more only thrice. Yet, when he’s had the chances he has grabbed them, none more famous than his brutal counter-attacking ton during the course of a double-century stand with Virat Kohli that scripted a miraculous win for India against England; after being reduced to 63 for 4, Jadhav made a 76-ball 120 as India chased down 351.Jadhav understands he needs to score runs to get the World Cup ticket. “Batting, my role is that of a finisher. Everyone has a role, we’ve been given specific roles, so there is a plan and we follow that. I know if I stay till the end I can perform better and win games for India.” Kohli, who batted with him in that Pune ODI, will vouch for that.

A full house at Drummoyne Oval was witness to a heroic batting effort in the WBBL final

Melinda Farrell in Sydney26-Jan-2019They started arriving early.Half an hour before the gates opened, there were hundreds of them, lining up with Drummoyne Oval on one side and the bobbing boats and cerulean water of Five Dock Bay on the other.The lucky first wave through the gates headed straight to the shade provided by the spread-eagled arms of the Morton Bay figs and the eucalypts. Even the mid-morning sun was biting; soon it would be brutal.***Before the match, Brisbane Heat captain Kirby Short spoke about the bowling plans. The Heat had bowled Sydney Sixers out for 88 in the second of their two regular round matches and, for Short, there was no doubt they had the right strategy; it was a matter of whether or not they could execute them in the same fashion. Take the pace off to frustrate the power-hitters and squeeze them into forcing shots, use variations to restrict their scoring options. She wasn’t sure if lightning could strike twice in the pressure of a final but the template was there.It wasn’t lightning in the end, it was the slow-building suffocation that thickens the air before the storm. The accuracy of Jess Jonassen’s slow left-arm deliveries and Sammy-Jo Johnson’s nagging medium pace stifling Alyssa Healy and Ellyse Perry in the Powerplay. When Healy broke free, slamming Jonassen for a lofted drive over the long-on boundary and then pummelling her for four off the back foot, Kirby brought Delissa Kimmince on with immediate effect; an outstanding delivery squaring Healy up with enough late outswing to shave the top of off stump.Again and again came the squeeze, the frustrated release and the breakthrough. Ashleigh Gardner attempting to launch Grace Harris over mid-wicket only to find Kimmince. Perry charging down the track to meet Jonassen, then adjusting to sweep and in the end top-edging a simple catch for Beth Mooney. Sara McGlashan spooning a Johnson full toss straight into the hands of Harris.Only Dane van Niekerk was able to break the shackles but she came to the crease with only five overs left in the innings and her first boundary came in the 18th. Her 32 runs off 15 lifted the Sixers to 131 for 7, the same total they had made batting first against Melbourne Renegades in the semi-final, played one week earlier at the same ground.ALSO READ: Warrior Mooney ensures Heat become championsThe total was not a lightning strike. It was the best first-innings total of all four Women’s Big Bash League finals that have been played. In the semi-final, the Sixers had defended 131 on a thrilling last ball play that led to a successful Super Over. They had the experience of three finals behind them – two of them victorious – and two of the best death bowlers in the world in Perry and Marizanne Kapp.***By this stage, the ‘full house’ signs had been hung and fans were packed on the grassy banks. Those who couldn’t buy tickets weren’t to be denied, sitting on the hills that sloped outside the fence and climbing trees for a better view. Others sat in the park by the bay, watching on the big screen, devoting the start of the long Australia Day weekend to the first standalone WBBL final.***Mooney was sweating. This wasn’t an unusual occurrence – her Queensland team-mates tease the native Victorian about her discomfort in hot weather – but this was different. The Heat had lost two wickets and they had just 14 runs on the board. Even more worryingly, they had lost two of their biggest hitters. Harris, talked up by Short as the player of her generation, had been sent back by Mooney after setting off for a single and, after slipping and twisting her knee awkwardly, was run out. In the following over, Johnson played across the line to Kapp and saw her stumps shattered.Mooney played the starring role in Heat’s win in the final•Getty ImagesMooney hadn’t had the best season by her high standards. A century two weeks earlier against Sydney Thunder stood out amid a succession of largely low or modest scores. It followed a World T20 in which she had played a support role to a rampant Healy at the top of the Australian order without stamping her own authority.Even worse, Mooney wasn’t well. She had been sick for the two weeks leading into the final, fighting off flu, and after standing behind the stumps for the Sixers innings, it was clearly getting worse. She had taken two catches, the second a screamer – anticipating Erin Burns’ reverse sweep she had moved to her right and dived full stretch to claim the ball.Now, as the innings wore on, she was struggling to stay on her feet. Her face gradually turned the colour of the opposition shirts as she found the gaps that had been non-existent when the Sixers were batting and hit over the top when they closed up.With increasing frequency, the medical staff ran on with water, with sports drinks, with scarves filled with ice. Mooney bludgeoned the ball and more ice, more water was run on and then a ventalin inhaler, to help her breathe. It wasn’t just heat from the sun bearing down, there was plenty of chirping from the opposition too, not least from Healy behind the stumps. Perry appeared unhappy with the time Mooney was taking between balls, down on her haunches, then dragging her frame upright as if through sheer will. But the chatter told her something; the Sixers were unhappy and that meant she was doing everything right.The nausea took over. Mooney and Short, forming a partnership that righted the chase after those early wickets, joked about where Mooney could puke that would make life uncomfortable for the fielders; maybe in the covers or behind the stumps where Healy was parked. Instead, she took anti-nausea medication and somehow kept it down.When she brought up her half-century with a leg-side nudge, she was too exhausted to raise her bat or acknowledge the moment. Instead, she dropped to her haunches once more, managing to raise her arm enough for a tepid fist-bump with Kirby.There are plenty of shots that Mooney played that were worthy of praise, from the audacious scoop off van Niekerk over the keeper’s head, or the powerful lofted drives, to the perfectly timed slash through point off Lauren Smith. But the one that summed up her innings came on the ball that followed Kirby’s dismissal by van Niekerk; sweeping the South African to deep square-leg, Mooney set off for the first run, turned and scampered back for a tight second. Jonassen had hesitated at the striker’s end but Mooney was having none of it. A player who could barely stand was sprinting on will alone.She was out two balls later, chipping the ball towards Perry, who ran in from the deep mid-wicket boundary to take a brilliant diving catch.Brisbane needed 30 off 31 balls. They got there in 27.The heat had almost defeated Mooney but, with every ounce of sweat and determination she possessed, Mooney took the Heat to victory.

Lakmal might not be a rockstar with the stereotypical fast bowler’s attitude, but his old-fashioned virtues have lately earned him rockstar returns

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Port Elizabeth22-Feb-2019″Knock him out so he falls on to the stumps.” This is Shane Bond’s fantasy cricket dismissal.”Can a plane take off without a run-up?” There’s Shoaib Akhtar bristling at being asked to shorten his run-up to improve over-rates.”This is my place. I will be back soon, to reclaim what is mine.” That one is Mohammad Asif, after being briefly losing his spot in the side.Fast bowlers all. With fast-bowling attitudes. Collars popped. Wind blowing through flowing hair. Chainsaw celebrations. Concentrated fury. Curtly, talking to no man. You need not be that quick. You could be 135kph, slinging swing-and-seam (James Anderson has one hell of a mouth). But if you are a fast bowler, this is your house. Here is where you live. In box-office, big-swinging, trash-talking, gaze-upon-me-and-tremble, hyper-macho land.Not our guy, though. Oh no. None of this for Suranga Lakmal. He is from a small town on the south coast of Sri Lanka – a region that is famously feisty. The town name, Debarawewa, literally means “lake of wasps”. And yet, in this guy rolls, from not quite 30 yards – an innocuous tumbling of over-long limbs, leading up to a stable landing, and an unremarkable action. Good wrist position? Check. Upright seam? Check. Hitting a good length? You bet. Menacing? Not really. Intimidating? Try again. Box office? Not a chance.When he beats the bat, even several times in the same over, he smiles. Not snarls. Not glares. He breaks out in a friendly half-grin, pivots, ambles back to his mark, and in he rolls again to prompt another waft from the batsman. Gives another smile in response. There has never been, across 57 Tests, a sustained attempt to be anything other than this. A genial operator.But on tours like this, when the team is looking to him at virtually every turn, when batsmen have given up yet another sizeable first-innings lead, and in this instance, when there are two inexperienced quicks to advise, Lakmal is far from unremarkable. He is not satisfied with inconspicuous returns.

There was not a ball that he delivered today that you would claim was unplayable. But there were plenty you could argue were barely playable. And that, really, is his speciality.

Lakmal might not be a rockstar, but he has lately got rockstar returns. A 5 for 54 in Christchurch, to reduce New Zealand to a first-innings score of 178. A 5 for 75 in the very next Test, at the Gabba. Then in Bridgetown, in June last year, there was a 3 for 25 in the second innings, as he led the effort to bowl out West Indies for 93, setting up a series-levelling victory at a venue at which no Asian side had ever previously won.In Port Elizabeth, where a certifiably insane second day has unfolded, Lakmal has led yet again with the ball, dismissing South Africa’s form-batsman Quinton de Kock to start, before beating more edges, smiling a lot, and wangling out the lower order with balls that jagged back in, on his way to figures of 4 for 39. There was not a ball that he delivered today that you would claim was unplayable. But there were plenty you could argue were barely playable. And that, really, is his speciality. That little bit of nibble – that is house. He will move it just enough, beat your shot, and then eventually, following a display of all the very lamest virtues – patience, perseverance, consistency – he will get you out.And then he will come to a press conference, and, in a barely audible voice, say things like this: “In this series, more than me the two young guys took wickets. They were superb. When they were taking wickets I had to keep things tight from other end. We are lacking three of our premier bowlers and Vishwa [Fernando] came along and did a great job. So did Kasun Rajitha. They didn’t look like newcomers. They even gave me some pointers.”A fast bowler, in the ninth year of his career, happily stating that two whippersnappers, playing their fifth and sixth Tests, were actually giving him solid advice.Suranga Lakmal rues a missed opportunity•Getty Images”Better Sri Lankan sides have come here and failed to bowl South Africa so cheaply,” Lakmal continued. “I bowled really well and I’m pleased. Today I was fortunate to get four wickets.”Why should we be surprised that this guy is almost completely ego-free? The last time Sri Lanka played South Africa, Lakmal didn’t bowl at all in the first innings at the SSC, and only delivered two overs in the second dig. Most quicks would be shooting daggers at their captain if they were doing him such an indignity, right? Imagine Dale Steyn, or James Anderson, or Glenn McGrath being told that they were completely unrequired in a first innings, no matter where it was. They would be demanding a bowl, and seething if they could not get their way.Except, in that series, the captain Lakmal would have had to harangue was actually himself. He kept himself out of the attack for almost an entire Test. He – the leader of the side – sat back, let the spinners go to work, and, as they were getting plenty of wickets, felt no strong temptation to bring himself on and get some cheap tail-end rewards.Many have watched him, and failed to be inspired. Plenty have noted his bowling average – hovering around 40 – and arrived at easy conclusions. But watch him in tough situations, such as the one that faced Sri Lanka in Port Elizabeth today. See him give his team a chance, away tour after away tour.There is no bluster. There is no aura. Only a wonderful player.

Forget the rules, just enjoy watching athletes smash balls out of the park, soar and dive to take catches, and live out some of the most dramatic stories in all of sport

Text by Dustin Silgardo and Illustrations by Ishita Mazumder29-May-2019

The game is more explosive than ever before

Have you heard cricket is slow? That a bunch of guys stand around on a field not doing much and then break for tea? Well, this is the new age of cricket, and the game is now all about sixes. That’s when the batsman hits the ball out of the field, like a home run, except you get six runs instead of one. Take that, baseball!ESPNcricinfo LtdSixes used to be a bit of a rarity in cricket, but these days, thanks to a bunch of changes in the game, they’re flying all over the place. And this World Cup is expected to be the World Cup of sixes.The best part about sixes: you can hit them anywhere and in all sorts of ways. You can switch from right-handed to left-handed mid-shot and hit one. You can play something called the ramp shot. You can get down on your knees and hit a six straight over your head, like this guy…Getty ImagesYou can even hit a six while falling over, like this…2:08

WATCH – What happened after Najibullah Zadran lost his footing?

There’s even something called a helicopter shot, which is when the batsman hires a private helicopter to swoop down as the bowler releases the ball and suck it into its vortex. Okay, it’s not. But it’s pretty bloody exciting. So tune in. You don’t even need to know the rules. It’s just fun watching players whack balls into the stands repeatedly.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Afghanistan

Afghanistan, that’s right, Afghanistan, a team from a country that hasn’t seen anything resembling peace in forty years, are playing at this World Cup. Get this, they’ve only had an official team since 2008, and it was born out of men seeking asylum from war, in Pakistan. And now they’re in the World Cup, for the second time.It’s not like they’ve got in on a sympathy ticket either. Just ten teams have qualified for this World Cup, so Afghanistan have had to beat much more established teams to get in. Have you heard a more romantic story in all of sport? Leicester City, meh. Jamie Vardy never fixed any toilets in refugee camps. So the Chicago Cubs won a World Series after 108 years. Just 30 years ago, the Taliban were insisting no one in Afghanistan play any sport since it might involve breaking the regime’s dress code.Afghanistan have one of the best bowlers in the world, they’ve got big hitters, they play with passion, and, win or lose, they’ll probably perform their famous Attan dance.If you’re not a soulless ghoul, then find out more about Afghanistan’s incredible story through this illustrated story.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

India v Pakistan

Every sport’s got rivalries. But there’s none quite like cricket’s India-Pakistan. The last time these two teams played in a World Cup, 500 million people tuned in to watch. The finale of Game of Thrones had just 19.3 million viewers. Do you really want to be 25 times less cool than people who don’t watch Game of Thrones?So why is this match such a big deal? These are two neighbouring countries that were basically one before 1947 but have since been in near-constant political conflict, and cricket is the biggest sport in both. Since 2013, tensions between the nations have increased, and the teams no longer play each other unless it’s at a world tournament. And the rarity of the derby match has only increased its popularity. The last two contests between these sides were at the Asia Cup last year in the UAE.Talk to any cricket fan about India-Pakistan and they’ll tell you about crazy matches that went all the way to the last ball, controversial moments that led to stadium riots, heated confrontations between players, ugly taunting by fans on both sides. But they’ll also tell you about touching moments involving fans from both sides of the border showing each other hospitality, and opposing fans putting aside the rivalry to show opposition players respect for incredible performances.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Cricketers actually look like athletes now

So one of the things that might have put non-cricket fans off cricket in the past was that a lot of them looked like this:ESPNcricinfo LtdNot that there’s anything wrong with looking like that, and some of those guys were incredible players, by the way, but if you’re used to a sport in which muscles bulge out of jerseys and where players celebrate by baring their chiselled eight-packs, you might have found cricket a little lacking in testosterone.All that’s changed. The modern cricketer looks more like this:ESPNcricinfo LtdAnd it’s not just about the looks. These guys run, jump, slide and dive like real top-level athletes. Watch this World Cup and you’ll see players flinging themselves into the sky to take catches, bowling with javelin-thrower actions, taking catches while nearly falling over the rope but somehow chucking the ball to a team-mate, diving full-length despite wearing a helmet and padding on their legs. Just look at the guy in the photo above. Tell us he couldn’t hit home runs, or tackle running backs, or fight in a cage.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

England might actually win at a sport they invented

So this cricket World Cup is being played in England. It’s an awesome country. Big Ben, London Bridge, One Direction. But when it comes to sport, England have sometimes been, how do we put this, a bit of a laughing stock. See, the country invented a lot of the sports that are played across the world today but have since proceeded to suck at quite a few of them. The last time they reached a big football final was more than 50 years ago, they’ve been overtaken in rugby by a country one-tenth their size, and, in tennis, they’ve been desperately trying to lay claim to a Scotsman just so they can say they have a Grand Slam winner in this century.In cricket, it’s been no different. England have never won a World Cup. They’ve lost three finals. And last time out, they didn’t even make it out of the group stage. But this time, England are actually the No.1 ranked team in the world and are favourites to win on home soil. Even more surprising, they’ve actually become the best by playing what some of them call a “F**k it” brand of cricket. No, seriously, one of their best players actually had that written on his bat during a game. Basically, they’re fearless. They try to hit sixes (remember how exciting those are?) and take risks. What a ride for the country, to watch a team go for the cup while actually playing attractively. They’ll probably mess it up in the end, but it should be a fun ride regardless.

They said the World Cup was too good for Sri Lanka, but Malinga and co. still flirted with it and then Leeds happened. Will it give Sri Lanka one more chance?

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Chester-le-Street28-Jun-2019Dearest 2019 World Cup,Right from the start people said this love could never be.They said Sri Lanka were losers, because we’d lost 18 ODIs and won only six in the past year. They said, you were too good for us. But when we saw you beneath that brooding English sky, sat proud upon that trophy stand, your gold paintjob shimmering amid the drizzle like moonlight scattered through mist, and how could we not dream of having you, World Cup? How could we not want to hold you tenderly in our arms? Or kiss your metallic curves? How could we not be filled with that primal urge spray you down with detergent and mount you in a glass box at the SLC offices, bringing you out to dust you from time to time?WATCH on Hotstar – Highlights of South Africa’s crushing win over Sri Lanka (India only)And oh how we flirted, World Cup. How we shared glances during that defence of 187 against Afghanistan. Prolonged looks during the early part of our chase of 335 against Australia, before our middle order went out and batted so slowly the scoreboard started to go into reverse.But Leeds was where it all happened for us, World Cup. Glorious, sublime, magnificent Leeds. The pulse still races to think of that thrilling afternoon together in that pale, pale Yorkshire sunlight. Have you ever known such passion? Wind blowing through curly blonde-tipped locks. Bails falling softly to the earth. The sounds of England surrendering their favourites tag, music in our ears. Sweaty, breathless, heart-thumping hours. Ecstasy. It was only a moment, but have you ever had such a moment?WATCH on Hotstar: Highlights of Sri Lanka’s nine-wicket loss to South Africa (US only)I suppose, if we were being rational we would have known that it wasn’t enough. We needed better batsmen. Our bowling was not dynamic enough. Our fielding was patchy. Maybe it is better that we accept the obvious conclusion: it’s not you, it’s us.Well, maybe it’s a little bit you. We don’t want to sound petty, but we can’t help but think how things could have been different if you had given us that hotel pool in Bristol. Yes, you will say that it rained so much there that the whole city was basically a pool for seven days. But other teams got the rain the pool. Other teams like Pakistan. Yes, we saw the way you stole glances at those ruffians even back then, World Cup. How could we not see it? How you shimmered and glinted and sparkled every time one of their fast bowlers scorched a trail through each damp English afternoon. India, Australia and England – even New Zealand – we could kind of understood. But if you could feel that way about Pakistan, why not us? Let’s not even get started on that upstart Bangladesh.There was also the team bus issue, of course. It’s been suggested that every team had pretty much the same bus. But you have to understand, World Cup, that some of our players require extra room and wear out the suspension, so it get a bit cramped and uncomfortable, and these things probably should have been taken into account.ALSO READ – Fernando: Uncle Lasith flames the haters to fire up Sri LankaWould things have worked out between us if we had abs?You know what? Don’t answer that.Maybe another time. Maybe another place. Maybe another set of selectors, a non-useless domestic system, administrators who are not slaves to board politics, a middle order that wasn’t allergic to rotating strike, spinners that actually spun the ball, some semblance of ODI form, an attack that didn’t rely on one bowler, and a coach who was actually allowed to do his job. Call us romantics, but if all that had gone right, we could have been beautiful together.Is there still a chance, do you think? Should we give it one, more try? We hear that if England lose both their games, and Pakistan and Bangladesh lose at least one, and we win both the last two matches, that there might just be… could there be? Should we dare to hope?One more chance, World Cup. Please. We can be better. We will be better. You’ll see. We’re on our knees.Whatever happens, though, we want you to know how much we will treasure every moment. No matter what, you’ll always be a part of us. We’ll always have… errr… Leeds.Yours forlornly,
Sri Lanka