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Sri Lanka fast bowling coach Champaka Ramanayake has said that the wicket at Pallekele didn’t help the bowlers as much as they had expected

Sa'adi Thawfeeq at Pallekele01-Dec-2010Sri Lanka fast bowling coach Champaka Ramanayake has said that the wicket at Pallekele, Test cricket’s newest venue, didn’t help the bowlers like they had expected. Chris Gayle was out lbw to the first ball of the match, but the home side managed only one other wicket in the 40 overs that were possible on yet another rain-shortened day.”We didn’t know anything about the wicket. There was some moisture and we thought we can capitalise on that. It didn’t seam that much. The first ball was a good one, but it didn’t seam or swing. We had a good start. We expected the wicket to do a lot, but it didn’t do as much as we expected.”Ramanayake also gave credit to Darren Bravo and Devon Smith, who added 115 for the second wicket in 32.1 overs, with Smith making 55 before Ajantha Mendis got him with the carrom ball. “[Darren] Bravo and [Devon] Smith batted well too. Test cricket is like that. You can’t expect to lose wickets every over or in every session. Sometimes you don’t get a wicket. There was only one spell where we didn’t bowl well, but I thought we had a good spell in the first session,”Sri Lanka were compelled to play Dilhara Fernando after Nuwan Kulasekara was ruled out with a side strain. An MRI scan revealed a small tear and team management felt it was better not to play him, though he is expected to be fit for the ODIs. Fernando wound up having both Smith and Darren dropped off his bowling, and ended the day wicketless.Ramanayake said they made the decision to go with Fernando because they didn’t want to risk another inexperienced bowler in the side, with Suranga Lakmal playing in just his second Test. “We expected Dilhara to get a few wickets. We had only 40 overs and still he can come back and take wickets. He struggled in the first spell with his run up, but he was getting better as he bowled more overs. The first few overs I felt the same. He was unfortunate not to pick up a few wickets.”It would have been a different game had those two catches been taken. I still feel he can deliver and he can bowl well tomorrow. They would have been three or four down by the end of the day. I feel if we can get one or two wickets early, we can wrap them up. From No.1 to No.4 they have some good batsmen, but from thereon we can pick up wickets. Had we got one more wicket, it would have been ideal.”

Everton are reportedly closing in on the signing of highly-rated Crusaders youngster Jack Patterson, according to the Liverpool Echo. 

The lowdown: An Irish connection

The Blues have developed somewhat of a penchant for signing talented Irish youngsters as Patterson prepares to follow Ballymena United goalkeeper Dylan Graham in making the switch to Goodison Park.

Having made a senior professional debut aged just 15, the now 16-year-old has made four appearances for the NIFL Premiership outfit, amassing 155 minutes in the process.

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Despite his tender years, Patterson could already be preparing to make a huge transfer move…

The latest: Deal ‘expected’

As per a source for the Liverpool Echo, Everton are now ‘expected’ to sign the three-cap Northern Ireland youth international.

It’s claimed that the deal was put in place with Rafa Benitez at the helm while there was no director of football at the club.

The report states that defensive midfielder Patterson, who was described as a ‘baller’ by teammate Johnny Black, is ‘set to make the move’ to Merseyside as the Toffees ‘intensify their academy scouting efforts’ moving forwards.

The verdict: Smart business

Whilst many of the Blues faithful will be crying out for first-team reinforcements to bolster Frank Lampard’s squad, a need to sign talented youngsters with one eye on the future cannot be forgone.

Recently Everton have seen the fruits of their academy labours come to the fore as Anthony Gordon, Jarrad Branthwaite and Lewis Dobbin have all made some impact for the senior side.

If the Blues are going to compete in the upper reaches of the Premier League in years to come, developing from within will be crucial, and hopefully, Patterson is one who will be starring in Blue down the line.

In other news, find out who has now been talked about as a potential Frank Lampard replacement here!

Leeds United have been dealt a fresh setback ahead of their upcoming Premier League meeting with Arsenal this Sunday.

What’s the latest?

Speaking after Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over West Ham United on Sunday afternoon (via the Evening Standard), Mikel Arteta revealed that Ben White, who missed the fixture due to a hamstring injury sustained in the 3-1 win over Manchester United a week prior, could be in line to make a return to action against Leeds this weekend – with the centre-back’s predicted return date being May 8.

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Regarding the defender’s absence against the Hammers, the Arsenal manager said: “Ben got injured against Manchester United, he felt a muscular problem and we checked him, and we will have to assess him in the next few days to see how he is.”

Marsch will be livid

Considering Leeds’ mounting injury concerns of their own – with Stuart Dallas being ruled out for the season after fracturing his kneecap in the 4-0 defeat to Manchester City, as well as Liam Cooper missing the game after sustaining his own knee injury in the warmup to the fixture – the news that Arsenal could be boosted by the return of White ahead of Sunday’s clash is sure to have left Jesse Marsch livid.

Indeed, following his £50m move to The Emirates last summer, the 24-year-old has highly impressed over his 31 Premier League appearances, helping Arsenal keep 13 clean sheets, in addition to making an average of 1.4 interceptions, 1.4 tackles, 3.1 clearances and winning 4.4 duels – at a success rate of 59% – per game.

These returns have seen the £120k-per-week defender average a very respectable SofaScore match rating of 6.94, ranking him as Arteta’s joint tenth-best player in the top flight of English football.

As such, it is clear to see just how important a player the £36m-rated England international is within the Arsenal defence, with the former Leeds loanee’s potential return ahead of Sunday’s meeting sure to come as a huge blow to the Whites’ chances of leaving north London with all three points.

And, following Everton’s 1-0 win over Chelsea last weekend – a result that saw the 18th placed Toffees climb to within two points of Leeds – Marsch’s side will be looking for any marginal gains they could possibly take advantage of ahead of their trip to the capital, something which White’s potential return is certainly not.

AND in other news: Huge update emerges on big-money summer deal, Leeds supporters will be devastated

Ashish Bagai will lead a young 15-member Canadian squad for the 2011 World Cup, and Rizwan Cheema will be his deputy

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2011Ashish Bagai will lead a young Canadian squad to the 2011 World Cup, and Rizwan Cheema will be his deputy. Apart from Bagai, seamer Henry Osinde and allrounder John Davison are the two other players in the side with prior World Cup experience.Canada have four Pakistan-born players in their squad who are still waiting to receive visas to enter India, where Canada play four of their six group games. Batsman Rizwan Cheema, allrounder Umar Bhatti, paceman Khurram Chohan and back-up keeper Hamza Tariq were all ruled out of Canada’s recent pre-tournament warm-up in India because they couldn’t enter the country, but have been named in the World Cup squad.The team features seven players who have come through Canada’s youth programs, including six who have represented the country at the under-19 level – Zubin Surkari, Nitish Kumar, Hiral Patel, Ruvindu Gunaskera, Parth Desai, and Hamza Tariq.The Jamaica-born Tyson Gordon has been picked, though he still awaits confirmation of his Canadian citizenship. Cricket Canada expect this to be completed in the coming days but have named Hamza Tariq as a standby in case Gordon cannot make the cut.The team leaves for a pre-tournament training camp in Dubai on January 26 and will head to Bangladesh on February 8 for warm-up matches against Bangladesh and England, before opening their tournament on February 20 against Sri Lanka.Squad: Ashish Bagai (capt & wk), Rizwan Cheema (vice-capt), Harvir Baidwan, Nitish Kumar, Hiral Patel, Tyson Gordon, Henry Osinde, John Davison, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Parth Desai, Karl Whatham, Khurram Chohan, Jimmy Hansra, Zubin Surkari, Balaji Rao.Standby: Hamza Tariq (for Tyson Gordon)

An all-round performance from Australia women carried them to a close three-run win over New Zealand women at Queen’s Park in Invercargill

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Feb-2011An all-round performance from Australia women carried them to a close three-run win over New Zealand women at Queen’s Park in Invercargill. The win helped Australia draw the five-match series 2-2, after the first game was abandoned.Australia decided bat and openers Meg Lanning and Leah Poulton started rapidly adding, 21 within the first three overs before Lanning was bowled by Sian Ruck. Poulton, however, looked in fine touch as she and Shelley Nitschke (13) put on 38 runs in quick time. Poulton hit three fours and three sixes in a 31-ball 50. She, was dismissed with the score on 96, but Alex Blackwell and Jess Cameron didn’t let the momentum slip as the duo put on 23 in just over 3 overs to take Australia to 3 for 119. However Suzie Bates, struck in the 16th over to dismiss Blackwell and though Cameron and Rachel Haynes blasted 22 runs in one over, Australia lost their way as they stumbled from 3 for 119 to 9 for 166 off their allotted overs, with Bates picking up four wickets.New Zealand started steadily and at 2 for 96 in the 13th over with Amy Satterthwaite and Sara McGlashan looking set, it looked like the chase was under control. However Nietschke dismissed Satterthwaite (40) in the 13th over, and McGlashan, who starred in New Zealand’s win in the fourth Twenty20 game, fell in the next over for 31. Liz Perry and Nicola Browne steadied the innings with a 51-run partnership in 34 balls and once again it looked like New Zealand were back on track for a comfortable victory. Medium-pacer Clea Smith, who bowled, the final over, dismissed Brown off the second ball of the over. New Zealand needed seven runs off four balls, but Smith held her nerve as Sarah Tsukigawa fell on the fourth ball of the over, failing to score a run. Katey martin was run out off the final ball of the over as New Zealand fell four runs short of their target to hand Australia a series-levelling victory.

Netherlands captain Peter Borren and allrounder Wesley Barresi have been given full-time contracts by the Dutch board for 2011

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2011Netherlands captain Peter Borren and allrounder Wesley Barresi have been given full-time contracts by the Dutch board for 2011. Another 16 players are on incremental deals as Netherlands prepare for a busy year which has started with the current World Cup and includes qualifying for the next global T20 event.Borren, 27, is set to lead Netherlands against England in their opening World Cup match on Tuesday while Barresi is a highly-rated top-order batsman. Netherlands’ professional players – Ryan ten Doeschate, Tom Cooper and Alexi Kervezee – have been offered joint-professional contracts alongside their county and state deals.Tim Gruijters, the 19-year-old allrounder, will be added to the incremental list once he completes his recovery from a back injury while seam bowler Ruud Nijman, another injured player, has decided to take time away from international cricket to recover.”On the eve of such a big series of matches in the World Cup and the forthcoming summer season we are delighted that all of the players are secured for the 2011programme of World Cup, CB40 matches and other international cricket,” Richard Cox, the Dutch CEO, said. “There is a lot of ongoing speculation at present as to the future format of cricket for the Associate members and the number of incremental contracts represents our commitment to the programme in this interim period.”

Shakib Al Hasan couldn’t keep his emotion in check after it was all over. He and his side have been through a lot over the last week

Sidharth Monga in Chittagong11-Mar-2011Shakib Al Hasan couldn’t keep his emotion in check after it was all over. He and his side have been through a lot over the last week, and they desperately needed a win. The fashion that desperately needed win came in, following twists and turns every step of the way, would have left the toughest of men exhausted, and Shakib is not one of the best at hiding his feelings, be it about his critics or underperforming or unfit players. Or be it after a special win.”It’s not a normal win,” Shakib said. “Obviously if you look at the situation, and the whole scenario of Bangladesh, it is a huge victory for us. And for the whole nation I think. Not really [an emotional win], although I became a little bit emotional at one stage. Some of the boys showed their character, how tough they are, how hard they can work. So that paid off.”It started with all their bowlers coming together and putting on a special show to restrict England to 225. Then the batsmen cut out the mistakes of the past, put their heads down, and didn’t go for the easy option of playing flashy shots camouflaged as an attempt to counterattack. Shakib said they have been trying to bring that element into their game without really losing out on the intent. “We knew that if we have to win games, we have to score runs, so we are always score runs. Yes, you can say that we are a bit more careful in our shot selection.”Emotion filled the stadium after Bangladesh secured their narrow victory•Getty ImagesYet England came back superbly with some excellent bowling in the middle overs to leave Bangladesh 169 for 8. Some poor running from Bangladesh didn’t help, either, and Shakib sees room for improvement. “At one stage, when me and Imrul [Kayes, Man of the Match for his 60] were batting, I thought we were going really well,” he said. “There were some silly mistakes, like the two run-outs that could have cost us the game. My wicket was crucial too. It wasn’t the time to play that shot. Hopefully we will learn from those mistakes. One thing we can learn is, whoever gets in should score big runs. Not 30s and 40s.”That said, Shakib admitted to having given up hope even though Mahmudullah and Shafiul Islam hadn’t. “I thought we had lost the game,” Shakib said. “When Riyad hit the winning shot, I still couldn’t believe we had won the game. It took me some time to realise that, yes, we had won. I was lying down on the physio bed and watching the game. I Was having a chat with Tamim [Iqbal] and [Abdur] Razzak how badly we all played. We were just discussing our game, and having a chat.”Shakib added the win reiterated his belief in the team, and that the positive noises before the game came out of genuine confidence in the side’s ability of coming back. “Yes, I always have the belief in my team,” he said. “We have really good guys who are honest about their work, they can work really hard, day in, day out. If you have a bunch of guys like we have, we will always have the belief we can come back from any situation.”

Essex were left with a daunting victory target of 360 to beat Glamorgan at Chelmsford and record their first Championship success of the season

29-Apr-2011
ScorecardEssex were left with a daunting victory target of 360 to beat Glamorgan at Chelmsford and record their first Championship success of the season.Much is likely to depend on Alastair Cook who reached the close on 23 in a response of 34 for one after Billy Godleman had been dismissed without a run on the board.Glamorgan had earlier totalled 335 in their second innings, thanks largely to consistent rather than spectacular batting, with nine players registering double figures. Mark Wallace was the main contributor, hitting a fluent 82 from 96 deliveries before he was last out driving David Masters to long on with the bowler finishing with 5 for 73.Wallace’s effort included two sixes and six fours, after opener Gareth Rees had struck a resolute 54 from 125 balls. Rees was trapped leg before by slow left-arm spinner Tim Phillips, who also removed William Bragg for 48 and Michael Powell for 33 on his way to figures of 4 for 97.The fast bowler beat the bat on a few occasions without reward and also saw Lonwabo Tsotsobe put down a simple catch at mid-on offered by Powell. Tsotsobe’s disappointing day was compounded by him sending down 16 overs without reward while conceding 57 runs, and many of those deliveries the batsman allowed to go harmlessly by.When they embarked upon their stiff task, James Harris removed Godleman with the fifth delivery of the innings, pinning the left-hander in front of his stumps to gain and lbw decision.But Cook refused to let that early setback disturb him, and three times found the boundary with confident strokes at the expense of Adam Shantry. But on a couple of occasions he was beaten by the impressive Harris. However, he and Jaik Mickleburgh survived until the close.Glamorgan, however, go into the final day as favourites, even though they will be without the services of Huw Waters, one of their strike bowlers. He is suffering from back trouble and will not bowl again in the match.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, the Sri Lanka captain, has been ruled out of the third Test at the Rose Bowl because of his fractured thumb

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2011Tillakaratne Dilshan, the Sri Lanka captain, has been ruled out of the third Test at the Rose Bowl because of his fractured right thumb.Dilshan sustained the injury during the Lord’s Test, where he made 193 in the first innings but was unable to take the field during England’s innings and didn’t bat a second time for Sri Lanka.Kumar Sangakkara, who resigned from the captaincy after the World Cup, led the side in his absence and could do so again at the Rose Bowl but batsman Thilan Samaraweera is also a candidate after captaining the side in the recent tour game against Essex.Sri Lanka’s manager Anura Tennekoon said: “The main reason we’ve kept him [Dilshan] out of this Test match is that, had he played and got another blow while fielding on that thumb, he might have been out for the rest of the tour. So as a precautionary measure, we have kept him out.”James Anderson, who is set to return from injury for England, knows how key Dilshan was to Sri Lanka. “It’s going to be a huge blow for them because he is a key player, their captain, but whoever comes in is going to be a quality player and we’ve got to prepare for that.”Lahiru Thirimanne, the 21-year-old left-hand opener, is expected to replace Dilshan after impressing with a century against Essex.

Auckland Cricket is lobbying hard for Test cricket to return to Eden Park after having not had a Test match there since 2006

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-2011Auckland Cricket is lobbying hard for Test cricket to return to Eden Park after having not had a Test match there since 2006. Auckland Cricket chief executive Andre Eade said he hoped New Zealand Cricket would change or make an exception to their policy of playing Test cricket at smaller, boutique grounds.Auckland’s domestic side will return to Eden Park outer oval at the start of the 2012-13 season, after having shifted to Colin Maiden Park in 2006 because the whole of Eden Park was undergoing renovation before the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Auckland Cricket were hoping to make the outer oval a Test venue but after the Eden Park Trust Board said they did not think it was financially viable to bring it up to Test standards, Auckland Cricket are now hoping to see Tests return to the main Eden Park ground.”Now we are coming back to the outer oval and Eden Park has indicated it can’t develop it in the immediate future, our position becomes simpler,” Eade told the . “We don’t think it’s satisfactory for Auckland not to have Test cricket. So there’s no alternative but for NZC to reconsider its policy, or grant an exemption to its policy.”We’re lobbying very hard – for commercial and population-basis reasons – that it is wrong there aren’t any Tests here.”After 2006-07, NZC decided to shift Tests away from traditional, larger venues like Eden Park, which has hosted 47 Tests, and the AMI stadium in Christchurch, which has hosted 40, to smaller stadiums as they felt crowds for Test cricket weren’t substantial enough to fill the bigger grounds. NZC chief Justin Vaughan said they still believed smaller grounds were more suited to Test cricket but they were mindful that New Zealand’s two biggest cities hadn’t hosted a Test in over four years.”The board has committed to reviewing the policy on international matches in the next few months,” Vaughan said. “We believe hosting Tests at boutique grounds is the best way to present Test cricket with its size and environs, but we’re also very mindful that we don’t have a Test venue in the two biggest cities in New Zealand.”