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Back-to-back Cardiff matches a stern test of leadership and a gauge of where SL are as a T20 side

Andrew Fidel Fernando22-Jun-2021

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Since the start of 2019, England have won 16 T20 internationals to the eight they have lost. In the same period, Sri Lanka have lost 14, winning just five. England are the top-ranked T20I side, while Sri Lanka are eighth. And while England had been runners-up at the most-recent T20 world event, Sri Lanka are required to qualify for the main draw of the next major tournament. There would, in short, seem to be a gulf between these teams.Partly this is down to leadership. Eoin Morgan has been England’s most successful white-ball captain, and has done the job since 2015. Although Sri Lanka won the World T20 in 2014, they have rifled through leaders in the last five years, with Dinesh Chandimal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Upul Tharanga, Thisara Perera (none of whom are even in this current squad), and Dasun Shanaka having led. Now they line up behind Kusal Perera, who is the only surviving member of that World T20 champion side.Although he has not been consistently impressive himself in the past few years, he has a daunting assignment ahead of him now. The back-to-back matches at Cardiff will not only be a stern test of his leadership, but an indication of where Sri Lanka are as a T20 side. A full-strength Sri Lanka side has not played since before the pandemic.Related

• Umpire Sue Redfern to become first woman to officiate in an England men's home international

• Perera presses on Sri Lanka's 'fearless' brand of cricket again, before England T20Is

• Eoin Morgan defends rest-and-rotation policy ahead of T20Is against Sri Lanka

• Jofra Archer's absence tests England's seam-bowling bench strength with eye on T20 World Cup

England narrowly lost their last T20I series, going down 3-2 to India, but it’s unlikely they begin this series with serious trepidation. This is despite the fact they do not have Jofra Archer (who was their top wicket-taker in India) or Ben Stokes, due to injury. On top of everything else, many of their cricketers have also been primed in the T20 Blast, while Sri Lanka have merely had a couple of low-key intra-squad games. Such is the volatility Sri Lanka bring, they cannot be ruled out altogether. But if they are to make a fist of this series, they will have to spring a series of surprises.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)England LLWLWSri Lanka LWLLL

In the spotlight

Not only was Jos Buttler England’s highest run-scorer in the series in India, he also has a spectacular record against Sri Lanka, striking at 158 and averaging 47 in six innings against them. Although his Blast form for Lancashire has been somewhat patchy, he had had an excellent finish to the (curtailed) IPL, where he had hit 124 off 64 in early May. Sri Lanka’s inexperienced attack will be especially wary.Kusal Perera, meanwhile, has a spectacularly poor T20 record against England, striking at 84 and averaging less than 10. He has also not played the format in over a year – his last T20 international having been in March 2020. Although there are several players vying for positions at the top of the order, Perera has said he will either open the batting, or come in at No. 3. This is a captaincy that is yet to really earn its stripes. Runs in this series will immeasurably assist his leadership.

Pitch and conditions

Cardiff is the second lowest-scoring ground in the T20 Blast this season, with an average of 7.59 runs an over, and is one of the few English grounds where spinners are more expensive than seamers in T20. The weather is expected to be good, though the temperatures are forecast to dip to the mid teens.

Team news

Morgan has said that both Bairstow (who is recovering from an ankle injury) and Dawid Malan (who’s coming back from an achilles complaint) are both available. Moeen Ali will likely be the allrounder in place of Stokes.England (possible): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Sam Curran, 8 David Willey/Chris Woakes, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark WoodAvishka Fernando’s return (he had been left out of the two previous series due to poor fitness) will strengthen the top three. There is some competition for middle-order spots, however, with Dhananjaya de Silva, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, and Oshada Fernando all vying for places.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Danushka Gunathilaka, 2 Avishka Fernando, 3 Kusal Perera (capt/wk), 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Oshada Fernando, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Isuru Udana, 10 Dushmantha Chameera, 11 Nuwan Pradeep

Stats and trivia

• England have won each of the six T20 internationals played at Sophia Gardens.
• Sri Lanka have lost their last three T20 internationals against England. Their last victory was back in 2014, at The Oval.
• Dawid Malan has 1003 T20 international runs. He was the fastest to 1000 runs, making the milestone in 24 innings to beat Babar Azam, who got their in 26 innings.

  Quotes

  “I think Moeen was unlucky not to play in India. The pitches that we played on didn’t turn at all in that series so actually a second spinner wasn’t the best option. We have to look at the balance of the side but you have to be a very, very good side to go in with only five bowlers and no allrounder.”
  England captain Eoin Morgan suggests Moeen will take Stokes’ place in the XI“It’s important to give our top-order batters consistent places in the team, so they know how to score runs in those positions.”
  Sri Lanka captain Kusal Perera suggests his team’s top order could do with some faith through the series.

England recover from rusty batting display and hosts’ bright start to run chase to seal victory

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2020England overcame several scares in their first game back in sky blue since the World Cup final to beat an inexperienced Cricket South Africa Invitation XI by 77 runs as they warmed up for next week’s ODI series in Paarl.Jason Roy struck a fluent 104 as he continued his comeback from a shoulder injury, but there was precious little else for England’s batsmen to shout about as they were bowled out for 240 in 44.1 overs.And it looked as though they were set for a humbling defeat when Jacques Snyman started positively in the run chase, taking them to 91 for 1 after 17.3 overs, but after Matt Parkinson and Tom Curran made breakthroughs, the hosts’ raw middle order was exposed, with a collapse of nine for 72 handing England the win.Despite the low-key nature of the contest, Roy admitted to having been a bit “giddy” at the prospect of getting back on the field with England, having been rested for the tour of New Zealand before Christmas before picking up a shoulder injury at the Mzanzi Super League.”It was nice to get the shirt back on,” he said. “I was pretty giddy getting on the plane back home to come out here. Obviously I haven’t represented England for a while now so it’s quite nice to get going.”Playing a warm-up game in Paarl when the last game you played was in the World Cup final is quite difficult but we’ve got to build foundations again going forward for the next few years.”[The World Cup win] is a memory that we can keep close to us, but we’ve got to move forward and work hard for the next four years now until the next World Cup.”After winning the toss and choosing to bat, England made a disastrous start as they slumped to 16 for 3 after 19 balls. In a passage that must have reminded the tourists’ supporters of several games more than a decade ago, a fast bowler named S Tait struck early – though this time it was the left-armer Stephan, as opposed to Australia’s Shaun – trapping Jonny Bairstow lbw and having Joe Root caught down the leg side first ball. Eoin Morgan then chopped on, shaping to cut Imran Manack’s offspin, to leave the tourists in trouble.Joe Denly, in an unfamiliar role at No. 5, steadied the ship with 29, but he and Tom Banton fell to Smangaliso Nhlebela’s left-arm spin in quick succession to leave England five wickets down with only 109 on the board. Part-timer Andile Mokgakane bowled Sam Curran, but Roy began to find some rhythm, shifting through the gears to reach a 94-ball hundred as he added fifty for the seventh wicket alongside Chris Woakes.Woakes continued to tick over with Tom Curran and Chris Jordan, but the wickets continued to fall as England eventually limped up to 240, Matt Parkinson the last man out with 35 balls unused.In response, Snyman, a top-order batsman from Pretoria, started aggressively despite the early loss of Kabelo Sekhukhune, who was bowled by Sam Curran. He struck Woakes for six, before taking 14 from a Curran over, while No. 3 Jean du Plessis struck a couple of boundaries to leave the CSA XI 58 for 1 after ten overs of the chase.But the introduction of dual spin in the form of Adil Rashid and Parkinson stemmed the flow of runs, as du Plessis was stumped off a wide and Jesse Christensen was clean bowled. Snyman’s scoring dried up, as he added only one boundary after the Powerplay, and was eventually trapped in front by Tom Curran.Curran also removed the team’s senior player in Qaasim Adams, the 35-year-old Western Province batsman, before a run-out, and two wickets apiece for Woakes and Jordan sealed England’s win.One mitigating factor in England’s wobbly display with the bat was a two-hour power-cut, due to load-shedding, that hit the ground midway through the first innings. It left Roy unsure of how to pace England’s innings, and also caught him unawares at the moment he reached his century.”I thought the umpire stitched me up, to be honest!” he said. “Everyone started clapping and I didn’t have a feeling because I didn’t get clapped for my fifty or anything.”I could only assume it was for my hundred so I raised my bat. He said ‘are you sure they are not clapping the team’s 150?’ I said ‘I bloody hope not’, as I would have looked like a bit of a muppet.””It was frustrating without [the scoreboard] but more with the team score because you don’t know where you are after 10, 15 or 20 overs. It is annoying especially when you get to the 30-over mark. You like to know where you are at that point.”

Netherlands will play a T20I quadrangular series in Oman from 8 to 18 February next year before travelling to India to play a number of first-class sides

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Dec-2018Netherlands have included uncapped offspinner Leon Turmaine and seamer Sebastiaan Braat in their squad for their tour of India in February-March next year. Netherlands will play a T20I quadrangular series, involving Oman, Ireland, and Scotland in Oman, from 8 to 18 February before travelling to India to play a number of first-class sides.

Squads

For Oman tour: Pieter Seelaar (capt), Wesley Barresi, Ben Cooper, Ryan ten Doeschate, Scott Edwards, Timm van der Gugten, Fred Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren, Stephan Myburgh, Max O’Dowd, Shane Snater, Roelof van der Merwe, Tobias Visée, Sikander Zulfiqar
For India tour: Pieter Seelaar (capt), Wesley Barresi, Sebastiaan Braat, Ben Cooper, Bas de Leede, Scott Edwards, Vivian Kingma, Stephan Myburgh, Max O’Dowd, Hidde Overdijk, Leon Turmaine, Tobias Visée, Saqib Zulfiqar, Sikander Zulfiqar

County players Ryan ten Doeschate, Paul van Meekeren, Roelof van der Merwe and Timm van der Gugten were all named in the T20I squad for the Oman tour, while Michael Rippon and Logan van Beek, who represent Otago and Wellington respectively in New Zealand’s domestic circuit, were left out.The decision is likely to have resulted from a scheduling clash with the Plunket Shield, New Zealand’s premier first-class competition, which is slated to run until March 20. While Rippon had played two ODIs for Netherlands, against Nepal, in August this year, van Beek hasn’t represented Netherlands in two years, having last played in a T20I against Bangladesh in the 2016 World T20.However, Netherlands will be bolstered by the presence of the county quartet, each of whom is seasoned in the limited-overs formats.None among ten Doeschate, van Meekeren, van der Merwe, van der Gugten, van Beek and Rippon was selected for the India tour, though. Travelling alongside the Braat-Turmaine duo are Hidde Overdjik (1 T20I), Saqib Zulfiqar (2 T20Is), and Sikander Zulfiqar (5 T20Is). Left-arm spinner Pieter Seelaar will captain both squads.In preparation for the twin assignments, a number of players will travel to La Manga in Spain for a training camp in January 2019.

Having established a massive first-innings lead, Karnataka pummeled UP with the bat again, as their openers played out an unbroken 262-run partnership

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Nov-2017R Samarth and Mayank Agarwal struck centuries on the final day, as a drawn game against Uttar Pradesh ensured Karnataka‘s place in the knockouts on the basis of first-innings points. The Karnataka openers put up an unbroken stand of 262, after their bowlers had established up a first-innings lead of 324. The three points they earned put them at the top of the Group A table with 26 points; with Delhi on 23, the massive lead the two teams have in points have ensured their passage to the knockouts.UP’s response to Karnataka’s mammoth 655 had floundered on the third day itself, as they lost five wickets by stumps. The overnight pair of Rinku Singh and wicketkeeper Upendra Yadav couldn’t go on to build a big partnership, with Rinku dismissed in the fifth over of the day for 73. Left to bat with the tail, Upendra stitched a useful ninth-wicket partnership of 40 with Ankit Rajpoot (19) to lift Uttar Pradesh over 300. Upendra was eventually unbeaten on 49, with UP dismissed for 331.Karnataka then put up another dominating show with the bat. Dismissed for 16 in the first innings, Samarth capitalized on the opportunity to bring up his third century of this Ranji season. His 126 came off 183 balls with 11 fours and two sixes. At the other end, Agarwal scored his third century in as many games, pairing a 90 in the first innings with 133 off 171 balls. The pair scored at close to 4.5 runs an over.Ambati Rayudu’s unbeaten 52 anchored Hyderabad‘s chase of 142 in their four-wicket win over Assam in Guwahati.Assam’s seamers, Arup Das and Rajjakuddin Ahmed had lifted the side’s hopes of defending a small total by rooting out Hyderabad’s top order for 18 within the first seven overs. Sixteen-year-old legspinner Riyan Parag’s two wickets then reduced Hyderabad to 69 for 5 before Rayudu and Akash Bhandari comfortably secured the win.Earlier, Assam had resumed their second innings from 300 for 7, and the overnight batsman Amit Sinha went on to complete his second first-class century. However, the lack of partners at the other end meant that Sinha could help Assam add only 31 runs to their overnight total.

Six members of India’s last Test squad will be part of the teams that meet in the Duleep Trophy final from September 10 to 14 in Greater Noida

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Sep-2016Six members of India’s last Test squad will be part of the teams that meet in the Duleep Trophy final from September 10 to 14 in Greater Noida. Apart from Cheteshwar Pujara, who is already part of the India Blue side, the selectors have included Shikhar Dhawan, Stuart Binny and Amit Mishra in the India Red squad and Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja in the India Blue squad.Both teams reached the final after victories – on the basis of first-innings lead, in India Blue’s case – over India Green in the round-robin stage. The match between India Red and India Blue was drawn, with only 78.2 overs possible over four rain-hit days.The selection will serve two important purposes for the Test players – it will provide them match practice with the home series against New Zealand starting on September 22, and also allow them to provide the BCCI feedback after playing with the pink ball under floodlights.India Red: Abhinav Mukund, Shikhar Dhawan, Sudip Chatterjee, Gurkeerat Singh, Yuvraj Singh (capt), Ankush Bains (wk), Stuart Binny, Akshay Wakhare, Kuldeep Yadav, Amit Mishra, Nathu Singh, Anureet Singh, Ishwar Pandey, Nitish Rana, Pradeep SangwanIndia Blue: Gautam Gambhir (capt), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Siddhesh Lad, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Parvez Rasool, Suryakumar Yadav, Karn Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohit Sharma, Pankaj Singh, Abhimanyu Mithun, Sheldon Jackson, Hanuma Vihari

Trevor Barber, the New Zealand batsman who played one Test match at the Basin Reserve in 1956, has died in Christchurch at the age of 90

Brydon Coverdale10-Aug-2015Trevor Barber, the New Zealand batsman who played one Test match at the Basin Reserve in 1956, has died in Christchurch at the age of 90. Barber had been New Zealand’s oldest living Test cricketer; the oldest now is his former Wellington team-mate and the man who captained Barber in his only Test match, the 87-year-old John Reid.A dashing batsman who liked playing his shots, Barber was called up for the third Test against West Indies in 1956 when Bert Sutcliffe was unavailable due to ill-health. West Indies batted first and Barber had the distinction of catching out Garry Sobers while fielding at gully, in what was the first wicket of the match.”It was going past and I threw the hands up – I was a bit of a show-off,” Barber told ESPNcricinfo earlier this year. “John Reid was bowling and he said ‘that’s a nice way to start your career’.”However, with the bat he was unable to have a great enough impact to retain his place in the side, and was out to Sonny Ramadhin in both innings, for 12 and 5. Barber’s attacking approach to batting would perhaps have suited the modern game, but against West Indies it brought his downfall in both innings of his Test match.”Today I might have got away with it,” Barber said. “But I went for sweeps to the leg side off short balls in both innings. My understanding as a captain and also as a batsman was that the first thing you’d do when you go out there is dominate the bowlers. Don’t let the bowlers get on top of you. Get behind the line of flight, bat straight, and when they bowl one off the wicket, give it a go. I did that and I got bloody caught at square leg.”Barber was 30 at the time of his Test appearance, and was captain of Wellington in the Plunket Shield competition. His first-class career began in 1945-46 and finished in 1959-60, but it brought him only one century, and 2002 runs at an average of 23.01. Contemporary reports described him as “a swashbuckler” who, especially early in his career, was more concerned with the joy of batsmanship than playing long innings.”A cricketer more of the pre-war era always on the lookout to thrash the bowling with off-drives, lofted shots to the boundary, pulls to square-leg and square-cuts which often caused fieldsmen to wince when trying to stop them, Barber was always scoring runs attractively, but also losing his wicket rather easily,” a article said in 1957.Barber captained Wellington to the Plunket Shield title in 1956-57 and also led Central Districts later in his career. A part-time wicketkeeper who enjoyed assessing a batsman’s weaknesses, Barber said captaincy was one of the parts of the game he found most satisfying.”It’s lovely to have some control of the game, and also the players,” he said. “I used to have quite a number of discussions with the players before we’d go out and play. I’d say this player has a weakness here, I want you Bob Blair to bowl on a length just outside his leg stumps, and I reckon we can get him.”I always remember on one occasion down at Dunedin, I said to John Reid, who was bowling to Sutcliffe, I said ‘I think he’s got a weakness on the leg glance, I’m going to field at leg gully and you bowl down leg’. We got him for a duck! It’s those little things.”Born in Otaki in 1925, Barber was raised on a dairy farm and learnt the game from his father.”I remember in the backyard he used to put out a kerosene tin,” he said. “I used to have a bat and he’d throw the ball to me. He’d say ‘go on, hit it over my head’. He made me very keen.”After his playing career ended, Barber worked with the Shell oil company and was responsible for its sponsorship of sporting events including the New Zealand Golf Open and the domestic cricket competition, which became known as the Shell Trophy. It continued a lifelong love of cricket.”I still follow it with interest,” Barber said earlier this year. “It’s just amazing how much the game has changed from my time. We only played Test cricket and Plunket Shield. Now there’s T20 and 50-over, it’s bash and slash. It might have suited me. When you see blokes like McCullum and Williamson doing so well, it’s marvellous.”

The New Zealand coach, Mike Hesson, is under no illusions how brittle his Test side remains but has been buoyed by the one-day series victory against South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2013The New Zealand coach, Mike Hesson, is under no illusions how brittle his Test side remains but has been buoyed by the one-day series victory against South Africa.New Zealand were humbled by an innings in both Tests on the tour, which included being bowled out for 45 in Cape Town, before turning their fortunes around with one-day success and they came within a whisker of a whitewash only to lose the final ODI off the last ball.”In Test cricket, we’ve still got a long way to go,” Hesson admitted on his return to New Zealand. “We’re a long way off the pace in Test cricket, we have to acknowledge that, and we know we have a lot of work to do.”Achieving one-day silverware went against recent form for New Zealand who had slipped to ninth in the rankings, but the form of experienced allrounders James Franklin and Grant Elliott, a fantastic hundred from Kane Williamson, and the emergence of Mitchell McClenaghan, the left-arm quick, were the catalysts for gritty performances.”We had a few new faces and a few older ones that came back and they were really keen to make an impact and they did,” Hesson said. “When they came back, they lifted the whole vibe. We were a bit down after the Test series, there was no doubt about that. We were clearly outplayed.”But the work we put in between then and the end of the tour, mentally as much as anything, was pleasing. We attacked that first game with real aggression and I think we stuck at that throughout the whole series.”Hesson’s focus now switches to the visit of England for a full tour which includes three matches in each format, starting with the Twenty20s, and the Tests in March will be another thorough examination of New Zealand’s credentials in the longer format although they should be boosted by the return of Ross Taylor.”The Twenty20 is first and that will be our focus for a start, but we”ll be trying to build on this series,” Hesson said. “We want to improve with every series. We’re not world beaters yet; we’ve played three pretty good games, but we’re looking to improve more in the T20s and leading into the one-dayers.”