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Former fast bowler Pramodya Wickramasinghe will head Sri Lanka’s new national selection committee, which picks both men’s and women’s senior squads. Also in the committee are former cricketers Vinothen John, Indika de Saram, Rasanjali de Alwis (nee Silva), and Tharanga Paranavitana.While the committee headed by Upul Tharanga is now defunct, there is some continuity for this fresh committee, with Paranavitana and de Saram also having served under Tharanga. Wickramasinghe has been chief selector before – between 2021 and 2023 – with Sri Lanka men’s poor performance in the 2023 World Cup prompting his removal. He was also part of a selection committee headed by Sanath Jayasuriya – now head coach – between 2013 and 2015.The change in selectors was announced by Sri Lanka’s sports ministry. SLC chief executive Ashley de Silva said the board had been involved in the process. Sri Lanka’s Sports Law dictates that such appointments go through the sports ministry.”Sri Lanka Cricket sends a list of about ten names to the ministry, and they have chosen from that,” de Silva told ESPNcricinfo. “There is no term as such. The appointment is until further notice.”De Silva also said that the Tharanga-led committee had simply come to the end of its term. Internally, there had been no push towards extending their term until the end of the men’s T20 World Cup in February and March. In fact, it had been a little over three weeks ago that Tharanga suggested captain Charith Asalanka may be replaced in the coming weeks. That decision now passes to the new committee, whose first major assignment will be to select the World Cup squad.All five members of this new committee have represented Sri Lanka at the highest level. Both Paranavitana and de Saram played domestic cricket into this decade. John is the oldest selector among them, having played his last match for Sri Lanka in 1987.

Several of Stuart MacGill’s team-mates have backed him to keep his Test spot – provided he is fit and wants to play – for the Boxing Day match against India. MacGill is trying to get his ailing body in shape after a persistent knee problem and numbness in his hand affected his output in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Hobart.Michael Clarke believes that if MacGill works hard on his fitness in the lead-up he should remain Australia’s first-choice spinner. “If he can come through and say, ‘I’m ready to go boys’, I’m backing him all the way,” Clarke told the .”He was a bit stiff and sore in the second dig the other day but we had a four-day game and then two Tests back-to-back and that’s a lot of cricket. Now he has time to take a bit of a rest.”Hopefully that will set him up to get whatever he needs right and to make sure he’s ready to go for the Boxing Day Test. If his mind is right and he feels ready to go, then no doubt he will be an unbelievable bowler as he has been in the Test matches he’s played for Australia and the games he’s played for New South Wales over a long time.”MacGill faces a race against time to prepare his body for the India series and has hinted at possible retirement if he determines that his injuries cannot be adequately treated. He is seeking the advice of John Orchard, a rugby league doctor, as he spends the next few weeks working on his fitness.Brett Lee said MacGill should remain at the head of Australia’s slow-bowling list even after his Hobart struggles. “The bloke’s a class act and still has so much to offer Australian cricket,” Lee told the . “I’m very, very confident he has what it takes to lead our attack after Christmas. Nothing against the other spinners in Australia, but going on his record Stuey is still the best.”If Australia decided not to choose MacGill, Hogg would almost certainly be next in line. MacGill said in the it had been awkward for Hogg to be chosen in the 13-man squad for the first Test in Brisbane as the pair was subjected to “a dead-set bowl-off”. “If I don’t play in Melbourne Hoggy will do a great job,” MacGill said. “He’s been the best bowler in the Australian one-day team for two years.”However, Andrew Symonds said MacGill deserved to keep his place after he fought through his knee and hand problems in Hobart. “The easy way out would have been to say to Ricky Ponting, ‘Mate, I can’t bowl’,” Symonds wrote in his column in newspapers. “The fact he was willing to have a go and help knock over the Sri Lankans is testament to the character and spirit we want in the side.”

Glenn McGrath was installed as Worcestershire’s Player of the Year after a defiant but ultimately unsuccessful bid to snatch promotion with victory over Northamptonshire at New Road.The Australian took eight for 41 – the second best return of his career – to dismiss the Second Division champions for 125 and become the leading bowler in the Championship with 76 wickets.But Worcestershire were unable to clutch the last straw when set to make 262 in 43 overs. They could only hold on for a draw at 119 for six with Ryan Driver unbeaten on 47 when bad light brought about an earlyclose.Openers Paul Pollard and Elliott Wilson to leg-side catches in the first two overs from Darren Cousins and Paul Taylor.The long-serving left-armer, Taylor, went on to take four of the first five wickets, including danger man Vikram Solanki, who played one big shot too many after racing to 30 out of 41.So Northamptonshire head for the top-flight while Worcestershire stay in the lower division – and with no McGrath to boost their chances next year. He will be touring with Australia before returning to the county in 2002.An all-action last day began with Worcestershire needing to add 61 to their overnight 50 for five if they were to head off the threat of the follow-on.This was achieved in quick time by David Leatherdale (46) and Steve Rhodes (42) before a declaration at 124 for seven presented Northants with a lead of 136 but only 80 overs in which to conjure up a result.The possibility of setting a target was taken out of their hands as McGrath bowled Adrian Rollins first ball and captured five for 31 in his first spell. Kevin Innes and Toby Baiiley then added precious runs before their tormentor returned to polish off the last three wickets in 11 balls.

Group B

After bowling Assam, who had been 132 for 6 overnight, for 193, Delhi‘s batsmen piled on the runs in Vadodara. Three of their top five made fifties – captain Unmukt Chand scored 55, Nitish Rana was unbeaten on 72 and Rishabh Pant, who played the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, was not out on 84 off 83 balls. Pant’s innings included seven fours and five sixes.The batsmen’s efforts made the second day’s play near perfect for Delhi. It had begun with Pradeep Sangwan ripping through the tail to finish with 3 for 47 – Assam’s Tarjinder Singh was left stranded with 61 runs to his name – and it ended with Delhi ahead by 48 runs with seven wickets remaining.A maiden first-class century from 19-year old Kaushal Singh helped Jharkhand secure an 83-run lead over Maharashtra in Delhi.Coming in at 108 for 5 in the 35th over, Kaushal batted through to stumps on the second day and helped his team overcome a top-order wobble. And it wasn’t like he was plodding along either. His 121 runs came off only 178 balls, with 15 fours and three sixes and that aggression meant the seventh and eighth-wicket partnerships with Shahbaz Nadeem and captain Varun Aaron contributed upwards of 50 runs each.Maharashtra, despite having only 210 on the board, would have felt hopeful considering Shrikant Mundhe began the day with two wickets in the space of four overs. But they couldn’t finish well.Saurashtra captain Jaydev Shah fell two runs shy of a career-best score as his team racked up a total of 430 against Rajasthan in Vizianagaram.Shah began the day on an unbeaten 120 and was the eighth wicket to fall for 193, an innings that lasted over six hours and included 36 fours. His strike-rate was an impressive 84.64. He added 110 runs with Chirag Jani for the sixth wicket which pushed the score over 300. Marshalled by Shah, the tail made some handy contributions as well to put Saurashtra in a position of strength.Rajasthan bowled them out with just enough time for them to bat again – 1.4 overs – which they got through unscathed.Half-centuries from Faiz Fazal and Ganesh Satish pushed Vidarbha into the lead against Odisha in Visakhapatnam. Fazal made an unbeaten 76. Satish was on 74 when he was caught behind with five overs left for stumps, a minor positive for Odisha, who had begun the day on 134 for 6 only to be bowled out for 150.Vidarbha were dominant from the very first ball they bowled on Friday – it bowled Odisha’s Biplab Samantaray for 53. Srikanth Wagh, who produced the wicket, finished with 3 for 13. Offspinner Akshay Wakhare then cleaned up the tail and finished with 3 for 19.Vidharba’s innings suffered a setback when opener Sanjay Ramaswamy was bowled for 13 by seamer Deepak Behera but Fazal and Satish negated Odisha’s bowling and added 158 for the second wicket. They have a 32-run lead and eight more wickets to work on building it further.

Mitchell Marsh was waiting to bat when a voice behind the players’ viewing area piped up. “I was waiting to bat and some bloke yelled out in the crowd,” Marsh said. “He just said ‘well done, you’ve gone for $1 million [INR 4.8 crore] in the [IPL] auction’, and I was just sort of ‘yeah, whatever mate.'”Events in India on Saturday afternoon were undoubtedly significant for Marsh and his bank balance, but in years to come he is more likely to remember what happened next. Marsh walked to the middle with Australia’s chase and Chappell-Hadlee chances in serious jeopardy, but the iron-willed innings he conjured in the company of John Hastings allowed Steven Smith’s team to ease to a series-leveling win.Marsh is still a developing member of the Australia side, something that may be underlined by his possible omission from the squad for the World Twenty20 to take place in India before the IPL. Nevertheless, there were signs of a prospective leader in how he controlled things in Wellington, vitally setting down the ground rules for a match-clinching stand with Hastings.”It was just a great partnership with Johnny Hastings,” Marsh said. “We were in a bit of strife there, not sure how many we needed when he came out, 80 or so, and the way he batted and the way we batted together was extremely satisfying. We came here to get back into the series and we’ve done that now. So that’ll give us great momentum going into Monday [series decider in Hamilton].”We kept on saying we knew we were ahead of the run rate so we had plenty of time, and I just told Duke [Hastings] to give himself a bit of extra time to get in, watch the ball extremely hard and if it’s in his area smack it, because that’s when he bats his best. We kept it pretty simple and just tried to take it as deep into the innings as we could, because we knew we had plenty of time and overs left.”This summer Marsh has arguably evolved more as a bowler than a batsman, due at least in part to opportunity. A fully functioning top order left him short of meaningful innings during the home Tests, and it was not until he made a first international hundred in an ODI loss to India at the SCG that he was able to make a decent mark. This innings, guiding Australia home, was further progress and evidence of his increasing mental toughness.”During the Test match series I didn’t get a lot of opportunity because the top five were making a hell of a lot of runs and I just kept working hard,” he said. “I wanted to take the opportunity when I got it. When you’re under pressure for runs, certainly at this level, you think about a lot of things.”When you haven’t spent a lot of time in the middle things just don’t come naturally and you don’t think as clearly as you do when you’re in form. That’s been the biggest thing for me to work on, just worry about watching the ball and the rest will take care of itself. The last few weeks with my batting has given me great confidence to keep going now.”That toughness extended to blocking out the news of his IPL auction price until the match had been successfully finished off. For Marsh, at least, the prospect of winning a match for Australia still takes precedence over glad tidings from the game’s financial crucible.”I just tried to block it out because it was pretty amazing, and then Shaun [Marsh] came and sat next to me with a little grin and gave me a little nudge so then I found out,” Marsh said. “Really happy I was able to block that out and focus on the game today, because playing for your country is the most important thing to me, so while that’s great I’m really rapt we’re back in the series now.”

Australia’s decision to travel with a team doctor for the first time in 20 years paid off immediately as a stomach bug floored Michael Clarke in the hours leading up to his century on Saturday. Clarke reportedly woke at 1am on the morning of the match severely ill and only an intense course of medication allowed him to play.Clarke showed few signs of the illness as he compiled 130 at nearly a run a ball at Bangalore, although his good work was partly wasted as rain washed away Australia’s hopes of victory. Without help from the doctor John Orchard, the Australians believed Clarke would not only have missed the Bangalore game but potentially Tuesday’s match at Kochi as well.”I was certainly giving him [Orchard] a high five when Pup got his hundred,” Adam Gilchrist, the stand-in captain, told the . “Pup was up all night with gastro and without a medical professional there is no way he would have played.”The reported Clarke had 12 hours of intense antibiotic and rehydration treatment before his lengthy innings and had eaten just four pieces of plain toast prior to the match. He made it through with the help of constant deliveries of tablets and drinks from the dressing-room and his batting partner for much of the day, Brad Haddin, saw no indication the illness had lingered.”He was in a better state than me at the end, I don’t know what happened but he was going all right out there,” Haddin told the . “I heard he had a rough night [but] he came through well and there’s no signs of it.”

The anti-monopoly watchdog in India, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC), has initiated an investigation against the Indian board over its reported threat of a life ban to players joining the Indian Cricket League (ICL).The MRTPC took suo motu cognizance of press reports and directed its investigative arm, the Director-General of Investigation and Registration (DGIR), to look into the threats, if any, made by the board to players joining the ICL. The DGIR was also asked to investigate the sacking of former cricketers holding positions with the board who had joined ICL.”Every individual has a right to choose whether he wishes to associate himself with the BCCI or any other organisation”, a statement issued by the Indian board had said on August 8. “However, if he associates himself with any other organisation, he will not derive any benefit or be connected to any of our activities in any way.””Such players should not have any expectations from us,” Rajiv Shukla, the board vice-president, had said after a meeting in New Delhi of the board’s top officials.The DGIR, it is understood, will also inquire into the board’s refusal to share infrastructure with the ICL. It has been asked to submit its preliminary investigation report within 60 days.If the investigation reveals that the board is adopting restrictive trade practices contrary to the interest of players, the MRTPC may pass a cease and desist order against it.The MRTPC’s directions come days after the Delhi high court asked public sector companies like Air India and Indian Oil Corporation to refrain from sacking its employees who join the ICL. The court had passed the interim order on August 27, after it was brought to its notice that Indian Oil Corporation and Air India had threatened employees – who are also cricketers – with immediate dismissal if they joined the ICL.This is not the first time the DGIR would be investigating the BCCI for restrictive trade practices. In 1994, it was asked by the MRTPC to look into agreements between the BCCI had entered into with the players that restrained them from writing in newspapers, magazines and journals. Players were also not entitled to take part in activity related to TV or broadcasting, and they could not publish columns after the completion of any tour. Moreover, the players were not entitled to wear the logo and any form of advertisements on clothes or equipments. They were not entitled to participate in a game other than cricket, or even to play in matches not ‘recognized’ by the board.That case saw the board being found guilty and fined.

Scorecard

The Lions stumbled for the second consecutive day in a run-chase of 160-odd as they fell to a 22-run loss against the Kolkata Tigers, thus ending their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals.The match in Gurgaon was a crunch clash, as both sides needed to win to have any chance of going through. Craig McMillan, the Tigers’ captain, won the toss and his top order cashed in on the decision to bat.The momentum was provided by Subhomoy Das right at the start; he smashed three fours before Andrew Hall had him trapped in front in the first over. Lance Klusener then joined Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, and the duo added 78 in 11.2 overs.Klusener was run out by Dinesh Mongia for 38 from 34 deliveries but Jhunjhunwala stayed till the 20th over before he was dismissed in the same manner. He made 62 off 57 balls as the Tigers puta competitive total of 165 on the board. Hall took 3 for 37 in his four overs, while his new-ball partner Daryl Tuffey was miserly, conceding only 14 in his four overs.Then it was over to the Tigers’ pace attack; wickets fell at regular intervals as the Lions struggled in their hunt of 166. Abu Nechim scalped three as they succumbed to 69 for 6 after 12.1 overs. A 50-run stand between Manish Sharma and Tejinder Pal Singh raised hopes of an unlikely win. Upul Chandana was carted for runs as Tejinder Pal scored 34 off just 16, while Sharma took the same number of deliveries for his 23.Andre Adams removed the duo in the 17th over, and Nantie Hayward and Nechim got rid of the tailenders as the Lions were bundled out for 143. Nechim finished with 4 for 27 off his four overs, while Adams bagged 3 for 22 off his quota. Nechim and Jhunjhunwala shared the Man-of-the-Match award.

Gauteng will meet Northerns in the final of the SAA Provincial One-Day Challenge after they defeated South Western Districts and Eastern Province in the semi-finals held on March 8.Gauteng thrashed South Western Districts by 209 runs while Northerns prevailed over Eastern Province by 15 runs.Gauteng’s massive win in Johannesburg was set up by opener Dane Vilas, who smashed an unbeaten 119 from 115 balls, including ten fours and two sixes, as he steered his team to a commanding 297 for 5. Warren Swan chipped in with 57 while wicketkeeper Matthew Harris (25 off 13) and Dumisa Makalima (47 off 22) provided the flourish at the end. The only bowler to end with respectable figures was Rudy Hillerman, who took 2 for 49 in eight overs.Pursuing a stiff 298, South Western Districts struggled as left-arm spinner Jean Symes along with fast bowlers Yunus Keiller and Brian Mathebula shackled the visitors and bowled them out for 88 runs in 21 overs. Symes finished with 4 for 8 off 3.5 overs, while Keiller had 3 for 23 off his seven. Nigel Brouwers hit three sixes but fell for 26 as his side crashed to a 209-run lossIn the other semi-final in Port Elizabeth, Northerns scraped home in a low-scoring encounter. A tight bowling performance saw the Northerns, who chose to bat, restricted to 172 for 9. Shaun Liebisch scored almost a run-a-ball 60, but the rest of the batsmen were unable to find any run-scoring rhythm. Two run-outs in the 30th over didn’t help the cause of the Northerns either.Liebisch, though, sparked off his team-mates with the ball; he provided two vital breakthroughs when the Eastern Province top order were threatening to take the game away via building partnerships. Left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso removed Nos 6-8 to finish with 3 for 31; wicketkeeper-batsman Sean Adair fought for 69 off 100, but was one of two scalps for medium-pacer Tumi Masekela.Eastern Province were dismissed for 157 off 42.5 overs, 16 short of their target. Northerns will face Gauteng in the final on Wednesday.

Saurashtra captain Jaydev Shah slammed a 80-ball 100 to lead his side to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Karnataka in the quarter-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. After being asked to bat, Karnataka could only muster 234 as Robin Uthappa top scored with a measured 50. Left-arm medium-pacer Balkrishna Jadeja, playing his second List A game, took three wickets for Saurashtra but was expensive, giving away 68 runs. The Saurashtra chase was given a solid platform with openers Chirag Pathak (64) and Sagar Jogiyani adding 87. Shah then propelled them to victory, crunching 10 fours and five sixes in his second List A hundred.The day’s other quarter-final also saw a captain’s century set up a win. Bengal cruised to a 48-run triumph over Delhi on the back of a commanding batting performance, led by captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla’s 95-ball 124 in Visakhapatnam. Bengal got off to a good start as their openers forged a 74-run stand but stumbled as three wickets fell for the addition of five runs. They got back on track thanks to an express 120-run partnership between Shukla and Anustup Majumdar, who contributed less than a third of the runs in the stand. Debabrata Das chipped in with a quick 40 as Bengal finished on 295. Delhi’s batsmen had to score briskly to chase down the big target and perished in the attempt. Though they reached 139 by the 25th over, they had lost five wickets and despite Under-19 World Cup-winning captain Virat Kohli’s efforts, they were bowled out for 247.