Sports
Zimbabwe welcome more teams in World Cups
by Rex Clementine
Having missed out on the 2019 and 2023 ICC Cricket World Cups, Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine welcomed the move to accommodate more teams for the next two editions of the tournament. The International Cricket Council has confirmed that the 2027 and 2031 World Cups will include 14 teams.
The last two World Cups were restricted to ten teams attracting a lot of criticism. Two times champions West Indies failed to qualify for the sport’s showpiece event held in India last October while Zimbabwe, who took part in every World Cup from 1983 to 2015, also were knocked out.
“It is hugely important that more teams compete in global events such as World Cups rather than being restricted to fewer teams. It’s better for cricket,” Ervine told journalists in Colombo ahead of a three-match series against Sri Lanka.
“Teams like us don’t get to play top teams like India, Australia and England often and events like the World Cup is the only occasion we get to compete against the best. It was a huge disappointment to miss out in the last two tournaments, but we are very happy that it has now been expanded,” Ervine added.
The three-match series against Sri Lanka gets underway in Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium and it’s part of the World Cup Super League, a stepping stone for the 2027 tournament to be held in Africa.
“It is a fresh start for us. We are looking to play competitive cricket and make sure that when we come on tours like these we challenge the opposition.”
Kusal Mendis who skippered the Sri Lankan team during the World Cup in the absence of the injured Dasun Shanaka has been given the role on a full-time basis. He said that one area that Sri Lanka have focused heavily on is their fielding.
“Fielding is one area that we have worked really hard during the last two weeks. It was a big letdown for us during the World Cup. We spilled 16 catches and I don’t think you can do that in any competition leave alone a World Cup,” Mendis told journalists.
“It was bitterly disappointing. We could have fared better in the World Cup had we been more disciplined on the field. I can promise you that there’s been lot of hard work and you can see the results in this upcoming series,” Mendis went onto say. All three ODIs will be played in Colombo. The three match ODI series will be followed by a three match T-20 series, also to be staged in Colombo.
It’s taking longer than most expected, but Bangladesh are inevitably moving towards history. Bangladesh and Pakistan will go into a fifth day in Sylhet, with Bangladesh on the cusp of another 2-0 clean sweep of Pakistan. They need just three wickets to get there, with Mohammed Rizwan, unbeaten on 75, the final, valiant point of resistance for a visiting side who still need an improbable 121 for victory.
It was thanks primarily to Rizwan, and his 134-run partnership with Salman Agha in the final session, that kept Bangladesh waiting for so long when they appeared to be on course to finish Pakistan off. But two crucial wickets from Taijul Islam – who bowled more than a third of the overs on Tuesday – in the final half hour saw that partnership broken, and the hosts burrow deep into Pakistan’s tail.
Rizwan and Agha got together off the back of three quick wickets, and a resurgent Bangladesh sniffing for a quick knockout. Instead, they held them at bay for over three hours, counterattacking early on before seeing off wave after wave of spin and seam from Bangladesh. Even as Bangladesh attacked with the field, the duo kept run-scoring front and centre of their survival strategy, using their feet against spin and timing the ball expertly when pace returned.
That the stand had begun to frustrate Bangladesh became evident when tempers flared in the final hour, with Litton Das taking exception to Rizwan slowing play down after disturbances from the sightscreen. The contest took on a distinct edge, but the Pakistan pair did not lose focus, inching their way towards stumps.
No more wickets might have given Bangladesh a sleepless night, but Taijul put them at ease. With Nahid Rana operating with a new ball from the other end, Taijul produced an arm delivery that skidded through Agha’s defences and knocked back his stumps, prompting wild celebrations from the hosts, who understood the importance of the moment. Hasan Ali, whom Rizwan curiously decided against shielding from the strike, posed little resistance, leaving Bangladesh just three wickets adrift.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 232 and 316 for 7 (Shan Masood 71, Babar Azam 47, Salman Agha 71, Mohammad Rizwan 75*; Taijul Islam 4-113, Nahid Rana 2-58) need another 121 runs to beat Bangladesh 278 and 390
[Cricinfo]
Sri Lanka Cricket’s new transformation committee has had “cordial and constructive” discussions with Imran Khwaja, the ICC’s deputy chair, according to a member of the new SLC committee.
Khwaja had been in Ari Lanka over the last few days to gather information as the ICC decides what its response to the sweeping government-led changes at SLC should be. During the course of that visit, Khwaja not only spoke with members of SLC’s transformation committee, but also met with Sri Lanka’s president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, whose government had installed the committee after ousting the previous board.
Sidath Wettimuny one of the committee’s nine members, said SLC’s new administrators were hopeful the ICC would continue to treat the board as a regular Full Member.
But the ICC has a track record of reprimanding SLC because of perceived government interference. In 2023, SLC was suspended over “extensive government interference” and, in 2015, the ICC had also frozen payments over a previous “interim committee” having been appointed by the then government.
This current committee, however, has said its goals were to replace SLC’s archaic constitution, before making way for a new set of elected officials.
The ICC has so far made no comments on the change of administration at SLC.
The committee, formally unveiled on April 30, has nine members, including Kumar Sangakkara, Wettimuny and Roshan Mahanama. The majority of the members, though, hail from corporate, legal, and political spheres, with former member of parliament Eran Wickramaratne appointed as chair.
“Our immediate priority is a total overhaul of the governance framework at SLC,” Wettimuny had said after the committee members were named. “The cornerstone of this effort will be the implementation of the new constitution, ensuring it serves as a robust, modern foundation for the sport.”
The committee’s second priority would be to ensure “excellence on the field,” Wickramaratne had said. “We will focus on establishing the structures, world-class facilities, and incentive models necessary to empower our national teams. Our goal is to enable our players to consistently deliver world-class performances and elevate Sri Lanka back to the top tier of international rankings.”
[Cricinfo]
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