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Concerned Arthur cuts down day offs

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by Rex Clementine

Sri Lanka’s cricketers taking part in next month’s ICC T20 World Cup had been given a ten day break after the bilateral series against South Africa but that has been cut down and the players and coaching staff had been reported to enter a bio-bubble tomorrow (Tuesday), The Island learns.

The break has been reduced to six days as Head Coach Mickey Arthur is concerned about the COVID situation. Former captain Kusal Perera, Batting Coach Grant Flower and Arthur himself had tested positive for COVID since the outbreak of the pandemic and ahead of the World Cup, the Head Coach is keen to keep all the players and support staff safe.

Sri Lanka’s training during their bubble will be focusing on match simulations along with scenario training. For example, can they defend ten runs in the last over and who will bowl that over under pressure keeping the nerve. Or can they score 60 runs in the six overs of Power Play?

The bubble will be formed on Tuesday and after three days of quarantine, players will begin group training on Friday and full squad training from Sunday.

Sri Lanka leave for Oman on the 3rd October and will play two T20 Internationals. Then they come to Abu Dhabi where they will train ahead of the qualifying round of T20 World Cup.

Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Ireland and Namibia are in Group ‘A’ of qualifying tournament. The top two teams will qualify for the World Cup along with two qualifiers from Group ‘B’ that comprises Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, Oman and Scotland.

Sri Lanka meanwhile will carry five additional players for the World Cup. Accordingly, Lakshan Sandakan, Minod Bhanuka, Ashen Bandara, Ramesh Mendis and Pathum Nissanka have been drafted in as reserves.

Sri Lanka’s form ahead of the World Cup qualifiers is a concern as they suffered a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Proteas last week. The hosts lost the second and third T20 International by nine and ten wickets respectively. Sri Lanka had gone down by ten wickets in a T20 International only on one other occasion.



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Kusal Mendis to replace Buttler at Gujarat Titans for IPL playoffs

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ESPNcricinfo has confirmed Kusal Mendis will not travel to Pakistan for the remainder of the PSL [Cricinfo]

Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis will replace Jos Buttler in the Gujarat Titans squad for the IPL 2025 playoffs.

Kusal Mendis had been at the Pakistan Super League (PSL) with Quetta Gladiators until last week, playing as their wicketkeeper-batter. He’d last played for them on May 7. But ESPNcricinfo has learned he will not travel to Pakistan for the remainder of the PSL due to perceived safety concerns, and has now pivoted to playing in the IPL, a league in which he has never previously appeared.

Buttler’s unavailability for the playoffs is down to his having been named in England’s ODI squad for the home series against West Indies, which starts on May 29. The IPL’s playoffs begin the same day.

GT have two other wicketkeeping options in their squad, in Anuj Rawat and Kumar Kushagra. However, Kusal Mendis has been in good form for Gladiators, hitting 143 runs at a strike rate of 168 in five PSL matches.

Merely being approached by an IPL franchise as a replacement is something of a career fillip for Kusal Mendis, who had entered his name in the IPL auctions repeatedly, but had never been bought. He is understood to be currently awaiting his India visa, and is likely to join the GT squad on Saturday.

GT currently sit atop the IPL table, equal on points with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, but with a better net run rate. They need only one more win to confirm their place in the playoffs.

[Cricinfo]

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CWI asks ICC for ‘fair and transparent’ pathway to LA28 Olympics

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The torch is lit at the Los Angeles Coliseum after the city was officially named the host of the 2028 Summer Olympics [Cricinfo]

Cricket West Indies (CWI) has implored the ICC to provide a fair and transparent pathway for at least one of the Caribbean’s sovereign nations to represent West indies at the Los Angeles Olympics.

The heart of the problem here is that while in cricket many countries compete under the name the West Indies are administered by the same cricket board (CWI), the Olympics only allows sovereign nations to contest. There can be no team in which for instance, Barbadans, Jamaicans, Trinidadians, Guyanese, St. Lucians play in the same team, even though that is how regular cricket is organised.

So in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, an event in which six nations will compete in cricket, the region hopes to have at least one of its sovereign states in play. Currently, West Indies women are ranked sixth on the T20I ICC rankings, and the men are fifth. West Indies men have won the T20 World Cup twice, and the women once. It is up to the ICC to nominate the teams that will participate in the Olympics.

There is also the additional complication that the United States, as the host nation of these Olympics, may be a frontrunner to gain automatic qualification despite their low rankings, though that has not been confirmed by the ICC. This means only five further spots are available.

“The Caribbean has always punched above its weight at the Olympics, inspiring the world with our athletic brilliance,” CWI president Kishore Swallow said. “Cricket’s return to the Games in 2028 must not exclude our young cricketers from the same dream that has inspired our athletes. The Olympic Charter emphasizes fairness, transparency, and universality. We are simply asking that these principles be upheld–not just in spirit, but in structure. West Indies cricket must have a pathway, and fully deserves an opportunity to compete.”

CWI has provided the ICC with two possible ways forward. To quote from the CWI release:

  • If rankings are used and West Indies men and women teams technically qualify, an internal qualifying tournament among its Olympic affiliated member countries will determine which country represents the West Indies; or
  • A global qualifying pathway that includes associate ICC members in the five ICC Development Regions plus member countries of the West Indies.

The first of these options would have the CWI, through domestic tournaments, pick their champions for the LA Olympics. The second would involve a more rigorous selection process, in which the sovereign nations that are members of the West Indies board compete alongside a host of other nations for Olympics spots.

What the CWI board stresses to ICC, however, is that qualification criteria must be “fair and transparent”, citing a bylaw in the Olympic Charter. Caribbean nations are accustomed to Olympic success, as several of them are frequently atop Olympics leaderboards for medals per capita. Their collective achievements in track events in particular, are recognised almost universally as extraordinary.

CWI CEO Chris Dehring said: “Our nations have proudly flown their individual flags atop Olympic podiums as perennial gold medalists. Now, with cricket’s inclusion, we must ensure that our cricketers are not shut out of history. We are ready to collaborate. We are ready to compete. But above all, we are asking for fairness.”

The ICC has made no announcement on what the Olympics qualification process will be, so far.

Cricket has only once been played in the Olympics, way back in 1900. On that occasion, France and Great Britain competed, with Great Britan winning the two day match by 158 runs.  The highest individual score for France in the second innings was 8.

[Cricinfo]

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Under 18 doubles champions found

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Boys' Under 18 doubles champions Ganuka Fernando and Rehan Gunawardhna.

The Under 18 boys’ and girls’ doubles champions of the 110th Colombo Championships were found at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association clay courts on Thursday.

Sandithi Usgodaarachchi and Venuli Jayasinghe clinched the girls’ doubles title with a hard fought 2-1 win, while Ganuka Fernando and Rehan Gunawardhana won the boys’ doubles crown with a straight sets win.

Sandithi and Venuli beat Gehansa Methnadi and Dulkini Ranasinghe 6-4, 5-7, 10-7 in the final.

In the boys’ final Ganuka and Rehan beat Abdul Carder and Aahil Kaleel 7-6(5), 6-4.

Girls’ Under 18 doubles champions Sandithi Usgodaarachchi and Venuli Jayasinghe.

Under 18 semi-final results 

Girls 

Usgodaarachchi and Venuli Jayasinghe beat Nimasha Shehara and Arushi Thomas 6-2, 7-5.

Gehansa Methnadi and Dulkini Ranasinghe beat Diyansa de Silva and Lihini Jayakody 4-6, 7-6 (3), 10-5.

Boys’ 

Ganuka Fernando and Rehan Gunawardhana beat Binuk Silva and Karthi Udayachandran 6-4, 6-3.

Abdul Cader and Aahil Kaleel beat Bishman Balaratnarajah and Jamal Sabry 6-4, 6-2.

Pix by Kamal Wanniarchchi

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