Sports
Domestic cricket overhauled
by Rex Clementine
Sri Lanka Cricket on Saturday conducted an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) and the stakeholders of the game unanimously ratified a new domestic tournament structure.
The new competition that has been drafted with the blessings of Cricket Advisory Committee is expected to remain in the system for ten years but there are fears of interference when relegation is around the corner.
At present, we have 24 teams playing First Class cricket and many former greats had raised their concerns for having too many teams playing at the highest level resulting in the competition being diluted and the gap between Test cricket and First Class cricket widening.
What we have right now is instead of teams being stripped of First Class status, two more teams being added to the system with 26 teams enjoying First Class cricket. What that means is that the country will have more than 300 players engaging in First Class cricket which is way too much.
With a relegation system, the authorities expect to cut down two teams by next season and eventually will be left with a system where only 15 teams play First Class cricket. But there lies the problem. Over the last few years, we have seen that clubs not playing by the rule book and once they are relegated underarm tactics being used to remain in the elite league.
Smaller clubs like Baduraliya for example points out it’s unfair on them as they play with limited resources while bigger clubs like NCC have a prestige problem. These are just two teams who have made behind the scene moves to remain in the top league. It has happened once and you can be assured that it will happen again and there are enough politicians in our part of the world to promote these causes.
When NCC was facing relegation, the team’s iconic player Kumar Sangakkara was Sri Lanka’s Test captain. He was also world’s number one ranked batsman at that point. It would have been embarrassing for Sangakkara not to be representing a team that plays First Class cricket but the great man he is, Sanga vowed to remain at Maitland Place. “NCC was my first club and NCC will be my last club,” he said.
According to the new system, the 26 teams will be divided into two groups and each team will play 12 games in a season. The top two teams will play the final while the bottom two side will be relegated.
The inter-club tournament is expected to be completed by January next year with SLC hoping to get Ministry of Health permission to continue with the season.
This will be followed by the much looked forward to Inter-Provincial tournament. That will be the highest standard of domestic cricket. The yardstick for selection for Provincial teams will be the performances of the club tournament while Sri Lanka selections are expected to be made on the performances of the Provincial tournament.
The restructuring of the domestic tournament was one of the urgent needs in putting the sport back on track and it is hoped that this structure addresses many troubles facing our cricket.
Brazil are the unlikely candidates to have claimed two cricket records as one of their bowlers took a record nine wickets – including five in a row – in their 189-run T20 Women’s International victory against Lesotho in Botswana.
Having won the toss on Thursday, at the BCA Kalahari Women’s T20 International Tournament, Brazil posted a daunting 202-8 with wicketkeeper Monnike Machado hitting 69 off 41.
The fun, for the Brazilians, was only just beginning, though, as Laura Cardoso claimed a hat-trick with the last three deliveries of her first over – the second of the Lesotho innings – to set in motion the incredible feat that eventually saw the Africans bowled out for 13.
The 21-year-old then continued her wicket-taking achievement with a Women’s T20 International first of five dismissals in a row as she struck with the first two balls of her second over. This was all part of claiming the first nine Lesotho wickets to fall, but being denied the chance to take all 10 after a change of bowling following her third over. Her final wicket was Ret’sepile Limema, who fell to the fifth ball of the fifth over, with Cardoso replaced for the following over at that end. Her nine wickets, nevertheless, is the best return in either men’s or women’s T20 internationals.
The right-arm seamer did, indeed, come close to another hat-trick, when she claimed wickets with the last two balls of her second over, which itself totalled four victims.
Cardoso, who has has taken 55 wickets in 48 T20 matches for Brazil, replaces Indonesia’s Rohmalia Rohmalia at the top of the Women’s T20 best bowling rankings, as she finished with figures of 3-2-4-9.
Rohmalia had claimed seven wickets in 2024 in a match against Mongolia in Bali. Only three other women have claimed seven in a T20 international.
The men’s record, and the overall in the format, had been held by Bhutan’s Sonam Yeshey after he took eight wickets for seven runs against Myanmar last year.
The previous record for the number of wickets in consecutive deliveries was four, and was jointly held with the most prominent occasion in women’s cricket being when Shakera Selman pulled off the feat for the West Indies against Pakistan in 2018. Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan and Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga are among the most notable bowlers from the men’s game to have claimed four consecutively in the format.
Although a huge winning margin, Brazil’s overall win does not compare with Argentina’s record after they beat Chile by 364 runs in 2023. The Argentinians had struck 427-1 to set up their victory.
Lesotho’s part in the record extends to no further than Cardoso’s haul, with the record-lowest total belonging to Mali, who were bowled out for 6 in 2019 by Rwanda.
Brazil, who lead the six-team tournament with five straight wins, play Mozambique on Friday.
[Aljazeera]
| Date | Match |
|---|---|
| May 3 | 1st ODI |
| May 6 | 2nd ODI |
| May 9 | 3rd ODI |
| May 12 | 1st T20I |
| May 14 | 2nd T20I |
| May 15 | 3rd T20I |
[Cricbuzz]
Brazil bowler Laura Cardoso takes 9 Lesotho wickets in record-breaking T20 win
Zimbabwe Women set for maiden tour of Pakistan
Bangladesh advance match timings to save energy
PM on inspection tour of newly renovated Colombo Central Bus Stand
Israel to hold direct talks with Lebanon but no ceasefire, Netanyahu says
Sun directly overhead Nagawilluwa, Galgamuwa, Sigiriya, Palugasdamana and Mankerni about 12:11 noon today (10)
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
Features6 days agoRanjith Siyambalapitiya turns custodian of a rare living collection
-
News6 days agoGlobal ‘Walk for Peace’ to be held in Lanka
-
News4 days agoLankan-origin actress Subashini found dead in India
-
News2 days agoAG: Coal procurement full of irregularities
-
Features6 days agoBeyond the Blue Skies: A Tribute to Captain Elmo Jayawardena
-
Business23 hours agoIsraeli attack on Lebanon triggers local stock market volatility
-
Features6 days agoAspects of Ceylon/Sri Lanka Foreign Relations – 1948 to 1976
-
Business2 days agoHayleys Mobility introduces Premium OMODA C9 PHEV