Sports
Thamindu anchors Richmond with 191 runs
Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ Cricket Semi-Finals
by Reemus Fernando
Thamindu Pradeeptha anchored the batting line up with 191 runs as Richmond recovered from being 41 for three wickets at one stage to post 330 for nine wickets declared against St. Sebastian’s Moratuwa on day one of the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ semi-final match at Narahenpita on Monday.
The number three bat Pradeeptha scored 14 fours and six sixes in his knock which held Richmond batting together. He put on three vital partnerships including a ninth wicket stand of 84 runs with Yuri Koththigoda, who remained unbeaten on five after having faced 54 balls.
In reply St. Sebastian’s were five runs for no wickets at stumps.
The winners of this match will meet the winners of the match between Trinity and Mahanama in the final.
Scores:
Richmond
330 for 9 decl. in 87.4 overs (Thamindu Pradeeptha 191, Malsha Tharupathi 26, Shehan de Zoysa 27, Kaveesha Induwara 28; Nadeesh Fernando 4/59, Manuja Chanthuka 3/91)
St. Sebastian’s
5 for no loss in 1 over
Trinity meet Mahanama in Tier ‘A’ semi-final
Defending champions Trinity College, Kandy will encounter Mahanama College Colombo in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ cricket semi-final today and tomorrow at Bambalapitiya.
Teams
Trinity (from):
Manula Kularathne (Captain), Dinusha Peiris, Janith Warnakula, Supun Waduge, Vathila Udara, Viduka Dhammage, Dimantha Mahavithana, Malith Rathnayake, Dinuka Thennakoon, Tharana Wimaladharma, Thisal Yapa, Rajindu Thilakaratne, Jayavi Liyanagama, Kavindu Jayaratne, Viduneth Dhammage, Sweath Anurajeewa, Ometh Bandara, Kaveen Gamage, Pulisha Thilakaratne.
Mahanama (from):
Duvindu Ranathunga (Captain), Kavindu Amameth, Inuka Karannagoda, Koojana Perera, Rashmika Perera, Anuka Wijewardana, Dulnith Sigera, Chamika Heenatigala, Gimantha Dissanayake, Eshan Withanage, Migara Ranasinghe, Tharusha Amarasinghe, Chamika Rajapaksha, Sithika Kulathunge, Dulneth Algawatte, Osanda Muthugama, Kaveesha Gimhan, Navindu Rodrigo, Uden Rajapaksha, Adeesha Karunarathne.
Under 19 Division I Tier ‘B’ Cricket
St. Peter’s, Isipatana to clash for Tier A
promotion
St. Peter’s and Isipatana will battle it out to secure a berth in the final of the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘B’ tournament and punch their ticket to earn Tier ‘A’ promotion when they meet in the Tier ‘B’ semi-final today and tomorrow at Welisara.
St. Peter’s led by Vishen Helambage are in the semi-finals after edging out Dharmaraja with a first innings win in the quarter-final. The Petes were the runners up to Lumbini at the end of the league stage where they registered three outright victories and four first innings wins.
Isipatana skippered by Sithuka Gunawardane earned their semi-final spot with a narrow first innings win over St. Aloysius’. They reached the knockout stage as the champions of their group. The team dominated the group registering as many as six outright victories.
Teams
St. Peter’s (from):
Vishen Helambage (Captain), Rusanda Gamage, Shannon Rodrigo, Oween Salgado, Dilana Damsara, Lashmika Perera, Asadisa de Silva, Ishira Ayupala, Nathan David, Joshua Sebastian, Rithil Suraweera, Janith Kaushan, Sachin Perera, Virul Amarapala, Savi Fernando, Enosh Peterson, Lashen Pushpakumara, Chamindu Perera, Hiruka Silva, Anupa Garumanna.
Isipatana (from):
Sithuka Gunawardane (Captain), Tharushka Ashel, Kevin Samuel, Ruchith Rodrigo, Maleesha Sandaruwan, Lesandu Kalpage, Navindu Umeth, Dasith Senal, Selvakadir Kabileswaran, Chanul Dinoth, Menula Sandew, Dushan Malinga, Dilpa Ruwanara, Ranmith Senarath, Thithira Sansira, Viduna Genura, Mohomed Asjan.
It is understood the ICC has told the BCB to inform the Bangladesh government that if Bangladesh continues to refuse to travel to India to play its matches in the 2026 T20 World Cup, then they will be replaced by another team at the tournament. That decision was followed by a vote, where the majority of the ICC Board was in favour of having a replacement.
BCB have been given one more day to come back to the ICC on its stance on playing in India.
If that is the case, then Scotland is likely to replace Bangladesh in Group C at the World Cup. Scotland had failed to qualify for the 2026 T20 World Cup, having finished behind Netherlands, Italy and Jersey at the European Qualifier.
[Cricinfo]
Harry Brook admits he was fortunate to keep his job as white-ball captain following a latte night alteraction with a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand, and says he is in the process of regaining the trust of his team.
Brook, now in Sri Lanka for England’s ODI series which gets underway on Thursday, was speaking for the first time since news broke that he had been disciplined for the incident in Wellington in October, for which he was fined £30,000 and put on a final warning for his off-field conduct.
“Obviously I made a terrible mistake,” Brook said. “Not only as a player, but as a captain. It’s very unprofessional and I should be leading from the front. “I’ve learnt from my mistakes, I’ve reflected a lot on what’s happened and I know it wasn’t the right thing to do. I want to say sorry to my team-mates, to all the fans that travel far and wide to watch, spend a lot of money on coming out to watch us play cricket and supporting us, and to the ECB for putting them in a tricky situation, and it’ll never happen again. I’m extremely sorry.”
Brook, along with a number of other England players, had been out drinking the night before the third ODI against New Zealand, with the match the final competitive fixture for England before the Ashes began three weeks later.
Brook, who says he then went on his own to a nightclub, says he was “clocked” by a bouncer when attempting to get in.
“We went out for a couple of drinks beforehand and then I took it upon myself to go out for a few more and I was on my own there,” Brook said. “I was trying to get into a club and the bouncer just clocked me, unfortunately. Like I said, I shouldn’t have been in that situation from the start. I wasn’t absolutely leathered, I’d had one too many drinks.”
Brook reported his actions to the management mid-game the next day, and came close to being sacked from his position as captain as a result.
“It was definitely going through my mind,” Brook said of the potential that he would lose his job, before adding that he had not at any stage considered resigning. “Never came into my mind. I left that decision to the hierarchy and, look, if they’d have sacked me from being captain, then I’d have been perfectly fine with it, as long as I was still playing cricket for England.
“Probably, yeah,” he added, when asked if he felt lucky to keep his job. “I think I’ve got a little bit of work to do to try and regain the trust of the players. I said sorry to them yesterday. I felt like I needed to say sorry for my actions. It’s not acceptable as a player, but as a captain it’s really not acceptable to do what I did in New Zealand. I’ll be the first person to say that. I hold my hands up.”
In the aftermath of the incident, which was kept private by England until after the Ashes had concluded, Brook sought help from Test captain Ben Stokes, who himself was involved in a high-profile nightclub fight in 2018.
“He obviously wasn’t best pleased at what I’d done,” Brook said. “But he tried to help me through it and he knows exactly what it feels like to be in this situation. We had a few conversations, but we quickly moved on.”
The news broke amid allegations of a drinking culture in English cricket, after players were regularly seen drinking alcohol during England’s tour of Australia.
“No, there’s no drinking culture at all,” Brook said. “Like I said, everybody has the ability to say no. If you want a drink, if you don’t want a drink, you’re allowed to make that decision yourself.
“It wasn’t just drinking [in Australia]. We weren’t just going out and getting leathered every day. We were having a few drinks here and there. We were playing plenty of golf, going to nice cafes, having coffees but we had a few drinks here and there. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It’s just what human beings do.”
Despite this, England have introduced a curfew for their tour of Sri Lanka, with playing staff not allowed out past midnight.
“That’s been made as a group decision,” Brook said. “We think that it’s the best thing going forward, for the time being, to be able to put us in situations where we can win games of cricket and perform to the best of our ability.”
England play three ODIs against Sri Lanka, starting on Thursday in Colombo, before playing three T20Is ahead of next month’s World Cup. England have struggled of late in the 50-over format, losing 11 of their past 15 matches. That poor run of form will add extra pressure to the position of head coach Brendon McCullum, whom Brook threw his support behind, calling him “the best head coach I’ve had by a million miles”.
England have made a number of changes to their team since their last outing against New Zealand three months ago, with the return of Zak Crawley to the top of the order the most noticeable change. Crawley replaces Jamie Smith as opener, and will play his first List A game in over two years, having last played for England in December 2023. Elsewhere, Liam Dawson has been selected as the second spinner to accompany Adil Rashid in the middle-overs.
England : Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (capt), Jos Buttler (wk), Will Jacks, Sam Curran, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid
[Cricinfo]
Charith Asalanka (Captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Pavan Rathnayake, Dhananjaya de Silva, Janith Liyanage, Kamindu Mendis, Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jeffrey Vandersay, Maheesh Theekshana, Milan Rathnayake, Asitha Fernando, Pramod Madushan, Eshan Malinga.
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