Sports
Pubudu Dassanayake appointed Nepal head coach
Pubudu Dassanayake has been reappointed as head coach of the Nepal men’s national team, Cricket Association of Nepal announced at the end of their board meeting held earlier today. Dassanayake will fill the vacancy that opened up after Dav Whatmore stepped down from the position in September at the end of Nepal’s ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 matches in Oman.
Dassanayake has had a successful run as coach at the Associate level over the years. From 2007 to 2011, he was with Canada, who he represented as a cricketer after migrating from Sri Lanka in 2001. He helped the team qualify for their third straight ODI World Cup, and was then appointed as Nepal coach.
“I am simply gratified and blessed that I have got this opportunity to work with Cricket Association of Nepal,” he said after his appointment. “I am hopeful I would be able now to take Nepal cricket to a great height as we have immense talent not only in senior level but also in the junior level.”
He was involved with the Nepal set-up from 2011 to 2016, guiding them from Division Four of the World Cricket League (WCL) to Division One, the WCL Championship, and to their first major ICC tournament, the 2014 T20 World Cup.
After that, he served as the head coach of USA for just under three years, before resigning in July 2019. He was in charge as USA moved up from Division Four of the WCL, in November 2016, to ODI status in April 2019 after they secured a top-four finish at WCL Division Two.
As a cricketer, Dassanayake, now 51, played 11 Tests and 16 ODIs as a wicketkeeper for Sri Lanka between 1993 and 1994, before Romesh Kaluwitharana became the preferred keeper for the national team. By the turn of the millennium, he was spending his off seasons playing as an overseas club pro for Centurions CC in the Toronto suburb of Brampton. By 2001, he had left Sri Lanka for good.
Though he didn’t have hopes of continuing as a cricketer in Canada, his performances with Centurions CC helped him make the Canada team once he had completed his four-year residency requirement. He made his debut at 34 in the 2005 ICC Trophy in Ireland, where he helped Canada qualify for the 2007 World Cup. He couldn’t take part in the tournament, though, because of his commitments as a duty manager at the Toronto Cricket, Skating & Curling Club.
At 36, after the 2007 World Cup, he took over as the coach of the Canada side, and has been a professional coach since.
Whatmore, whose shoes Dassanayake will fill, was appointed to the position in Nepal in December 2020 and took charge in early 2021, with qualification for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia the stated focus. Whatmore, however, decided to step down shortly into his job, and it was understood at the time that his decision was influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic, which had made it difficult for him to see his family because of travel restrictions. (cricinfo)
An ODI between Canada and Netherlamds in King City Toronto on Tuesday was abandoned due to a dangerous pitch. The fixture was part of the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 competition, which is part of the qualification pathway for the 2027 ODI World Cup.
The match was abandoned just 4.1 overs into the Netherlands innings after they had chosen to bat. They were 15 for 1, with Max O’Dowd the batter dismissed for a duck in the second over. The pitch had uneven bounce and the batters were struck several times during the short passage of play.
On June 12, four days before the abandoned match, the ICC had issued a statement saying the pitch at King City that was used for an ODI between USA and the Netherlands on June 8 had been given an “unsatisfactory” rating and one demerit point.
“This was a pitch that fell below the standard expected for this level of cricket,” match referee Phil Thompson had said about the surface for the USA-Netherlands match. “Both captains expressed disappointment with how it turned out, and the match officials assessed it as ‘very poor’. The inconsistent bounce created challenging and potentially unsafe playing conditions. Taking all factors into consideration, I believe the pitch merits an ‘unsatisfactory’ rating.”
According to the ICC’s pitch and outfield monitoring process, pitches that get an “unsatisfactory” rating will be given one demerit point, while an “unfit” pitch rating will result in three demerit points for the venue. Demerit points remain active for a rolling five-year period, and an accumulation of six demerit points will result in the venue being suspended from hosting international matches for 12 months (12 demerit points will lead to a 24-month ban).
(Cricinfo)
Joshua Da Silva and Amir Jangoo have earned recalls to West Indies’ squad for the two-match World Test Championship series at home against Sri Lanka starting later this month, while the two Josephs, Alzarri and Shamar, are back after missing the tours of India and New Zealand late last year because of injuries.
Trevin Imalch had kept wicket when West Indies last played Test cricket, in New Zealand last December, but Da Silva, 33 Test matches old, has returned after scoring 996 runs across the last two seasons of the West Indies Championship. Imlach, who failed with the bat in New Zealand with a total of 81 runs across six innings – after scoring 33 runs in his only Test in India – has been named captain of a West Indies Select XI to play the Sri Lankans in a tour match in Coolidge from June 18 to 21. Roston Chase will continue to captain the Test side.
West Indies vs Sri Lanka Tests
Jangoo, dropped after only one Test appearance, in Multan in January 2025, where he scored 0 and 30, has returned to the side following a fruitful WI Championship in which he scored 411 runs in seven innings. He finished second on the scorers’ table there, only behind Da Silva, who scored 413 in seven outing. The highlight of Jangoo’s season was the 203 not out he scored for Trinidad & Tobago against Leeward Islands
The pair of Alzarri Joseph and Shamar Joseph, meanwhile, last played Test cricket during the home series against Australia in mid-2025.”Every Test series is an opportunity for us to grow as a team and strengthen our identity,” Darren Sammy, the head coach, said in a Cricket West Indies statement. “Sri Lanka are a quality side, so we know we’ll have to be at our best, but we’re excited about the challenge ahead.”For us, it’s about playing with discipline, showing character when the game gets tough, and representing the West Indies with pride. The players have been putting in the work, and we’re looking forward to putting on a strong display for our fans across the Caribbean.”
Some of the squad members are currently participating in a high-performance training camp in Antigua, which began on June 12 and will run till June 22. The members of the Test squad who were also part of the white-ball series against Sri Lanka – West Indies lost the ODIs and won the T20Is – will join the camp on June 15. The Tests will be played in North Sound from June 25 to 29 and July 3 to 7.
“This is a key component of our preparations heading into the series, providing players and coaches with valuable time to enhance and improve the skills we want to see sharpened, based on the areas we need to focus our attention on when facing this opponent,” Sammy said about the camp. “It also gives us the opportunity to put clear objectives and plans in place for the conclusion of the summer against Pakistan.
“Additionally, the four-day warm-up game prior to the series provides the chance for some of our Test hopefuls to play in high-intensity action and create the avenue for more competition within the squad ahead of the upcoming and future series.”
West Indies are currently bottom of the nine-team WTC table, having lost seven of their eight games in the ongoing cycle.
West Indies squad for Test series against Sri Lanka
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