The month of June started with a Bang! The ‘Mankading’ dismissal of Jos Buttler by Sachithra Senanayake in the 5th and deciding ODI between England and Sri Lanka sparked controversies all around the world in an unfamiliar capacity.
Meanwhile Sri Lanka won the final ODI by 6 wickets and bagged another Bilateral ODI trophy. Hashim Amla was named the new South African Test captain and India’s ‘threat’ to form a parallel world cricket body summoned up 1st week of June, which ended with many unsolved mysteries.
Sachithra Senanayake’s bowling action – legal or illegal?
The Sri Lankan off spin bowler Sachithra Senanayake was reported for a suspected illegal bowling action by on-field umpires Marais Erasmus and Ian Gould, TV umpire Chris Gaffaney, and match referee Jeff Crowe at the end of the 4th ODI between England and Sri Lanka. The umpires’ report cited concerns over a number of deliveries that were considered to be suspect and he will be tested at Cardiff Metropolitan University for biomechanical testing in the coming week. Legality of his bowling action was questioned in 2011 during the Sri Lanka ‘A’ tour of England and he was cleared after biomechanical tests at the University of Western Australia proved to be within the limits of the ICC’s Playing Conditions.
Senanayake vs Buttler ‘Mankading’ row
‘Mankading’ incident occurred in the 44th over of the English innings when Sachithra Senanayake removed the bails at the non-striker’s end with Jos Buttler outside his crease. The bowler appealed and the umpire asked the captain Mathews if he would like to withdraw his appeal. Mathews was having none of it and the batsman was given out, run-out. Many comments were made by different cricketing persons around the world regarding this incident which spoke about the ‘spirit of cricket’. Sri Lankans gave a warning to Jos Buttler in the previous over and it is popularly believed that Buttler should have heeded it. This legitimate mode of dismissal has been affected only seven times previously, in the history of international cricket and batmen backing up too far, has now been exposed as a form cheating as well.
Playing to the rules means playing to the spirit of the game, which is my personal opinion.
Sri Lanka victorious over England
Sri Lanka secured the Royal London ODI trophy beating England by 6 wickets in the 5th and final ODI played at Edgbaston on June 2nd. The visitors, after losing the toss bowled England out for 219 with paceman Lasith Malinga taking three for 50 after the spinners dried up the run-rate. Alastair Cook top scored with 56 runs. In reply, Sri Lanka finished on 222 for four with 10 balls to spare. Lankan chase was propelled by knocks of 60* and 53 by Lahiru Thirimanne and Mahela Jayawardene respectively. Skipper Angelo Mathews made 42 runs in 36 balls to complete the chase. Lasith Malinga was named the Man of the Series for his 7 wickets in 5 matches.
Hashim Amla named South Africa Test captain
31 year old Hashim Amla was named the new South African Test captain and his first assignment will be South Africa’s two-Test tour of Sri Lanka in July. AB De Villiers will continue his stint as the ODI captain while he will deputize Amla in the longest format of the game.
South African selectors included uncapped Stiaan van Zyl and Dane Piedt in their Test squad against Sri Lanka and test retired, Jacques Kallis makes a return to the ODI squad.
Test squad: Alviro Petersen, Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla (captain), Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers (wk), JP Duminy, Stiaan van Zyl, Wayne Parnell, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Kyle Abbott, Quinton de Kock, Dane Piedt
ODI squad: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wk), Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers (captain), JP Duminy, David Miller, Wayne Parnell, Ryan McLaren, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Vernon Philander, Faf du Plessis, Aaron Phangiso, Beuran Hendricks
England name their Test squad to face Sri Lanka
Uncapped trio Sam Robson, Chris Jordan and Moeen Ali have been named in the England squad for the first test against Sri Lanka, starting at Lord’s on June 12th. Fast bowler Liam Plunkett has been included after seven years while impressive Ben Stokes misses out.
Test Squad: Alastair Cook (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Matt Prior, Sam Robson, Joe Root, Chris Woakes
Kaushal Silva and Lahiru Thirimanne struck centuries in warm-up game
Kaushal Silva and Lahiru Thirimanne warmed-up perfectly for the upcoming Test series against England by scoring brisk hundreds in their drawn tour game against Northamptonshire.
Sri Lanka batted 138 overs in their first inning scoring 558 runs for 8 wickets before declaring the inning. Northamptonshire staged a remarkable batting effort led by Rob Keogh’s century as the hosts made 345 all out in 87.1 overs. Right arm fast bowler Dhammika Prasad was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka picking up 4 wickets for 68 runs in a hostile spell. The 3rd day’s play was abandoned due to rain and Sri Lanka got another 31 overs to bat in the 2nd inning before the match ended without a decision.
BCCI threatened to leave ICC
It has now been brought to light that the Board of Control for Cricket in India had threatened to form a parallel world cricket body before the England and Australian boards agreed to the controversial restructuring of the ICC and decided to give a lion’s share of revenue to the Indian board.
“India would play a leading role in the ICC and the reasons are well known. India is more or less responsible for 68 to 72 percent of the ICC’s gross revenue but unfortunately so far we were getting 3 to 4 percent of it.” BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel stated at a media conference on 7th June at Hyderabad.
Tamim Iqbal returns to Bangladesh ODI squad
Left handed opening batsman Tamim Iqbal has been named in the 15 man Bangladesh squad to face India in a 3 match ODI series which starts next week. Uncapped players Taskin Ahmed and Mithun Ali have also been called up to the squad.
ODI Squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain/wk), Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Shamsur Rahman, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Mahmudullah, Mithun Ali, Abdur Razzak, Masrafe Mortaza, Shohag Gazi, Ziaur Rahman, Al-Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed
