Athapaththu, 34, had raised concerns over her playing future with a couple of cryptic Facebook posts over the last week

Firdose Moonda08-Apr-2024

Chamari Athapaththu, Sri Lanka women’s captain, will take a decision on her international cricketing future after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup Qualifiers next month.”I’m still not decided [on retirement],” she said in East London, where Sri Lanka will play South Africa in the first of three ODIs tomorrow. “We can talk about it later. At the moment, I’m focused on the [South Africa] ODIs and World Cup qualifiers. Let’s see in the future.”Athapaththu, who is 34 and is due to play her 100th ODI for Sri Lanka in the upcoming series, raised concerns over her playing future with a couple of cryptic Facebook posts over the last week. On Thursday, after Sri Lanka secured a historic, first T20I series win over South Africa, Athapaththu put up pictures of herself and the trophy and included the words “last duty for my country” in the caption. She has since removed that phrase from the post.On Sunday, she posted another picture and wrote: “Review DRS,” with a winking emoji. “Some decisions are very difficult. But at some point in life we have to make such decisions.” She included a heart, the Sri Lankan flag and a trophy.Athapaththu has since confirmed that she will remain in charge of Sri Lanka at least until the completion of their T20 World Cup Qualifier campaign, which starts on April 25 in Abu Dhabi. Sri Lanka are grouped with Thailand, Scotland, Uganda and the USA and must top the group to qualify for the World Cup in Bangladesh later this year.Athapaththu said she is “definitely” available for the qualifier and is hopeful for Sri Lanka’s chances of securing a spot at the main event. “I’m pretty confident about my group. We’ve played really good cricket so far. But the UAE has different conditions and is really good for the batters. Every team goes to qualifiers to win so we have to play our best cricket in World Cup qualifiers as well. I’m pretty confident about my bowling unit and batting unit.”Under Athapaththu’s leadership, Sri Lanka have beaten England and South Africa in T20 series in the last 10 months, as well as reached the final of the Asian Games, which they lost to India. Their 50-over form has not been quite as impressive and they are in eighth place on the Women’s Championship Points table, well outside of automatic qualification for the 2025 ODI World Cup. They have nine more matches in the Championship – three each against South Africa, West Indies and Ireland – between now and August.Whether or not Athapaththu will feature in those matches remains to be seen but whatever she decides, she is content that Sri Lankan cricket is in good hands. “I’m really happy with our youngsters and how they handle the pressure in the middle, especially Vishmi [Gunaratne], Kavisha [Dilhari] and Harshita [Samarawickrama]. They’re playing really, really good cricket over the last couple of months,” she said. “And I think we have good depth.”We’ve worked hard as a country and as players. We’ve restructured our domestic cricket and we are playing a lot of cricket in Sri Lanka. We started an Under-19 tournament, Under-17 tournaments, provincial tournaments, and club tournaments. So better results are coming now. There are a lot of youngsters playing cricket in Sri Lanka and schoolgirls starting playing cricket.”These are the positive things on my side, and I hope we can be a good team in future.”

Kolkata Police had expressed concerns over providing security for both the match and local celebrations for a festival; Titans vs Capitals subsequently switched to April 17

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Apr-2024Kolkata Knight Riders’ home match against Rajasthan Royals, scheduled for April 17, has been brought up by a day to April 16, after the Kolkata police expressed concerns over providing security for both the match and local celebrations for Ram Navami, a Hindu festival. Bengal also begins voting in India’s general elections from April 19, so a section of security personnel will already be deployed for that.Subsequently, the game originally scheduled for April 16, Gujarat Titans vs Delhi Capitals in Ahmedabad, has been moved to April 17.”Since the match is coinciding with Ram Navami and a portion of security is already deployed for elections. Therefore it won’t be possible for us to provide adequate security for the match on April 17,” Kolkata Police said in a letter to Cricket Association of Bengal president Snehasish Ganguly, PTI reported.While announcing the switch, the statement put out by the IPL did not mention what happens to tickets already sold for either game.Initially, the IPL had released a partial schedule running from opening night on March 22 to April 7. The date for these two matches, along with the rest of the IPL schedule from April 8 to the final on May 26, was announced only on March 25, with organisers having waited on the dates of polling in the Indian general elections before firming things up. The elections will run in seven phases, with West Bengal one of the states voting in all seven phases of the election, starting on April 19 and ending on June 1.Matches being shifted owing to security forces being tied up elsewhere, often because of festivals, is not uncommon in India.Last year, during the ODI World Cup, for example, the CAB had requested the BCCI to move the England vs Pakistan game from November 12 to 11 to avoid a clash with the festival of Kali Puja. The Ahmedabad Police, it is understood, had also raised similar issues with the city hosting India vs Pakistan in October on the first day of the Navaratri festival. Eventually, nine games, including India vs Pakistan, had dates or start times changed, though BCCI secretary Jay Shah had said at the time that was due to various boards writing in to the BCCI about logistical issues.And New Zealand vs Pakistan in Hyderabad was played behind closed doors with Hyderabad Police expressing concerns over policing the game alongside Ganesh Chaturthi.

Erik ten Hag has ruled out Granit Xhaka leaving Bayer Leverkusen despite his agent saying a transfer agreement has been struck with Sunderland.

• Wirtz, Frimpong & Tah leave Leverkusen
• Xhaka wants Sunderland transfer
• Angry Ten Hag rules out more exits

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  After key Leverkusen players Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz joined Liverpool, while Jonathan Tah headed to Bayern Munich, Xhaka's agent claimed that a "basic agreement" has been struck with Sunderland and that the Swiss international wants to leave the club. Now, in response to agent José Noguerra Rodriguez saying Leverkusen had given the 32-year-old permission to talk about a transfer, manager Ten Hag has shut that down.

Advertisement

• Getty
  

  WHAT TEN HAG SAID

  "The agent can say anything. This club has already sold three important players. We can't let anyone else go. That would undermine the structure and culture of the squad," the ex-Manchester United boss told reporters. "He's [Xhaka] a leader. He still has three years left on his contract, and he's simply too important for us."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Leverkusen won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal in 2024 but went trophyless last season. Without manager Xabi Alonso and Frimpong and Wirtz, things could unravel for the German side – something Ten Hag is seemingly desperate to prevent. Xhaka is a vital part of their midfield and losing him as well would be a huge blow for the Bundesliga team.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• AFP
  

  WHAT NEXT?

  It remains to be seen if Xhaka will try and force through a Leverkusen exit this summer but in the meantime, Ten Hag's new team – who he joined back in May after getting sacked by Manchester United last October – face VFL Bochum in their next pre-season friendly on Sunday evening.

Rasmus Hojlund and Patrick Dorgu both got on the scoresheet as Manchester United breezed to an impressive 4-1 pre-season victory over Bournemouth.

Hojlund sends timely reminder to AmorimDorgu also shines with a goal and assistUSMNT's Adams makes first pre-season appearanceFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images SportTELL ME MORE

In a match that seemed more like Manchester than midsummer Chicago, Manchester United battled through rain and wind to beat Bournemouth 4-1 on Wednesday night, with Rasmus Hojlund and Patrick Dorgu starring in the pre-season win at Soldier Field.

Dorgu was impactful from the opening kick-off, starting at left wing back in a 3-4-2-1 formation, as the 20-year-old was pressing at every opportunity. He was almost immediately rewarded for his efforts as he lobbed a perfectly weighted cross that landed on Hojlund's head. The Danish striker easily converted, putting United ahead 1-0 in the eighth minute.

Dorgu was back for more in the 25th minute, as he took advantage of a pacey counterattack and eased by Julian Araujo in a one-on-one situation to score past Cherries goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic, doubling the Red Devils' advantage. Bournemouth's best chance came in the latter part of the first half, as Antoine Semenyo cut through United defenders to score past 39-year-old Tom Heaton. Yet, the play was called off due to a very close offside.

What started as intermittent rainfall in the first half turned into a torrential downpour in the second. The weather might have factored into some of the openness of the second half. Amad Diallo took advantage of lax defending in the box to score with a side-footed shot, padding United's lead at 3-0.

Manchester-born Ethan Williams wrapped up the scoring for United in the 72nd minute with a brilliant strike to showcase his exciting potential. Bournemouth eventually notched a consolation effort when Matthijs de Ligt scored an own goal in injury time.

Bournemouth's Tyler Adams made his first appearance since the USMNT's 2-1 loss to Mexico in the Gold Cup final, joining in the 77th minute. The midfielder was serenaded with loud cheers when his name was announced in the stadium. But overall, this was a night when United easily ran proceedings.

Ruben Amorim, entering his first full season as United coach after joining midway through last campaign, will be encouraged by the dominance shown by his side. The Portuguese played most of his starters, outside of Harry Maguire, through 70 minutes, and they were effective in pressing, dominating possession, and were clinical on set pieces.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE MVP

Hojlund issued the perfect response to reports of Man Utd pushing to sign a new No.9 in the form of RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko, but fellow Denmark international Dorgu was the star of the show. The pacey full-back showed why he is potentially a strong fit under Amorim as he drove United forward at every opportunity. The 20-year-old, who had just one assist in 12 Premier League appearances last term, was confident throughout.

NEW FACES

If there was anything to nitpick, none of United's new signings featured. Mbeumo was deemed not ready to play, with Amorim hoping to give the former Brentford star a run in the club's final Summer Series game, while Cunha was handed a rest after showing positive glimpses in United's previous pre-season game against West Ham.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

AFPONES TO WATCH

Williams, who rocks the No.56, not a number for a first-team winger, showed on Wednesday why he should potentially get some more action – in low-stakes cup games at least. He was quick and precise with his finish.

Another to watch was Ayden Heaven, who continued his solid pre-season despite United conceding late.

The column where we answer your questions

29-Aug-2005The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket:

Is there anyone who has played in an Ashes series for both Australia and England? asked Asad Rafique from the United States
There’s only one man who has played for England against Australia and for Australia against England. It was a long time ago: so long, in fact, that it isn’t strictly accurate to say that he played on both sides in Ashes series, because the Ashes hadn’t quite been thought of when he first played. Billy Midwinter was born in Gloucestershire in 1851, but by the time of the first-ever Test match, at Melbourne in 1876-77, he was playing Down Under and turned out for Australia in that inaugural game. He then returned to England and started playing for Gloucestershire – and, in 1878, was the subject of a bizarre tug-of-war between WG Grace and the touring Australians, as featured in one of our recent Rewind To … columns. Midwinter played for England in Australia in 1881-82, but by the following season he was back playing for the Aussies. He played 12 Tests in all, eight for Australia and four for England, scoring 269 runs and taking 24 wickets all told. In all there are 14 players who have appeared for two different countries in Tests: the most recent are Kepler Wessels (Australia and South Africa) and John Traicos (South Africa and Zimbabwe). For a full list, click here.Someone told me that Shaun Tait bowled a 33-ball over in England – is that right? asked Charles Kocsis from Australia
Well, Shaun Tait, who has just become Australia’s 392nd Test player, did have a rather gruesome introduction to county cricket when he played for Durham in August 2004, but it wasn’t quite as bad as a 33-ball over – I think the longest was one of ten deliveries. In his first match, for Durham against Somerset at Chester-le-Street, Tait had figures of 12-0-113-0, which included 21 no-balls and two wides. Wisden solemnly reported that he “endured a nightmare English debut … There were early glimpses of his undoubted pace from a slingy action, but his huge delivery stride made him over-step four times in his opening over”. And in his next game – which not entirely surprisingly was his last for Durham – his figures were 6-0-63-0, with five no-balls, against Essex at Colchester. He finished with the chastening overall figures of 18-0-176-0 for the season.I see that Don Bradman once scored 299 not out in a Test – why didn’t he make 300? Also Martin Crowe once made 299, how was he dismissed? asked Pat Khan from Australia
Bradman’s near-miss came in the fourth Test against South Africa at Adelaide in 1931-32. He was approaching his triple-century, but running out of partners: in an attempt to keep the strike he tried a risky second run, and Australia’s No. 11 Hugh “Pud” Thurlow – a fastish bowler from Queensland who was playing in his only Test – was run out by Syd Curnow’s return to the wicketkeeper Jock Cameron. The Don was left stranded on 299 not out. Crowe’s 299 came for New Zealand against Sri Lanka at Wellington in 1990-91, after a huge stand of 467 with Andrew Jones, who made 186. Needing one for his triple-century, Crowe dabbled a catch to the wicketkeeper off the gentle bowling of Arjuna Ranatunga. He later wrote: “I had choked. I didn’t concentrate. I forgot to say `Keep still, watch the ball’. Out for 299 – tell me it’s not true! Tears streamed down my face as I realised that this opportunity might never happen again.” It didn’t: Crowe never did make a Test triple-century, and not has any other New Zealander yet.What is the highest batting average, in Tests and ODIs, that a batsman has managed without scoring a century? asked Ahsen Khalid
Given a minimum of 20 innings, the highest in Tests is 35.29, by Bruce Laird, the Australian opener. He scored 1341 runs in 40 innings, but never exceeded the 92 he made in his first innings, against West Indies at Brisbane in 1979-80. Another Australian, the adhesive 1950s allrounder Ken Mackay, is second with 33.49 (1507 runs), while the South African captain turned innovative administrator Ali Bacher comes next, (679 runs at 32.33) just ahead of the Indian wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel (669 runs at 31.86). In ODIs, also given a minimum of 20 innings, the leader is yet another Australian, Graham Yallop, with 823 runs at 39.19, just ahead of Peter Kirsten of South Africa (1293 runs at 38.03), Graham Thorpe of England (2380 at 37.19), another South African in Jacques Rudolph (36.35), and New Zealand’s Andrew Jones (2784 at 35.69).In Zimbabwe recently Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori scored centuries from No. 7 and 8 in the order – how often has this happened in Tests? asked Richard Darrow from New Zealand
The performance of McCullum and Vettori – who lifted New Zealand from an undistinguished 113 for 5 to 452 in the first Test at Harare – was the 10th time two batsmen had managed to score a century in the same Test innings from No. 7 and below. It happened first at Adelaide in 1907-08, when Roger Hartigan hit 116 on his debut for Australia from No. 8 and Clem Hill, coming in much lower than usual at No. 9 because of flu, made 160. Against England at Melbourne in 1920-21 Australia’s “Nip” Pellew scored 116 and Jack Gregory biffed 100 from No. 9, while at Lord’s in 1931 Les Ames (137 from No. 7) and Gubby Allen (122 from No. 9) dug England out of trouble against New Zealand. More than 18 years later West Indies’ 631 at Delhi included hundreds from Everton Weekes (128 from No. 7) and Robert Christiani (107 from No. 8) as well as earlier ones from Clyde Walcott and Gerry Gomez. It happened twice in 1955: at Bridgetown in May West Indies were rescued against Australia by a massive stand between Denis Atkinson (219 from No. 7) and Clairmonte Depeiaza (122 from No. 8), then at Old Trafford an eventual South African win was set up by John Waite (113 from No. 7) and Paul Winslow (108 from No. 8). It wasn’t till 1982-83 that it happened again, when Jeff Dujon made 110 from No. 7 and Clive Lloyd 106 from No. 8 against India in Antigua. And there were two more recent instances before this latest one: in Colombo in 2001-02 Sri Lanka’s Hashan Tillakaratne and Thilan Samaraweera both managed unbeaten hundreds from Nos 7 and 8 against India, while at Christchurch earlier this year Simon Katich made 118 against New Zealand from No. 7 (Jason Gillespie had earlier been used as a nightwatchman) and Adam Gilchrist followed that with a rapid 121, with six sixes.I heard about a Timeless Test that had to end because of a team’s ship leaving, was this the longest match of all? asked Dean Burns from Australia
The most famous so-called Timeless Test was the one at Durban in 1938-39, when England – who had been set 696 to win by South Africa – had reached 654 for 5 when rain brought an end to the tenth day of the match, at which point the touring team had to leave for Cape Town to catch the boat home. It meant that the match, which was supposed to be played to a finish, had to be left drawn. It is the longest Test on record, at ten days, although there was no play possible on the ninth day, and there were also two rest days. Something similar had happened at Kingston in 1929-30 – after the eighth day of another “timeless” Test was washed out, the England team had to catch the boat home, and West Indies, who had been set the little matter of 836 to win, escaped with a draw. It was generally agreed that this type of thing was not good for cricket: even Bill Edrich, who scored 219 in the final innings of that Durban marathon, wrote “What all of us felt was that it was an absurdity for any cricket match to go on through ten playing days and two Sundays. There must be a time limit to cricket matches.” After that, there was: even in Australia, where all Tests had been played to a finish since the late 1880s, a time limit was introduced.

John Bracewell’s approach to selection is similar to that of John Mitchell

Andrew McLean02-Apr-2006

John Bracewell has adopted a similar approach to John Mitchell, former coach of the All Blacks © Getty Images
At the start of last season I suggested on this site that John Bracewell’s reign as New Zealand coach bore parallels with that of John Mitchell, the coach of the All Black side that failed to live up to his own hype at the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Tenuous as the link may have been then – I was referring to Bracewell’s Mitchell-like disregard for media in Bangladesh – the comparison now is becoming more apparent with each team selected.Back in December, New Zealand chased down a then world-record score to beat Australia in a one-day international thanks in no small part to Scott Styris’ blinding 101 off 96 balls. His reward was a demotion in the batting order for the next match. And the reason: to give someone else a go ahead of next year’s World Cup. The New Zealand selectors are so obsessed with “building” depth for that tournament that team selection for Test cricket seems to be inconsequential at present.I mention Styris here because the stated this week that Bracewell had indicated it is Styris who faces the selectorial axe from the side for the first Test in South Africa on April 15 to allow the fit-again Jacob Oram to assume the No.6 batting position that Styris occupied in Zimbabwe in August and against the West Indies at home this month.With a Test average of 43.56, Oram is the rightful custodian of the No.6 berth as it means New Zealand can field either two spinners with Oram as the third seamer or three specialist quick bowlers can be chosen with Oram providing back up, but for his inclusion to be at the expense of Styris would be truly bizarre. Make no mistake, had Styris not saved New Zealand in the first Test at Auckland with a sublime 103*, the series with the West Indies would have been an unforgivable 1-1 draw rather than 2-0 to New Zealand.What this goes to show is the irreverence to Test cricket on our shores these days. While we build for the World Cup, developing a strategy aimed at making New Zealand a worthy Test opponent – and one that gets invited to play in lucrative series in India at that – appears at worst to be not happening at all and at best an after-thought.Take the opening position for example. Since Bracewell assumed the dual role of coach and chief selector, New Zealand has played 22 Tests. In that period the most capped openers, outside of the now-retired Mark Richardson, have been Craig Cumming and James Marshall with five Tests each and, although they both toured Zimbabwe just one series back, neither is in the running to open now. In total, Bracewell has used nine openers in those 22 Tests.The combination for the just-completed West Indies series included a new cap in Jamie How and a first-time opener in Hamish Marshall. In addition, Peter Fulton was debutant at No.3 and his half century at Wellington was the only significant score the trio could muster. Thus, the mind boggles to think it is Styris, with five centuries and an average over 40 in his 24 Tests, who could be the one on drinks duty.It should never have been this way. If Oram was a certainty to come back in at No.6, then Styris should have filled his more natural position at No. 4, with Stephen Fleming moving back to first drop, the spot he’s held more often than not over his 99-match career. That way the top-order would have had a more experienced look to it and Fulton, or even the out-of-favour Lou Vincent, could have filled in for Oram. Better still, Fleming could have opened in place of Marshall, for he has had a track record and some success there.

The handling of Scott Styris has been bizarre © Getty Images
Reading between the lines, Bracewell is adopting a similar approach to selection as Mitchell did. First, just as Mitchell argued vehemently that a “panel” selected each team when in reality the other selectors were merely puppets, Bracewell, who doubles as the live-in coach, appears to wield the real selection power. If it were any other way, would Glenn Turner, a Test opener of some repute, really allow the opening position to become the sacrificial lamb it is at present?Second, it seems that new faces are easier for Bracewell to handle than old heads. The reduced role of Fleming as captain since Bracewell replaced Dennis Aberhart as coach has been widely documented. With the squeeze now going on Styris following on from the in-again-out-again run of Nathan Astle earlier this summer while the newer boys Fulton, How and Hamish Marshall are being given every possible chance to cement their places, the comparison to Mitchell’s dumping of Anton Oliver, Taine Randell and Andrew Mehrtens – senior players who unashamedly spoke their mind – is uncanny.Mitchell sought out and found a man who would follow orders in Reuben Thorne to lead the All Blacks and, while Fleming does not fall into that category, he has been given the privileged position of being able to bat at No. 4 despite the fact it upsets the balance of the team and was allowed to take plenty of time off when his child was born in December. As an aside, Vincent has been deemed ineligible for the upcoming South Africa tour because he wants to be at home for the birth of his child.Third, Bracewell is now infamous for what has become known in New Zealand as “Mitch-speak”. Just as Mitchell had a way of weaving his words to say little and confuse, in his latest pearler Bracewell said this week that once Oram had been passed as medically fit, it was up to the selectors to determine whether he was “skill-fit”. If anyone knows what that means, please let me know. As it happens Oram took a career-best 6 for 45 in domestic cricket a few days back so, presumably, those skills that have seen him rack up 17 Tests have not disappeared.