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Surrey went down tamely in the end, their optimistic plan to take 10 Warwickshire wickets in less time that it took to concede 281 runs falling a long way short

Jon Culley at Edgbaston20-Sep-2013
ScorecardEngland allrounder hit an unbeaten 79 to help Warwickshire to victory•PA PhotosSurrey went down tamely in the end, their optimistic plan to take 10 Warwickshire wickets in less time that it took to concede 281 runs falling a long way short as Ateeq Javid and Chris Woakes built a magnificent partnership that saw the home side’s requirement met with more than 25 overs to spare of the final day.Javid, a neat right-handed batsman of only 21 years who has come into his own in the second half of the season, played superbly, applying himself with considerable patience and diligence on the third evening, with his side 19 for 2, and again as the final day unfolded and Surrey momentarily glimpsed a chance when they removed Laurie Evans and Rikki Clarke in the morning session.Evans threw his wicket away by chasing a wide long-hop from Stuart Meaker and Clarke deflected a drive on to his own stumps, at which point Warwickshire were still 155 from their target, a point at which another wicket or two might have had them looking at their long tail and getting jittery.But Javid never wobbled for a moment, and once Woakes was settled and timing his shots confidently the scoreboard was seldom static and Surrey’s morale steadily weakened. The pitch offered nothing that the spinners, Gareth Batty and Zafar Ansari, could use to much effect, and the threat posed by the quicker men was never more than fleeting. Chris Tremlett, who has ended doubts over his future by signing a one-year extension to his contract, did not look like a bowler champing at the bit, even with an Ashes squad due to be announced.Thus ended a grim year, the second in a row, for Surrey, who reached the final of the FLt20 but saw little else for their investment in a squad that has, at different times, seen Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting, Kevin Pietersen and Hashim Amla pulling on a Surrey sweater.The departure through injury in May of South Africa captain Smith, who had been hired to bring order and purpose to a dressing room still feeling the pain left by the Tom Maynard tragedy, was a severe blow, effectively requiring the plans for the season to be redrawn. Within a few weeks came the sacking of team director, Chris Adams, but Alec Stewart, the executive director who has been in temporary charge since then, offered no excuses.”We did not look like a relegation squad on paper but we don’t play on paper,” he said. “If you look at the lack of batting points, the lack of times we haven’t bowled sides out – the win column says one and if you only win one game you are going to finish near the bottom.”Losing Graeme Smith was a blow. You don’t want to lose your leader, no side would want to lose their captain, no one would want to lose someone of the calibre of Graeme Smith. He had only been there three games or so but had a huge impact, not just as a batsman — we knew he was a fine player, a fine leader – it was the impact he had on the dressing room.”But that’s not an excuse. We lost him. Other sides lose players, other sides lose their captain for a while. We have not played well enough. You can’t stand here and defend something you can’t defend.”We needed to have played better. It was not a question of one person not being here. Collectively the performances were not good enough, which is why we are sat rock bottom.”Stewart accepted that there would be some supporters of other teams who would revel in Surrey’s demise, burdened as they are with the label of county cricket’s fat cats. He questioned whether it was entirely fair but took it is as inevitable.”There are plenty of people out there who will be pleased to see us go down,” he said. “We are looked upon as a big club, we have been tagged as this cheque-book county. But people forget there is a salary cap.”There is expectation of Surrey but who brings that expectation? Is it from within Surrey, or from outside of Surrey because it is a Test match ground, because it is London, because as a club it makes a lot of money, with the Test match revenues, the T20 revenues and the way they market the club? That’s maybe a reason. There is the history as well.”You have to look at the here and now and the immediate future, and the future is to make sure we have good people, who can improve as individuals, and good people at the top who can help nurture those younger players through.”For us now it is about how you plan for one to five years, so that you don’t come up and go down again, and stay strong for a length of time.”I don’t want to stay in Division Two for longer than one year but when you do get promoted you want to make sure the foundations are there so that you can stay in the first division and then challenge at the top end rather than trying to survive at the bottom end.”Permanent replacements for Adams and first-team coach Ian Salisbury will be announced in the coming weeks, Stewart said. “We are getting closer, but there was never any rush. Stuart Barnes in the head coach role has been outstanding, with his work ethic and his attention to detail, and David Thorpe, our team analyst who has been involved with our academy, has stepped up well.”They have done all they can, the players have done all they can in their work ethic. That has not been transferred to the middle, with bat and ball.”The future, meanwhile, looks brighter for Warwickshire. Failing to defend their title has been a disappointment, but an understandable one given terrible luck with injuries, a headache that has not yet lifted after Jamie Atkinson broke a thumb, giving them another problem over who keeps wicket.Yet Javid and Woakes, both former players with the inner-city Aston Manor club, have given them the chance to finish their season in the top three for the third year running, should they condemn another team to relegation with a win at Derby next week.

Twenty-two players made their Youth Test debuts, as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh played out a draw

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Apr-2013
Scorecard
AK Tyronne took seven wickets for 142 runs in his marathon bowling spell of 46.2 overs•BCBThere are certainly no baby steps even in the world of Under-19 cricket. Both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh kicked off a new cycle in this age-group with a high-scoring draw. All 22 players who played this match made Youth Test debuts. There were three centuries, a seven-wicket haul and a five-wicket haul.Minod Bhanuka took Sri Lanka from 4 for 193 in the middle session of the first day, to a solid score of 422 on the second. He made an attacking 114 with 12 boundaries and four sixes. Earlier, Sandun Weerakkody scored 59. Bangladesh’s legspinner Jubair Hossain took five wickets, including those of Bhanuka and Weerakkody.The home side fell 25 runs short in their first-innings response, though there were centuries from Mehedy Hasan and captain Mosaddek Hossain. The pair put on 166 runs for the fourth wicket before Mehedy fell for 105. Mosaddek batted longer, taking more than five hours to score 107 runs. AK Tyronne took seven wickets for 142 runs in his marathon bowling spell of 46.2 overs.Jubair added a further three wickets in the Sri Lanka second innings as they attempted to bat the home side out of the game. They declared on 207 for 8, setting Bangladesh an improbable 233 runs to win in the final session. Tyronne took two further wickets, as they made 71 for three before play ended.The second and final four-day game begins in Sylhet from April 16. They also play two one-day matches in the eastern city.

A fighting 96 at Headingley from Gloucestershire’s Australian captain, Michael Klinger, condemned Yorkshire to yet another defeat in the Yorkshire Bank 40 and maintained his own side’s place at the top of the table.

02-Jun-2013
ScorecardMichael Klinger fell four runs short of a century•Getty ImagesA fighting 96 at Headingley from Gloucestershire’s Australian captain, Michael Klinger, condemned Yorkshire to yet another defeat in the Yorkshire Bank 40 and maintained his own side’s place at the top of the table.Once again, Yorkshire’s depleted one-day attack was unable to put their opponents under sufficient pressure as they chased a 241 target which they achieved with five wickets and 11 balls to spare.With Tim Bresnan playing for England, Liam Plunkett and Jack Brooks injured and Ryan Sidebottom and Steven Patterson rested, teenage seamer Ben Coad was given a first-team debut and he deservedly picked up the important wicket of Hamish Marshall.Marshall and Klinger shared an opening stand of 74 in 12 overs, Marshall setting the tone by driving Moin Ashraf over long-off for six. Coad gave away only one run in a tight first over and he went on to dismiss Marshall for 44, thanks to a great diving catch at short fine leg by Iain Wardlaw.But Klinger then found a more than capable partner in wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick, who came to the crease in place of Chris Dent who had left the field with a side injury during the Yorkshire innings.Gary Ballance just failed to hold on to a stinging chance at short cover from Klinger before the batsman drove Richard Pyrah for sixes either side of completing his 50 from 57 balls. Roderick also cleared the rope against Adil Rashid on his way to his own half-century from 55 deliveries.The stand had galloped on to 119 in 19 overs when Roderick tried to steer Wardlaw over the slip area and was caught behind for 63 from 66 balls with four fours and a six.Alex Gidman had his middle stump knocked back by Pyrah, who also had Benny Howell driving a high catch to Coad at mid-on, and Klinger robbed himself of a century by driving Ashraf to Ballance at mid-off, his 96 coming off 98 deliveries with six fours and three sixes.That left Gloucestershire on 226 for 5 in the 37th over but they were still very much in charge and Ian Cockbain and James Fuller saw them safely home.Yorkshire had reason to feel disappointed with their score of 240 for 6 after winning the toss on a good batting pitch as too many batsmen got out to poor shots when looking well set. The backbone to the innings was provided by Phil Jaques, who survived a difficult chance to Gidman at slip before he had scored and went on to make 70 off 86 balls with seven boundaries.Rashid contributed an unbeaten 43 from 30 deliveries and has not been dismissed in any of his last four innings in all competitions, boasting an average of 254.50 in the County Championship and 81.50 in the YB40.The experiment of Pyrah opening the innings with skipper Andrew Gale failed once again, Pyrah tamely driving Graeme McCarter low to Howell at cover in the second over to leave Pyrah with only 29 runs from five knocks.Gidman put down Jaques as he dived to his right and there was another fortunate moment for Jaques when he top-edged Fuller just out of 17-year-old debutant Miles Hammonds’ reach at midwicket. Gale added 52 with Jaques but after striking 26 off 28 balls, he attempted an ungainly pull outside off-stump and presented Gidman with an easy catch at midwicket.Ballance joined Jaques in a third-wicket partnership of 63, the highest of the innings, though Ballance survived a two-handed slip chance to Marshall and then a fierce on-drive to Gidman. Offspinner Hammond bowled much better than his final figures of 1 for 50 would suggest, his sole victim being Ballance when he holed out to Dent at deep backward square leg.Jaques completed his half-century off 66 deliveries with five boundaries while Adam Lyth advanced to 30 with some stylish shots until he went back to cut at Gidman and was bowled.Yorkshire were 164 for 4 in 30 overs and next to go was Jaques, who moved well outside off-stump in a bid to paddle Gidman and was bowled. Andy Hodd drove at David Payne and was caught at slip by Klinger and it took an unbroken stand of 52 in seven overs between Rashid and Will Rhodes to give the score a reasonable look.

Ian Healy has slammed Matthew Wade’s wicketkeeping during the Test summer and said Australia needed to choose their best gloveman for the upcoming tours of India and England

Brydon Coverdale11-Jan-2013Ian Healy has slammed Matthew Wade’s wicketkeeping during the Test summer and said Australia needed to choose their best gloveman for the upcoming tours of India and England. Healy, who watched from the commentary box as Wade kept wicket for his first home summer, was disappointed not only with the way Wade missed opportunities for stumpings and catches, but also what he perceived as a lack of discipline in getting the basics right.”He’s not happy at all. He didn’t have a good summer with the gloves at all,” Healy told on Friday. “Even some of the basic stuff that he’s not tidying up, he’s not getting to the stumps, he’s not taking returns well, he’s not sharpening up the fielding effort. Even those basic disciplines weren’t being created, let alone missed dismissals.”Nathan Lyon wouldn’t have been that happy, there were four or five chances missed from his bowling. He’s getting criticised for not taking wickets. These are all the little internal conflicts of an under-achieving wicketkeeper. Matthew Wade says he’s still young and he wants to keep improving, but I don’t think he’s that young. He’s 25.”If he is keeping for Australia, these sort of things have to be done, and they have to be done better. We’re playing against Sri Lanka, it’s not as if we’re playing against South Africa or England for five Tests [where] we need everything taken. He needs to really get a look at what Brad Haddin is doing and try to find a way to get it done himself.”Healy’s strong words came as Wade was at home resting from the first two one-day internationals against Sri Lanka, having played more matches for Australia over the past year in all formats than anyone except David Warner. John Inverarity’s selection panel is so keen on Wade as a Test player that he even batted at No.6 during the third Test against Sri Lanka in Sydney, and scored an unbeaten century.That was a position that not even the great Adam Gilchrist occupied on a regular basis during his days in the Test side. Healy is widely regarded as the best of Australia’s modern glovemen, while his replacement Gilchrist performed adequately behind the stumps and was brilliant with the bat. Healy said during Gilchrist’s time, when Australia had bowlers like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, they could afford to play a wicketkeeper whose batting was his stronger suit, but not anymore.”What Adam Gilchrist had was a relevance to his team,” Healy said. “He was appropriate to the team. He had a team with a great bowling attack that created more chances than you needed. We haven’t got an attack like that now. We’ve got an attack that if you need 20 wickets in a Test, they might create 18 and you’d better take a half-chance here or there or a great run-out and you might get over the line.”That’s where you don’t need a wicketkeeper missing stuff. Right now Australian cricket in the Test form initially needs the best wicketkeeper. We need to find out who that is, and someone who is not making mistakes.”Healy said he could not understand why the selectors had chosen Wade ahead of Brad Haddin at the start of this summer. However, he also said that he believed Queensland’s Chris Hartley, 30, was the best pure gloveman in the country but that he was unlikely to earn an opportunity at international level with Wade, Haddin and Tim Paine all ahead of him in the queue.”I don’t understand why they dropped [Haddin] and it’s never been explained to me or the public after the West Indies,” Healy said. “He wasn’t in great form [and] he had to go home and look after his ill daughter. Then when he gets that right and he’s ready to play again, he’s not picked. I thought that was a bit harsh.”Tim Paine can emerge without being picked for Australia. Chris Hartley must be sitting in Queensland thinking I’m gone here, even though he’s probably the best keeper of the lot. You talk to the players and they say that all the time. He’s missed out I’d say. He’s 30 and there’s three being talked before him.”

The club versus country debate has cropped up again as the BCB president Nazmul Hassan has barred players from participating in the IPL during an international series

Mohammad Isam06-Mar-2013The club versus country debate has cropped up again as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan has barred players from participating in the IPL during international series.Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal are the only Bangladesh players associated with the league, and have not asked for NOCs (No Objection Certificates) yet. Bangladesh’s Zimbabwe tour commences on April 13 and ends on May 12, while the IPL is scheduled between April 3 and May 26. Shakib plays for Kolkata Knight Riders and Tamim for Pune Warriors and the BCB decision means the pair will be eligible to play in only four IPL matches.”There is no chance for players to take part in these [IPL] tournaments when an international series is going on,” Hassan said. “As far as I know, cricket boards don’t allow such things, and we will not provide that opportunity [either].”We haven’t been requested to provide any NOCs yet. I was asked if they can go to the IPL instead of the Zimbabwe tour, but I told them that they wouldn’t be able to. I know for sure that even in my capacity, I cannot let them go.”Hassan didn’t single out the two players, but warned players against trying to pick and choose formats. “The country comes first, otherwise there is always the chance of the players thinking they can play in these tournaments, where they have more personal benefits. I am not saying that the players are taking chances, but this attitude isn’t healthy when you look at the bigger picture.”

05-Jun-2012
ScorecardJade Dernbach took two wickets in his five overs before rain forced the players off•PA PhotosDefending champions Surrey were forced to share the points with Scotland after rain ruined their Clydesdale Bank 40 encounter at The Oval. Only 23 overs were possible before the weather closed in with the visitors having recovered from a poor start.Surrey new-ball pairing Jade Dernbach and Stuart Meaker had threatened to blow the Scots away as they were reduced to 46 for 4. An unbroken stand of 78 between Jean Symes and Preston Mommsen slowed Surrey’s progress before the rain halted it completely.Scotland’s South African overseas signing Symes batted particularly well for his 58 not out, while Mommsen – who has played one County Championship match for Leicestershire this summer – was 30 not out from 33 balls when the weather closed in. The point was enough to give Surrey sole ownership of the top position in Group B, while Scotland collected a fourth point of the campaign to stay fifth.The visitors had been in immediate troubled when Meaker made the initial strike, forcing Calum MacLeod to glove a ferocious lifter straight up into the air and into the gloves of wicketkeeper Steven Davies.Dernbach then made a double strike in the seventh over of the innings. Josh Davey, on 7 and attempting to pull, spliced a simple catch to mid-on, before Dernbach seamed one back into Craig Wallace’s pads to have him lbw for a duck.But left-hander Symes, in at No. 5, then pulled Dernbach for four and lofted and cut Murali Kartik’s left-arm spin for further boundaries as he led the Scottish fightback. Ewan Chalmers, who made 10 as the total was doubled, fell to Kartik when he presented a straightforward return catch, but Mommsen then came in to join Symes in a spirited partnership.Symes included seven fours in his 50, and had just scythed the recalled Meaker for six over the short third-man boundary when a fine drizzle turned to heavier rain and the players were forced from the field, never to return.

Imran Tahir was reflecting on a sudden no-balling problem as he joined the rest of the South Africa squad on a relaxing day at the London Olympics.

Firdose Moonda08-Aug-2012Most of the South African squad are enjoying some down time at the London Olympics but Imran Tahir, the legspinner, would be advised to use the opportunity to work on his no-ball problem with South African women’s’ javelin finalist Sunette Viljoen. Like bowlers, javelin throwers are not allowed to step outside their throwing area, something Tahir has been doing with unusual regularity.He bowled nine no-balls in the Headingley Test match, eight of them in the first innings and four on the fourth morning, when South Africa were going after England’s last five wickets. To add to the eight no-balls he bowled at the Oval, Tahir has sent down almost three extra overs in the series and developed an area of concern that did not affect him previously.”That is the main issue for me at the moment, because I don’t want to carry on like this,” Tahir said with a distressed expression. “I have never been a bowler who bowls so many no-balls in a game. I just don’t know what happened. I need to go and check my action.”Despite the overstepping, Tahir has been among the wickets and has recorded his best results after two Tests in a series. He is South Africa’s joint second-highest wicket-taker, with seven scalps, the same number as Morne Morkel and three behind Dale Steyn, and wrapped up the England tail at Leeds with three wickets in 13 balls.Combine that with the overall numbers: Tahir also has a slightly better average than Morkel and a lower economy rate than Steyn and you may see a sign that he is learning to blend defensive tactics with aggressive ones.”I am trying to be as patient as I can,” Tahir said. “I have always been an attacking bowler but I am trying my best to learn every day.”Failing to rein in over-eager instincts is something Tahir has been criticised for, particularly when he used his variations indiscriminately. He has since become shrewder in deciding when to bowl his googly and he has seen the results. Many of England’s batsmen were unable to pick the delivery as Tahir disguised it cleverly.But he erred by mixing up threatening balls with a assortment of freebies – full tosses and long hops – that he admitted were a poor reflection on his own ability. “I didn’t bowl well the first day. It was hard for me in the first innings,” Tahir said. “I think two or three balls turned in the whole five days. The cracks are very hard, not like at The Oval.”Unhelpful surfaces have been the norm for Tahir, since he made his Test debut for South Africa against Australia in November last year. Although he has seasons of experience in England, on tracks that offer turn, wet weather has prevented them from behaving similarly this time around. Tahir is hopeful that the third Test, at Lord’s, will present him with the opportunity to come into this own.”It has always been a flat wicket at Lord’s and I think it will turn more than at Headingley,” Tahir said. London is forecast to remain dry for the rest of the weekend but rain is predicted for the first few days of next week, before it clears in time for the Test.

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL game between Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders in Mohali

The Preview by Abhishek Purohit17-Apr-2012Match factsWednesday, April 18, Mohali
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Gautam Gambhir needs to show his misfiring team-mates the way again•AFPBig pictureThree days after they failed to chase 132 after having been 73 for 2 at home against Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders run into the same team again, this time in Mohali. The Eden Gardens game was Knight Riders’ to lose; they went ahead and and somehow contrived to lose it, failing to get 13 off the final 12 deliveries. It was one of those Knight Riders defeats that just happened though they had no business getting defeated. There are numerous sides that fail to win from strong positions, but the underachievers tag has stuck particularly hard to Knight Riders, not least due to the many big players they have.The slow and turning Kolkata pitch has worked against them twice in three games now; even in the third match, they had to work hard to get past Rajasthan Royals. A change of venue and wicket would be welcome for the visitors. However, the Kings XI medium-pacers, led by Dimitri Mascarenhas, proved difficult to get away on the Mohali pitch against Pune Warriors.Players to watchGautam Gambhir was livid after the loss to Kings XI in Kolkata, saying that his batsmen needed to play “intelligent cricket.” Strong decisions would be taken unless players started performing, Gambhir said. Gambhir hasn’t exactly done that himself so far, apart from a 64 against Royal Challengers Bangalore. That innings set up Knight Riders’ first win of the season after consecutive losses. Gambhir needs to show his misfiring team-mates the way again.While Gambhir has at least one match-winning innings so far, his counterpart Adam Gilchrist has failed to get going. The retired Gilchrist plays only in the IPL, which makes it only more difficult for him at the start of the season. The sooner he finds some form, the better for his side.Stats and trivia Of the eight old IPL franchises, Knight Riders’ win-loss ratio of 0.78 is the second-worst, after Deccan Chargers’ 0.67 Mandeep Singh is the only Kings XI batsman to have made more than 100 runs so far this seasonQuotes”He is a hard worker. He is a terrific young man. I’m just trying to create the environment that he is comfortable to be a part of and that he knows the specific role that he has got..”

“He’s a match-winner. He can turn a match in a blink of an eye. We are showing confidence in him. He’s got the full support of everyone in the team. Everyone knows what a devastating player he can be. It’s only a matter of time before he wins us that game.”

Stephen Fleming has said the last five overs of Super Kings’ innings which produced 73 runs, were phenomenal and turned the initiative towards his side

ESPNcricinfo staff24-May-2012Stephen Fleming, the Chennai Super Kings coach, has said the last five overs of Super Kings’ innings which produced 73 runs, were phenomenal and turned the initiative towards his side which comprehensively beat Mumbai Indians by 38 runs in the eliminator in Bangalore. Super Kings will have to get past Delhi Daredevils in the second qualifier to make the final and defend their title.”It was crucial we scored more than 160, or Mumbai would have chased it down easily,” Fleming said. “The last five overs were phenomenal.”Super Kings got off to a poor start, struggling at 2 for 2 before Michael Hussey and S Badrinath added 94 for the third wicket to give their side a launching pad. Super Kings had made slow progress to 49 for 2 before the first Time Out and Fleming said the period immediately after was the turning point. Hussey hit the first ball after the break for four and the run-rate increased steadily. MS Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo blazed 73 in just under five overs to set a target of 188, but Fleming gave due credit to the batsmen who set it up.”They created the platform for the Dhonis and the Bravos to launch after the first Time Out,” Fleming said. “It (Hussey-Badrinath stand) might not have seemed that flattering but if we lost more wickets after 2/2 then it would have been a different story.”Super Kings return to Chennai for their next game and Fleming said his side would go in with the advantage because of their spinners.”We have a team that is better suited to the conditions in Chennai. We have seamers who are adequate but not startling. Today’s performance needs to be replicated but it’s not easy.”Fleming ruled out making team changes for the next match. “We are a bit conservative with our selection. We don’t have a big turnover of players. Unlike in other formats you have to back certain players. I’ll be surprised if there were any changes.”Mumbai Indians captain Harbhajan Singh said the mid-innings collapse was responsible for his side’s heavy defeat. The opener Dwayne Smith made an aggressive 38, but his departure brought Super Kings back into the contest. Mumbai Indians lost four wickets for 41 runs between the seventh and twelfth overs.”We lost Sachin Tendulkar and Dwayne Smith in two overs. In next few overs we also lost Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik,” Harbhajan said. “They are core of our batting line-up and losing them in quick succession had put the team under pressure. We didn’t want to be five down in 13 overs when we are chasing 180.”Harbhajan defended his decision to bowl first because he backed his batsmen to chase down any score on a good batting conditions.”I don’t think I would have done anything different after winning the toss. Even if given a chance tomorrow I’d still like to chase here because it has small boundaries and it’s not difficult to get ten runs in an over on a good batting track.”

Sidath Wettimuny, the former Sri Lanka batsman, has suggested a radical restructuring of the country’s domestic cricket structure, which involves promoting provinces over clubs

Vithushan Ehantharajah 26-Dec-2011Sidath Wettimuny, the former Sri Lanka batsman, has suggested a radical restructuring of the country’s domestic cricket structure, which involves promoting provinces over clubs. The financial uncertainty surrounding Sri Lankan cricket and the upcoming board elections could, however, overshadow Wettimuny’s proposal.As a member of Sri Lanka Cricket’s now-dissolved interim committee – appointed in July to tide over the board’s financial crisis – Wettimuny presided over a paper outlining the value of pushing provincial cricket over club cricket, an idea he has always supported since being appointed president of the Sri Lankan Cricketers’ Association in 2006.The proposals outlined in the paper suggest clustering the clubs of a region together to form one of seven provincial sides. The teams would be made up of the best players from each club within the region, and compete with other provinces on a more regular basis. Wettimuny believes this is vital if Sri Lanka are to compete successfully at the highest level.When the paper was being put together, the interim committee had been assured that they would be allowed to continue till just beyond the ICC World Twenty20 in September 2012, giving them at least 15 months to implement a new first-class structure in Sri Lanka. On November 15 this year, however, sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage dissolved the committee and ultimately scheduled the board elections for January 3.Wettimuny is not sure why the committee was dissolved as he believed 15 months would have been a “sensible” time frame to set up a remodelled domestic structure. “I can only assume that [they went ahead] as per the ICC requirement,” Wettimuny said. “They [the ICC] said that by 2012 they would like to see all boards independently contested.”The biggest worry is that a newly-elected board could put the proposal for a new provincial structure on the backburner which, Wettimuny said, needed to be pushed through and “set in stone.” It is meant to be the feeder line which could lead to more consistent success of the international team.”We need to make the provincial structure a lot more permanent, tangible and something that is set in stone. We’ve always moved our provincial tournaments up and down, not giving them pride of place. This time we managed to get a fixture where we stated that it should always be playing during the best part of the year – which is February to March.”Wettimuny says that the argument that Sri Lanka’s club cricket structure has produced quality international cricketers may have been valid in the past. In a modern world, he said, “Nothing stays still – you need to keep moving with the times. There was a time, yes, when club cricket managed to produce very good cricketers who were adept at playing at the highest level. But that doesn’t mean that currently, and going forward, we can cope – the bar has been raised everywhere across the world.”It is only when we play our provincial cricket that we have strong teams competing with each other in four-day cricket. We need to push that if our aim is to push the team forward.”The new scheme also outlines a system of inclusion, where club administrators would be involved in the management of the province. Part of their remit would be to look into developing more provincial and district coaches. As an added incentive, they will also receive more money from television rights. Under the new programme, the board will seek to improve facilities in each region, and open training centres in the respective areas.A by-product of such a move would also give remote regions more power and more say in the country’s cricket. More than 80% of Sri Lanka’s cricketers are from rural areas, even though, as Wettimuny says, “At the moment, everything is run from the centre in Colombo … and I don’t think we can have a good grasp of what’s going on in the far reaches of the country from there.”Despite promises of redistribution of wealth and power, it is possible that clubs could be less than enthusiastic about the prospect of playing second fiddle to a provincial tournament, particularly one as regular as the new proposals recommend.Wettimuny admits there will be “a political battle between clubs and the administration,” with clubs fearing that they would lose their prominence if a provincial tournament became a regular fixture. “I don’t agree with that. Club cricket is our backbone – we need it because it is a feeder to our provincial cricket – but that [provincial] level of cricket must be there if we are to effectively support our Test team.”They [the clubs] are not wholeheartedly supporting that system – if they look at the overall benefit of the country’s cricket, then they will see that it is something we need to promote.”One of the doubts raised about the success of the restructuring rests in the lack of any fan loyalty for the provinces. Currently, there is no or identity or affiliation to a particular provincial side; the number of supporters for provincial matches depends largely on where the game is played and the number of representatives from that particular area.The plan to restructure domestic cricket may now rest in the hands of board presidential front-runner Upali Dharmadasa. While Dharmadasa has alluded to domestic restructuring as a key part of his 12-point plan to revive Sri Lankan cricket, his main focus is on the maximisation of revenue from television rights, and to use the 2012 World Twenty20 as a starting point to develop sports tourism in the country.Despite his standing in Sri Lankan cricket, Wettimuny decided against standing in the upcoming elections, but did agree to lend his support to those willing to address the issues in the domestic game. He also warned that these elections should mark the beginning of more stable times for the country’s cricket administration.”I hope whichever board comes in will follow it through. Since 1996, we have had so many boards coming and going – every year we’ve had changes – and what that does is it breaks the continuity of thought and the implementation of plans.”Wettimuny believes that the future of Sri Lanka’s domestic setup and, consequently, international well-being, will rest in the hands of whoever comes out on top in SLC’s first elections since 2004.