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Ricky Ponting has called on Australia’s batsmen to lift their game ahead of Saturday’s second ODI against New Zealand in Auckland

Cricinfo staff04-Mar-2010Ricky Ponting has called on Australia’s batsmen to lift their game ahead of Saturday’s second ODI against New Zealand in Auckland. Ponting was unhappy with the way several players, including himself, failed to capitalise on promising starts in the first game in Napier, where Australia’s 275 was overhauled by New Zealand.It was the first one-day loss for Australia since October 31, when they went down in the third game of their tour of India. However, Ponting was in no mood to be generous after his men raced to 50 for 1 from six overs, only to finish with a sub-par total.”After we got off to such a great start, we probably just took things for granted a little bit and expected that the run-rate was going to continue to go that way,” Ponting said after the game. “Before we knew it we had lost two or three wickets and all of a sudden we were back under pressure again.”There were problems in the middle overs as Ponting fell for 44, Michael Clarke for 22 and Cameron White for 33. None of them were at their most fluent and the run-rate dropped until Michael Hussey and Mitchell Johnson moved things along a bit quicker in the later stages.”I was out there at the time, I was feeling it as much as anybody,” Ponting said. “At different times like that you have to change your game a little bit and adapt and get through and none of us did that today. A lot of our batsmen need to look at themselves long and hard to make sure they do better next time.”Every game that we play has to be like it is your last. I didn’t think we were necessarily playing with that sort of attitude tonight, especially with our bowling and our fielding. We’ve got a little bit of work to do before the next game.”

Nathan McSweeney, who was opening the batting, fell before the close of play

AAP21-Jul-2025Australia A’s batters faced a searching test to save their two-game series against Sri Lanka A in Darwin after the visitors built a formidable first innings total, thanks mostly to a century from Pavan Rathnayake.Resuming on day two of the second four-day match at 263 for 4, Sri Lanka A fully punished rival captain Jason Sangha’s decision to send them in, powering on to make 486 for 6 declared.In reply, the hosts were 76 for 1 at stumps at the Marrara Cricket Ground on Monday, with Jake Weatherald on 45 and Kurtis Patterson 19, and with a mountain still to climb to win the series after the first match was drawn.Australia A’s former Test opener Nathan McSweeney couldn’t replicate his fine 94 from the first match, falling for 12 when bowled between bat and pad by offspinner Nishan Peiris.Rathnayake resumed on 43, and made the most of an ideal batting strip in reaching 122 off 223 balls – his side’s second century following Nuwanidu Fernando’s 102 on day one.Sonal Dinusha, resuming on 5, also joined the run-fest in moving to 88 off 191 deliveries, as he and Rathnayake added 170 for the fifth wicket in 53 overs.Their stand ended when left-arm spinner Zanden Jeh lured Rathnayake into a rash clip to short midwicket where he was well caught low down by Oliver Peake.Dinusha and Sohan de Livera continued to punish the bowlers, adding 40 runs in 14 overs before Dinusha mishit a lofted pull and was caught at mid-on by Patterson.That gave a third wicket to unknown 22-year-old Zeh who was the pick of the eight bowlers used despite never having played top level state cricket. The Queenslander was chosen from left-field for game one as Australian officials continue their search for quality left-arm spinners.De Livera was the fifth batter to make a half-century or more, finishing 50 not out when the declaration came.McSweeney hit two fours in his 20 balls before being bowled between bat and pad. Weatherald and Patterson guided the home side to stumps adding 44 without further loss.

Three balls into his fifth over, he felt pain in his left side and immediately headed off the ground

Alex Malcolm06-Feb-2024Australia quick Lance Morris suffered a left side strain during the third ODI against West Indies in Canberra, leaving him in doubt to tour New Zealand with the Test squad later this month.Morris had taken his first two ODI wickets in a fiery spell to leave West Indies in tatters, before they were eventually bowled out for 86. But three balls into the fifth over of his first spell, having claimed 2 for 13 with a maiden, he felt pain in his left side, and immediately grabbed his cap and headed off the ground to get assessed.Cricket Australia confirmed shortly after that Morris had suffered a left side strain, and would head for a scan at some stage to determine the extent of the injury.Related

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“He just said he had a bit of pain in the side and was struggling a bit, so he’ll get a scan in the next 12 to 24 hours and we’ll know more then,” captain Steven Smith said. “He was probably a little bit nervous the other day making his debut, but he was starting to get some nice rhythm.”He’s been great around the group, for over a year now he’s been there or thereabouts and it’s great to see him get a couple of games in.”It leaves Morris in doubt for the two Tests against New Zealand, the first of which starts in Wellington on February 29, although there was a chance Morris would not be required despite travelling with the Test team through the early part of the Australian summer.Morris is yet to make his Test debut but was carefully managed through the early part of the home season to be fit for the Pakistan Test series. However, he was not required to play, as Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood played all five Tests against both Pakistan and West Indies without issue.Morris’ injury comes after Australia’s other back-up Test paceman Scott Boland suffered knee soreness during Victoria’s Sheffield Shield match against South Australia at the Junction Oval in Melbourne this week, although he was able to bowl in the second innings after getting assessed.Australia are expected to name their Test squad for the New Zealand series later this week.

Oxford-Cambridge will also be hosted at ground in 2023, with vote due at AGM in May

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Sep-2022MCC has performed a U-turn over the cancellation of its traditional Eton-Harrow and Oxford-Cambridge fixtures at Lord’s, following a rebellion by a prominent group of members.The fixtures, which have been held at Lord’s (with rare exceptions) since 1805 and 1827 respectively, are among the longest-running annual sporting rivalries in the world.However, both were due to be removed from the venue from 2023 onwards, with MCC announcing in February that the Eton-Harrow match would be replaced by the annual finals of boys’ and girls’ schools competitions, in a bid for greater inclusivity.However, that decision has been met with disquiet by sections of the club’s 18,500-strong voting membership, with a spokesman for the Committee for the Reinstatement of the Historic Fixtures at Lord’s stating that it was “tantamount to cutting down oak trees to accommodate saplings”.With the prospect of a divisive row looming, MCC has now confirmed that a Special General Meeting, scheduled for Tuesday evening, has been cancelled, and a fresh vote on the status of the fixtures would be held at the club’s AGM in May 2023.”In the best interests of the club, the MCC committee has agreed to cancel the meeting,” MCC said in a statement. “This has come at the request of the group of members this morning who challenged the original decision.”While the committee and the requisitionists stand by their respective positions, the two parties will work together on next steps. These will include a consultation process between MCC and its members regarding the future of the two fixtures.”Noting the time needed for this, it has been agreed by both parties that the Committee will invite the four institutions to play their respective matches (Eton v Harrow and Oxford v Cambridge) at Lord’s again in 2023.”The climbdown is an embarrassment for the club’s incoming president, Stephen Fry, who is due to take office on October 1, and this week spoke out in favour of the change of the move towards modernisation.”My urging for MCC members is, ‘If you really love cricket, don’t you want more kids to play?'” he said on Sunday. “Don’t you want it to lose that image that it sometimes still has: a turgid image of snobbery and elitism?”

With tougher tests ahead – Pakistan are up next – England will likely take the opportunity to test out fringe players

Madushka Balasuriya03-Jul-2021

Big Picture

It’s hard to remember a time when Sri Lanka went into a match with so little expected of them (well apart from the previous two games of course). This, even in the likely event of considerable rotation on the part of their opponents. The discourse back home is hardly helping; every misstep, every bad result now seemingly leading to a cascade of ridicule by the public and former players alike. The need for fearless cricket might have been captain Kusal Perera’s clarion call, but that is proving to be much easier said than done.The challenge for Sri Lanka and its coaching staff is eking out whatever positives, and tuning out the rest. In the last game, Dhananjaya de Silva’s impactful return to the side paired with Dasun Shanaka – once a player touted by former coach Chandika Hathurusingha as being a potential long-term No. 5 – hitting form was promising. These two, along with the increasingly reliable Wanindu Hasaranga, might even look like a workable middle order.The bowling unit, too, is a hard-working one and Hasaranga and the excellent Dushmantha Chameera give it wicket-taking threat.Where concern is rife is in the top order, which once again struggled against the moving ball. All of the top three were out either lbw or bowled – not a good look for an international cricket team – while the rest failed to negotiate the shorter stuff – again, not good.Wanindu Hasaranga continues to be a bright spot for a beleaguered Sri Lankan outfit•Getty Images

But you have to imagine these are eminently fixable technical issues. Just that they kinda need to be fixed right now.For England, the series has gone as well as they could have imagined. The batting stalwarts have come into runs, the bowlers have been impressive, and right throughout the intensity levels have scarcely dropped.Joe Root in particular has been imperious, ever ready to snuff out even faint specks of hope that may have cropped up for Sri Lanka in the first two games. Then there’s been the England seamers, Chris Woakes and David Willey in the first game, then Sam Curran and Willey in the second, who have offered the Sri Lankan batters little to no respite.But with tougher tests ahead – Pakistan are up next in England’s calendar – this will very likely be an opportunity to test out fringe players.While Bristol hasn’t been the happiest of ODI hunting grounds for England (six wins, five losses), the way the rest of the series has gone it’s hard to imagine anything but a home win, especially with Super League points on the line.It’s been smooth sailing for England in this series•AFP/Getty Images

Form Guide

England WWLWL
Sri Lanka LLWLL

In the spotlight

Avishka Fernando was a surprise inclusion in the last game after he had seemingly been ruled out of the tour with a torn quadricep. While he failed to make an impact on his return, it’s hard to forget the excitement that surrounded the youngster following his debut in 2019 and subsequent coming out to the wider cricketing fraternity at that year’s World Cup, where he impressed with cameos against England and South Africa before notching his maiden ODI ton against West Indies. He carried that form through to 2020, but an injury left him sidelined until this England tour. With Sri Lanka’s top order misfiring, Fernando rekindling the form that painted him out as a future star will go a long way towards helping his side not leave the tour empty handed.Chris Woakes has been in rare form this series•Getty Images

Chris Woakes‘ 4 for 18 in the first ODI took out the spine of the Sri Lankan batting, but in line with England’s workload management policy, he was promptly rested in the second game. With five days off, Woakes will be raring to go again and keen to keep himself at the forefront of the selectors’ thoughts. On a ground where the average score hovers around 240, Woakes’ lower-order batting could also come in handy.

Pitch and conditions

The Bristol surface usually has something in it for both the batters and the bowlers, but with rain very much on the cards it’s quite likely the game won’t see its full allotment of overs.

Team news

With the series wrapped up, England’s attention will likely turn to the fringe players. Tom Banton, who was called up for the injured David Malan, Liam Livingstone and Liam Dawson are probably all in with a shout of making the XI while there could also be a debut for the Sussex left-arm seamer George Garton.England (possible): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3 Joe Root/Tom Banton, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Sam Billings/Liam Livingstone, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 David Willey, 10 Adil Rashid/Liam Dawson, 11 Mark Wood/George GartonThe Sri Lankan team management has gone on the record stating their desire to get players used to certain roles within the side. As such it’s unlikely there’ll be too many changes, if any, to the batting line-up from the last game. On the bowling front, it could go either way; with overcast conditions expected they may choose to stick with a four-pronged seam attack, but with Bristol known to help spinners on occasion, there could be spot open for one of Lakshan Sandakan or Praveen Jayawickrama.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Kusal Perera (capt, wk), 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Avishka Fernando 4 Dhananjaya de Silva, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Binura Fernando, 10 Dushmantha Chameera 11 Asitha Fernando/Lakshan Sandakan

Stats and trivia

• With their defeat on Thursday, Sri Lanka have now lost 428 ODIs, surpassing India for the most ODI losses in world cricket
• Joe Root’s 187 runs across four innings is the most by an English batter at the Bristol County Ground
• Of the five ODIs Sri Lanka have played in Bristol, only one has been against England – that game was abandoned due to rain

Shane Watson’s 80 off 41 looked threatening at one point but Quetta Gladiators eventually fell short

The Report by Danyal Rasool29-Feb-2020Whatever happened at the 10-over mark in the first innings, Multan Sultans need to patent. After a sluggish start from the hosts that saw them shuffle along to 65 in 10 overs, Rilee Rossouw caught fire all of a sudden, a stunning onslaught resulting in the fastest century in PSL history and an astonishing 134 runs in the final 10 overs that set Quetta Gladiators 200 to win, a target they fell short of by 31 runs.Quetta, as you might expect, gave it as good a go as their capabilities might allow, with Shane Watson at one point looking like he might pull of a heist for his side. But Quetta’s cack-handedness with the ball and in the field left him and his team with far too much to do and much too little time. Even as the sixes flew, the asking rate continued to balloon, and once Watson was dismissed, Quetta’s fate was sealed.Rilee Rossouw celebrates his quickfire century•PCB

The mood music at the start was worlds removed from its frenetic, run-heavy conclusion. Shan Masood became the first captain to opt to bat this season, and Quetta looked like they would make him regret that decision when Zeeshan Ashraf fell early and James Vince searched unsuccessfully for the sweet timing he is so coveted for. Mohammad Nawaz stifled the batsmen at the start, while Naseem Shah begun brightly.All of that went to ruin after the halfway mark, though. The moment Rossouw biffed Anwar Ali for a six the first ball of the 11th over, Quetta lost their collective composure. You could count the number of times they hit their spots from that point onwards on one hand, and Rossouw capitalised on the chaos. Just one over between 11 and 18 went for fewer than 12 runs, and while Masood got some of his own hits in, it was all about Rossouw. He would bring up his hundred in the final over; it had taken just 43 balls, including 10 fours and half a dozen sixes.Watson tried his best to match that, and batting alongside Jason Roy, brought up the 50 partnership in the sixth over. But soon after Roy holed out to deep midwicket, it quickly became clear this would be a one-person effort. That Watson took it as far as he did was achievement enough, and it isn’t often a 41-ball 80 is on the wrong side of a PSL result. But this was clearly Rossouw’s game, and Watson was merely playing in it.The supporting actNot many will come away from the game reminiscing about Masood’s 32-ball 46, and why would they, given what else just happened in that first innings? But the value of it becomes clear when you notice it was the one thing Quetta lacked in the chase. Rossouw had, in Masood, the perfect foil on the other end, with his captain ensuring he didn’t give his wicket away or hog too much of the strike. When Masood got the strike, he got away the odd boundary and turned it over quickly to the South African, neither heaping pressure on him nor starving him of the strike. Together, they put together a partnership that totalled 139 runs in 64 balls.By contrast, Quetta managed no partnership greater than Roy and Watson’s 57 at the top, and no other Quetta batsman could even reach 15. That meant the pressure was squarely on Watson’s shoulders, further driving home the point if they were going to take it close, it was all on him. Other batsmen who had helped them win big games this season all failed, with Azam Khan falling early and Ben Cutting holing out for 12. The sort of innings Masood had played was absent from Sarfaraz Ahmed’s side, and it wasn’t a surprise to see the result pan out the way it did.Star of the dayRossouw and Watson may get the hundreds and entertain the fans most, but in a game where 200 was nearly scored and then changed, perhaps the most remarkable numbers were posted by Imran Tahir. While Watson and the rest of the Quetta top order ran riot, Tahir ensured the game wouldn’t run away from Multan. Varying his flight, pace and googly with all the experience any T20 side treasures in him, Tahir kept the Quetta batsmen guessing, and, even more importantly in such a high-scoring game, cautious.It wasn’t like he had all the luck, either. In his third over, as Watson’s charge built up a crescendo, Tahir had him into skying a drive down to long-off, where Moeen Ali stood perched for a simple catch. Moeen somehow grassed the opportunity, but undeterred, Tahir dismissed Azam Khan the next ball. He wasn’t done with Watson, either, coming back the following over and coaxing a nearly identical shot from the batsman. This time, Moeen would make no mistake. In a game where scoring ten an over was the order of the day, Tahir’s figures of 4-0-27-2 didn’t flatter him in the slightest.Multan surged at the top of the table, having swept all three games in their home city. They now have four wins in five, while Quetta sit just below them, with three wins from five matches.

While no dates had been settled upon, the tour was expected to take place in March. However, there is a only a ten-day window between the Australia series and the IPL

Liam Brickhill13-Jan-2019The announcement of the dates for this year’s IPL has put Zimbabwe’s tour of India in March in doubt, and the visit may be restructured, postponed or even cancelled entirely. While no dates had been settled upon for Zimbabwe’s visit, the tour was scheduled to take place at some point in March, and include a Test and three one-day internationals.However, India’s tour of Australia and New Zealand concludes on 10 February, after which Australia’s trip to India for two T20Is and five ODIs runs from 24 February to 13 March. With this year’s IPL due to start on March 23, that leaves only 10 days to squeeze Zimbabwe in.ESPNcricinfo understands that Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Givemore Makoni will meet with his counterparts at the BCCI this week to discuss the tour, with the possibility that it could be restructured to include only ODIs and T20Is, or to agree on a possible postponement.The ODIs against Zimbabwe had been tabled as part of India’s preparation for the World Cup in England. Zimbabwe visited India for the World T20 in 2016, the World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2006, but their trip penciled in for March would have been their first for a bilateral series since 2002.

India continued to reap a rich harvest for all the hard work done sowing the crop on day two

The Report by Sidharth Monga26-Nov-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Last July, Virat Kohli had no double-centuries. He now has five. Only Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar are the Indians with more. Kohli waltzed to 213 off only 267 balls to set up a declaration and asked Sri Lanka to survive for nine overs before stumps on day three.But the fatigue of having spent 176.1 overs in the field showed in how Sadeera Samarawickrama flashed at a wide ball and left alone a straight one. At times, teams have to tackle those dreaded days of trying to delay the declaration, and how they go about it can tell a lot about where they are at as a unit. Sri Lanka, unfortunately, were all over the place: bowlers were not accurate, fielders not alert, and plans absent. There was a buffet out there, and all bar KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane tucked in.Kohli took the record for the most centuries for an Indian captain. Rohit Sharma ended his 13-month wait for first-class cricket and a four-year wait for a Test century in the course of a mere 160 balls. The declaration came as soon as Rohit reached the mark, making it only the third time India have had four centurions in one Test innings.The start of the day was indicative of how the rest of it would go. Cheteshwar Pujara, 121 at the time, played out a watchful maiden – he took 23 balls to add to his overnight score – and Kohli started off with a single to long-on off his first ball. By the fourth over, it was clear Sri Lanka – understandably – were not there a 100% and that Kohli was, in his hyper-active T20 mode no less.Kohli pushed one to long-on, Suranga Lakmal lobbed the throw to Rangana Herath, he was slow to come down, and Kohli stole a second with the ball wandering only as far as point. Fielders were under extreme pressure. Later, Herath had his pride hurt when Kohli pinched a single after hitting a firm drive straight to him at mid-off. Flustered, Herath threw anyway and conceded an overthrow. If Lakmal had reason to be upset, he didn’t help matters when he forgot to make an effort to collect a throw the last ball of that over. Towards the end of the session, Niroshan Dickwella was busy applauding the wide slip for getting a hand to a late cut when Kohli raced across for a single.Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have a chat between overs•BCCI

Pujara continued to play the old-fashioned way. Despite the slow start he didn’t look for a big shot to get going, clipping to leg for his first single of the morning. Kohli was more fluent as he kept driving either side of the wicket from wide outside off.The seamers tried going round the wicket and Herath tried going over the wicket, but there was hardly a moment of concern for India. While Pujara and Kohli batted together on day three, the bat was beaten only five times, one of them a Dasun Shanaka yorker about seven minutes before lunch and Pujara fell seven short of 150, the ball squeezing under the bat which had covered the line and but hadn’t come down in time. It was a reminder that even when things seem easy for long periods, there are still ways to get out.A minor disappointment for India was that Rahane fell for just 2, to a loose ball from Dilruwan Perera, which was small consolation for the offspinner who has had an ordinary Test. There was nowhere to hide for him as he had to keep coming back for spell after spell, going for 202 in 45 overs despite an improved showing on Sunday.Kohli and Rohit presented a milder version of their legendary one-day stands as they matched each other shot for shot in a 173-run stand for the fifth wicket. If Kohli welcomed Lakmal back by dancing down and hitting him over mid-off, Rohit dropped Dilruwan over mid-on. Kohli unleashed a six over long-on, bringing up his and Dilrwuan’s 150. So Rohit raised two lofted boundaries off Herath. Rohit’s 11-ball wait to go from 49 to 50 just before tea brought his strike-rate under 50, but Kohli, more used to these landmarks in Tests, saw no reason to slow down even as he approached his double-hundred in the final session.Kohli fell for 213, but he gave Rohit all the time he needed to get to a hundred that might be important for his confidence going into the South Africa tour, where he might be asked to bat more often than he has at home. It is up for debate whether it is disrespectful to the opposition to wait for one man’s personal milestone, but it wasn’t as if India were going to run out of time or good weather to run Sri Lanka out a second time. It was apparent in Samarawickrama’s two-ball innings and Sri Lanka’s uncertain bid for survival in the remaining overs.

Glamorgan lost their last six wickets for just ten runs as Leicestershire pulled off an incredible victory in their Division Two Specsavers County Championship match at Grace Road

ECB Reporters Network22-Sep-2016
ScorecardCharlie Shreck took four wickets to help bundle out Glamorgan (file photo)•Getty Images

Glamorgan lost their last six wickets for just ten runs as Leicestershire pulled off an incredible victory in their Division Two Specsavers County Championship match at Grace Road.Resuming on 11 for 1 and needing 181 to win, the visitors were wobbling when they lost two early wickets. Left-arm seamer Dieter Klein was the man responsible, swinging the ball at pace to take the edge of Jacques Rudolph’s bat before knocking Owen Morgan’s middle stump out of the ground to leave Glamorgan on 36 for 3.It should have been four, but Leicestershire dropped Will Bragg off his first ball, delivered by Klein and edged between wicketkeeper Ned Eckersley and first slip Paul Horton. Horton got his fingers to the ball, but couldn’t hang on, and it proved an expensive miss as Bragg and Aneurin Donald added 53 for the fourth wicket.Donald, who began his innings needing to score 40 to reach 1000 Championship runs for the season, was on 23 when he pushed tentatively at a Charlie Shreck outswinger and edged to second slip, but Bragg continued to make Leicestershire pay, going on to a half-century as Glamorgan lunched just 45 runs short of what would be their fourth Championship win of the season.Few could have predicted what would happen next. Clint McKay, charging in from the Bennett End seamed consecutive deliveries back in to win leg-before decisions against Kiran Carlson and then – perhaps a touch fortunately – Craig Meschede.In the following over, Mark Wallace pushed forward to Shreck and edged to Eckersley and Timm van der Gugten, deep in his crease, survived only one delivery before being pinned leg before by the veteran Cornishman.Michael Hogan drove airily and edged McKay behind the wicket, and then a despairing and desperate Bragg, who had been watching in disbelief at the other end, lofted Shreck high towards the cover boundary where Harry Dearden, making his home debut, held the calmest of catches to seal the most unlikeliest of wins.

The Saurashtra Cricket Association is on the alert against any disruption of the ODI between India and South Africa in Rajkot on October 18, as threatened by followers of Hardik Patel

Sidharth Monga in Rajkot08-Oct-2015The Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) is on the alert against any disruption of the third ODI between India and South Africa in Rajkot on October 18, as threatened by followers of Hardik Patel, the young leader of a new movement demanding quotas for the Patidari community. The state of Gujarat has witnessed severe disruptions and incidents of violence in the past few weeks, with curfew imposed in some areas, including the biggest city of Ahmedabad.Niranjan Shah: ‘We will have top security arrangements – 2500 policemen – to maintain order.’•AFP

Newspapers in Rajkot have reported, quoting sources close to Hardik, that his supporters were planning to buy around 10,000 tickets for the ODI and use the high-profile match to send out a political message.The threat follows the events at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, where the Twenty20 match was held up for a while because of water bottles thrown on the ground by spectators.The SCA is confident the match will go ahead without disruption, but is going to follow procedures strictly to ensure the ODI isn’t hijacked by political protest. A total of 11000 tickets are going to go up for sale for the general public, 9000 at ticket windows and 2000 online. No person will be allowed to buy more than two tickets, and every buyer will be asked to produce his national identity proof, a copy of which will be kept in the SCA records and matched with seat numbers, Niranjan Shah, the president of the association, told ESPNcricinfo. Shah said the association will coordinate with Rajkot rural police to make sure strict security arrangements are in place.However, there is no stopping buyers from handing over their tickets to others: there is no stipulation that tickets are not transferable. “If by some way they still manage to form clusters of protestors, we will have top security arrangements – 2500 policemen – to maintain order,” Shah said.”We are not going to stop them shouting slogans or revealing clothes with political messages, but we can ask the BCCI production to not give them any play during the broadcast.”Online tickets have already been sold out, and the ticket windows open on October 12.Rajkot is no stranger to crowd disruption. In 2002-03 an ODI between India and West Indies had to be stopped only 27.1 overs into India’s chase of West Indies’ 300. Water bottles hit Vasbert Drakes and narrowly missed substitute Ryan Hinds, while Pedro Collins, who was not even playing, was struck by a small sandbag. India were 200 for 1 thanks to a Virender Sehwag special at the top, and a curious decision was made to award India the match based on Duckworth-Lewis calculations. Wisden reported: “Local rumour was that bookmakers had sabotaged the match to stop India winning, and had been floored by the outcome.”