All posts by csb10.top

Kent have signed Pakistan bowler Yasir Shah, the world’s top-ranked Test legspinner, for four Specsavers County Championship matches in an effort to energise their promotion challenge.It will be Yasir’s first appearance in county cricket, encouraging the belief that county batsmen will find him a challenging proposition.Yasir is set to make his debut at The Spitfire Ground on Thursday against Durham as Kent continue their promotion push. He is also available for the trips to Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire – both fellow promotion contenders – before taking on Northamptonshire at Beckenham on July 3-6.Yasir is the second fastest bowler of all-time to take 100 wickets in Test cricket, achieving the feat in just 17 matches and was top of the ICC Test bowler rankings last summer. He is fine form, taking 46 wickets in two three-Test series for Pakistan against West Indies in 2016 and 2017, earning him both Player of the Series awards.Kent head coach Matt Walker said: “Yasir is one of the finest spinners in the world and will add something different to our attack.”Taking 20 wickets consistently in red-ball cricket will be key to our promotion chances and a bowler of Yasir’s calibre will help to us achieve that and rotate our attack at a key period in the season.”Yasir’s signing is an indication of refreshed Championship ambitions for Kent under the captaincy of Sam Northeast.Their spinners have had little part to play in early season with James Tredwell managing two wickets in five matches and the once highly-touted Adam Riley, another offspinner, yet to make an appearance.Kent lie second, with a five-point buffer over third-placed Worcestershire, who slipped to an innings defeat against Sussex on Monday.

With the BCCI’s member units not adopting the Lodha Committee recommendations at the board’s special general meeting on Monday, the Committee of Administrators (CoA) has said it has been left with little choice but to ask the Supreme Court to enforce the reforms. A CoA official said there was no other way to adopt the new constitution given that the BCCI setup a fresh committee to identify the difficulties in implementing the Supreme Court’s July 18 order rather than accept the Lodha recommendations.”Our hope was that they would pass the resolution and move forward, indicating willingness to reform and progress,” the official told ESPNcricinfo. “We told them that if they don’t do that then we will have to get the court to enforce. How else will the constitution be adopted otherwise?”With a number of member units of the BCCI having filed affidavits in the Supreme Court against the implementation of the Lodha recommendations, the CoA had tried to impress upon them that stalling the implementation of the reforms would be counterproductive. Instead, the Supreme Court-appointed committee had urged the state bodies to filter their objections to the recommendations to a few points and submit them to the court for reconsideration. This, the CoA had reiterated at its meeting with the state associations on the eve of the SGM, would be beneficial to all parties concerned.The BCCI’s old guard, though, has indicated that it wants to brazen it out. A veteran state association official from the south zone argued that there was no guarantee that the Supreme Court would reconsider the recommendations the member units objected to. “There is nothing in writing,” he said. “If the court says ‘the BCCI is abolished’ we will all go. But, I will not [voluntarily] jump into the river. Let us see what happens on July 14.”The BCCI’s seven-member committee, headed by IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla, is likely to submit a report on July 10, four days before the Supreme Court’s hearing. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court-appointed CoA is meeting on July 1 to discuss the next course of action. “We have to discuss what we have to do, now that the SGM has passed the decision of creating a committee,” the CoA official said. “We won’t finalise the status reports [to be sent to the Supreme Court] on July 1. It will be filed a bit later than that.”

Nottinghamshire Outlaws claimed their second NatWest T20 victory in as many days after defeating Northants Steelbacks by 12 runs under the DLS method at Trent Bridge.Set a victory target of 196, the Outlaws had reached 52 without loss after 5.1 overs when heavy rain set in and prevented any further play. DLS at that time showed 40 as being the target.Richard Levi clubbed 88 off 43 balls but finished on the losing side•Getty Images

Alex Hales was unbeaten on 30 at the time, with Riki Wessels, who scored a century in Friday evening’s win over Derbyshire, on 14.Earlier, the visitors made 195 for 8 after being asked to bat first by Notts captain Dan Christian. Richard Levi top-scored with 88 from just 43 balls for the Steelbacks, bludgeoning seven fours and eight sixes in a brutal display of ball-striking.New Zealand legspinner Ish Sodhi claimed 3 for 39 for the home county, while Harry Gurney picked up two wickets in the final over to finish with 3 for 46.Levi’s innings gathered momentum in just the third over of the match, with Jake Ball twice being hit into the crowd. The South African clubbed three more sixes in his 26-ball half century, which boosted the Steelbacks’ total into three figures by the ninth over.Luke Wood stemmed the flow of runs with a brace of wickets from consecutive deliveries in the eleventh over. He had been made to wait until his fifth outing in this format before striking for the first time but he then bowled Ben Duckett for 28 and had Rory Kleinveldt caught at point from his next delivery.The youngster would also have added Levi to his tally but he over-stepped and was called for a no-ball as the opener lofted down the ground and into the hands of Steven Mullaney, when on 81.Levi only added seven more runs before Sodhi, who had earlier removed Adam Rossington for 17, had him taken by Hales on the midwicket fence, to the relief of most of the 7,638 crowd.Alex Wakely made 19 from 16 balls but he became Gurney’s 100th victim in T20 cricket when he picked out Wood at deep backward square leg when looking to accelerate.The paceman dismissed both Rob Newton and Steven Crook in the closing over before Ben Sanderson launched the final ball of the innings into the pavilion seats.It took Hales and Wessels only 4.3 overs to bring up the Notts’ 50 as they began their pursuit of 196. Light drizzle then began to intensify and the umpires had no option but to take the players from the field after just one delivery of the sixth over.The outcome lengthens Northants’ unhappy record at Trent Bridge, where they have never won in T20 cricket and where their last win in any format was a one-day success in 2003.They did taste success in their last meeting with the Outlaws, however, winning their semi-final clash at Finals Day last season.After losing their opening two matches, this time around, Notts now have four points from four games, whilst the defending champions missed out on a chance to take top spot in the north group but remain second on seven points from six matches.

Results summary

All three matches were drawn in the opening round, with the Titans-Dolphins fixture coming closest to a result.Dolphins were 162 for 6 in their chase of 430, but Titans’ attack, led by Morne Morkel, were held off for nearly 49 overs thanks to a seventh-wicket stand of 119. Titans set the game up strongly with 451 for 7 declared in their first innings. They took a 134-run lead after bowling Dolphins out for 317 and then declared again in their second innings, on 295 for 4. But they ran out of time to bowl Dolphins out for a second time.Warriors also ran out of time against Lions after piling on 503 for 8 in their first innings. They might have thought a result was possible when they bowled Lions out for 348. They added 199 to their 155-run lead to set Lions a target of 355 and Lions were 190 for 3 at the end of play.A record was broken in Bloemfontein, where Knights put on their highest franchise score of 623 for 4 declared, with four centurions in their ranks, after dismissing Cobras for 159. The pitch flattened out and Cobras saved the game, scoring 567 for 6 in the second dig.

On the national radar

At the request of new national coach Ottis Gibson, all the available international players were required to play this round and he would have been pleased with what he saw.Aiden Markram secured his Test debut with 119 and 87 for Titans and his senior opening partner Dean Elgar also found form with 139 in the second innings. Test captain Faf du Plessis contributed 96 to Titans’ first innings, while Quinton de Kock scored 54 but was out for a second-ball duck in the second innings. Morne Morkel took five wickets in the match, to bring Titans close to a win.For Dolphins, Andile Phehlukwayo, who is also part of the Test squad went wicketless while Keshav Maharaj, the only specialist spinner, took one wicket. Both of them conceded heavily, Phehlukwayo at 5.41 overall and Maharaj at 4.45. Middle-order batsman Khaya Zondo, who captained the South Africa ‘A’ limited-overs side, was Dolphins only centurion.Dean Elgar pulls on the way to his battling hundred•Getty Images

Warriors have no current internationals in their XI but the prowess of Jon-Jon Smuts, who has played T20Is will be of interest. He scored 117 off 149 balls in the first innings and 58 off 36 balls in the second.The most notable performer at the Wanderers was Kagiso Rabada, who bowled 38 overs without reward. Rabada was miserly though, and only went at 2.68 runs per over throughout the match.Also of interest was discarded Test opener Stephen Cook, who made scores of 20 and 34 and young allrounder Willem Mulder, who is cover for Wayne Parnell in the Test squad. Mulder took 4 for 70 in the Warriors’ first innings and scored 79 in Lions’ first innings.Duanne Olivier is all but certain to play the first Test against Bangladesh in Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn’s absence and warmed up with 3 for 58 in for Knights in Cobras’ first innings. Knights captain Theunis de Bruyn, who may be eyeing a more regular place in the Test XI now that JP Duminy has retired, was the top-scorer of the round with 195.There were worries around Cobras’ international quality batting line-up first-up but they came back strongly. Hashim Amla scored 189 in the second innings. Temba Bavuma had no such luck with 25 and a first-ball duck.

Top performers

There were 12 centuries all told in the opening round, seven in the match between Knights and Cobras. Keegan Petersen, Rudi Second and Werner Coetsee added to de Bruyn’s knock but it was Justin Ontong and Aviwe Mgijima whose hundreds will make the headlines. Ontong scored his 26th first-class century to held Amla save the game and Mgijima notched up his first as Cobras ensured safety. The other non-international radar hundred came from Edward Moore, who was the Warriors first centurion before Smuts joined him.Shadley van Schalkwyk from Knights was one of two bowlers to take a five-for in this round. His 5 for 30 against Cobras came when there was still life in the Bloemfontein surface. Titans’ Malusi Siboto took 5 for 51 in Dolphins first innings, his fifth five-for. Dolphins’ Robbie Frylinck claimed 4 for 71 in Titans’ first innings while Warriors’ Sisanda Magala took 4 for 80 in Lions’ first innings.

Spotted on the ground

Gibson was present at both SuperSport Park and the Wanderers to watch the likes of Markram and Rabada. He was accompanied by convener of selectors Linda Zondi.The usually empty SuperSport Park grass embankment was graced with the presence of de Kock’s two Jack Russells, Gia and Mia.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has suspended Danushka Gunathilaka for six white-ball matches for misconduct. This is why the opening batsman was omitted from Sri Lanka’s squad for the ODI series against Pakistan in the UAE. He has also been fined.ESPNcricinfo understands Gunathilaka missed a training session, turned up to a match without his gear, and was generally found to have had an indifferent attitude towards training – all during Sri Lanka’s recent home series against India. One other player had also been pulled up about his off-field behaviour, but has received only a warning, as unlike Gunathilaka, SLC believed he had displayed full commitment to training and matches.Cricket manager Asanka Gurusinha is believed to have initially brought the issue to SLC’s notice, before the board’s CEO Ashley de Silva made further inquiries. “The board had asked the selectors not to consider Danushka for six white-ball games,” Gurusinha said. “Yes, is for disciplinary reasons that they made that decision.”Gunathilaka’s absence in the ODI squad had been something of a surprise, given he has averaged 42.41 in ODIs this year. This is his first serious case of misconduct. The board is expected to make a further statement on the matter.

It was the best of times; it has been the worst of times. It was the epoch of belief; it is the epoch of incredulity.Rather than a Dickensian narrative, the intervening period between West Indies women’s last two World Cup campaigns lends itself more seamlessly to the German novelist and playwright Gustav Freytag’s analysis of the five-act dramatic plot structure: exposition (a promising 47-41 win-loss ratio in the build-up to the 2013 World Cup), rising action (finishing runners-up in the 2013 World Cup), climax (clinching the 2016 World T20), falling action (finishing sixth among eight teams at the 2017 World Cup with only two victories), dénouement (the following dissection of the previous four acts).As they prepare to play Sri Lanka in the opener of the ICC Women’s Championship’s second cycle on October 11, Stafanie Taylor, the captain, tells ESPNcricinfo how crucial it is to clean-sweep the three-match series in the wake of a “disappointing” World Cup three months ago.”Not just me, but everybody was disappointed with our campaign – especially the fans,” Taylor says. “Apart from the points, winning all of these three games is vital for them; it could help us revive our fans.”It’s no surprise that Taylor attaches so much currency to the fans’ perception. In last year’s World T20, the team fought their way through tears to live out the perfect ending to the underdog story at Eden Gardens on April 3 and enthralled cricket-lovers the world over with a collective display of might. After all, dethroning the Australians requires rallying around each other as a unit and fierce team-work (unless your surname is Kaur).The follow-up to the 50-overs World Cup, however, has been starkly different so far.Like any other instance of a dismal campaign at a world event, the aftermath of West Indies’ World Cup performance prompted the axing of the team’s management, including head coach Vasbert Drakes who had overseen the side even at the World T20 in 2016 after his appointment the previous year. Weighing in on the management restructure, Taylor said the team can only “accept, adjust and adapt to” such uncontrollables.”I’m not sure why a decision like that was made. A few players may have been a bit disappointed [with the decision], given we were close to the previous management. To see how it happened is a bit disappointing, but these are things we can’t control. They [the board] did what they had to do, and I am not in a position to question the board on whom they fire and hire.”A scrutiny of their performance in the 50-overs format in the recent past reveals an anomaly that’s hard to overlook. Between their first Women’s Championship match in May 2015, through to the end of their World Cup campaign in July this year, West Indies lost 14 of their 26 games and were bowled out ten times inside 50 overs during those losses. Only in three of the remaining four defeats, did they manage to bat out the entire innings. Taylor, who took over the leadership reins from Merissa Aguilleira in September 2015, led the side in 12 of those 14 losses. However, she lost only thrice in her 15 T20I assignments, during the period, with one ending in a tie.Identifying reasons behind conceding big-margin defeats in ODIs requires the team and the board to look both without and within. Taylor believes a mix of technical frailties produced by inadequacies in the domestic set-up, clubbed with some sort of mental inhibition have been at the heart of their struggles in 50-overs cricket.”That mindset of batting through a whole day, which essentially means 100 overs, can be developed only when we play more longer-format games – both at the international and domestic level.”We need to play more 50-overs cricket. Yeah, we might be a good T20 team, but we play ODIs as well. We need to have more game time in that format so we can improve. I did have some conversation with the board regarding having three-dayers and four-dayers in the longer format, just to try and get that temperament stronger.”With 22 points from 21 matches, West Indies narrowly evaded having to grind it out in the qualifying tournament for this year’s World Cup, after earning automatic qualification through a fourth-place finish in the inaugural Women’s Championship.Taylor’s assessment of the team’s struggles rules out any insecurity borne out of non-performance, though. “If you look at the structure of our team, most of us, except maybe for two or three players, have been in the team for close to three years. Some of us have been together for a long time, around seven years. So I don’t think there is any insecurity at the back of their minds. However, as players we need to be honest with ourselves, and ask, ‘Are we doing enough to stay in the team?'”IDI/Getty Images

When asked if the management has tried to identify players who may be better suited to the different styles of play required in the two limited-overs formats, Taylor’s response was grounded in reality, albeit one that doesn’t bode well for the health of women’s cricket in the West Indies and in general.”We haven’t been able to narrow down to any such player so far. It’s kind of hard to choose seven to eight players separately for ODIs and T20s, because we don’t have a substantial pool of players.”In the West Indies, scouting of young talent for the national side mostly relies on the West Indies Regional Women’s Tournament, comprising the Super50 and Twenty20 competitions, but the quality of cricket in these competitions, by Taylor’s own admission, may be subject to debate.”It’s not the best. Every year we come together for a tournament that lasts for about three weeks. That’s definitely not good enough to try and build international players and even younger players coming through.”We need to structure our cricket here better. If we can get it right, we could definitely get better as a 50-overs side. Our regional cricket is not so good, so a set-up needs to be put in place to create a pool of youngsters.”Elaborating on the paucity of “polished” players in the domestic inventory, Taylor, who hails from Jamaica, cited the Kiddy Cricket programme – a flagship initiation programme managed by the West Indies board at the primary-school level – as one that could be used as a template for building the senior side. Having produced men’s international cricketers such as Kraigg Brathwaite, Shai Hope, Roston Chase and Jermaine Blackwood, along with women’s fast bolwers Britney Cooper, Kiddy Cricket has been catering to both genders since 1999 – much before women’s cricket was integrated into the operations of the West Indies board in 2006.”In Jamaica, Kiddy Cricket has yielded players as young as five and six from primary school. If you ask some random kid in the country if they’ve played Kiddy Cricket, they’d say yes. The structure is there, so maybe West Indies could have a set-up at a bigger level like that.”Echoing Taylor’s thoughts on the need for an overhaul of domestic cricket, Aguilleira, the former captain, underlined the non-uniformity of cricketing engagements across the Caribbean as being detrimental to the national side’s growth.”The depth of cricket in different parts of the Islands is not the same. In Trinidad and Tobago, my country, there’s cricket through the year: the Under-19s, the secondary-school [competitions]. So the younger girls are able to experience cricket in the form of T20 competitions, the 40-over games, and the knockouts. We even have some of the other girls coming over [to our island] and playing in our competitions. But not all the countries have a proper set-up to sustain the players. When you think about the level of domestic cricket being played there, it’s not something that could compete with the Australians and the English set-up.”Aguilleira, who captained the side to the final of the 2013 World Cup and the semi-finals of the Women’s World T20 in 2010, 2012 and 2014, sounded a note of caution over finding replacements following the future retirements of senior players.”If you look at the age group of the current West Indies players, a bunch of them will be going out at the same time. You don’t want a scenario where the team’s moving but there’s nobody to fill their place. So that’s something Cricket West Indies could look into and ensure the younger generation is nurtured.”Aguilera further pointed to “inadequate mental preparation” and a lack of match fitness in the lead up to the World Cup as reasons for the team’s underwhelming performance.”We really need to be mentally tough; cricket is just so far beyond just your skills and your fitness level. Because we’re from different countries, we don’t come together as a team regularly enough. It’s just that [five-day] camp we had before the World Cup. So it’s vital we get to play more cricket together as a team and not just in our respective countries. That’s how we can identify our problems, fix those and be mentally ready.”In a little over a year West Indies will be defending their World T20 title on home soil, but for now the significance of the Championship games, Aguillera said, is not lost on the side.”As professional cricketers, the team understands the requirements of the different formats. As defending champions, we know how important the World T20 is for us. But we’ve also been a side who’ve dominated in 50-overs cricket.”We were 2013 finalists and I think that hasn’t gone beyond us. We’re still fresh and thinking about those situations. It’s only about blocking out the negative and getting back on the winning ways with help from Hendy Springer [head coach] and Mr [Gus] Logie [assistant coach], and this series could well initiate that.”Considering her team’s history of overcoming the odds and emerging champions, despite the system, that might not be mere fanciful thinking.

Mayank Agarwal’s maiden double-hundred and R Samarth’s seventh century cemented Karnataka‘s command over Maharashtra in Pune. They added 259 for the opening stand, which paved the way for the visitors extending their lead to 216 by stumps on the second day.Samarth hit 129 off 219 balls – his second hundred in three matches – before part-time offspinner Swapnil Gugale had him caught behind. Agarwal, though, went to stumps not out on 219 off 373 balls, including 25 fours and two sixes. He made a rousing return to form after having bagged a pair against Hyderabad last week.Debutant Dega Nishal (16) was the only other batsman to fall on the day. Agarwal and Karun Nair (56*) added an unbroken 151 to take the score to 461 for 2 before stumps.Hyderabad captain Ambati Rayudu struck his first hundred since returning to the state, and fast bowler T Ravi Teja struck a 63-ball 70 on debut to propel the score to 474 for 9 declared against Railways at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. Ravi Teja then bowled opener Saurabh Wakaskar for 5 to cap a memorable day.Rayudu added 24 to his overnight score of 88 before being dismissed by seamer Amit Mishra in the 101st over. B Sandeep, the other overnight batsman, was also dismissed early as the visitors slumped to 319 for 5 from an overnight 272 for 3. Debutant K Rohit Rayudu then perished soon after lunch to give Railways a way back at 353 for 6.But the left-handed Ravi Teja was aggressive in his 47-run stand with Akash Bhandari (40). He struck at over 100 in a 53-run stand for the eight wicket that took Hyderabad to 453, before they declared on 474.Ravi Teja was to form one final partnership on the day, this time with the ball, as he and fast bowler Ravi Kiran attacked Railways’ left-handed openers from around the wicket. The tension drew a wicket, that of Wakaskar, who played onto his stumps. Shivakant Shukla and Nitin Bhille survived a nervy battle in the fading light to take Railways to stumps without further damage. They trail by 439 runs with nine wickets in hand.

Getty Images

Darwish Rasooli struck an unbeaten 78-ball 76 to lead Afghanistan to victory in their opening match of the Under-19 World Cup, beating Pakistan by five wickets.Chasing 189, Afghanistan were reduced to 50 for 3, before Rasooli, in the company of wicketkeeper Ikram Ali Khil, staved off Pakistan’s challenge. Rasooli shared partnerships of 75 with Khil (46), 42 with Nisar Wahdat (19) and 27* with Azmatullah Omarzai (12*) to carry Afghanistan home with 15 balls to spare. Prior to the start of their campaign, Rasooli had spoken about the ease with which he can hit sixes and so his concentration was on batting long and pulling his team out of trouble.After Pakistan had chosen to bat, they lost opener Muhammad Zaid for 0 and No. 3 Ammad Alam for 1. Wicketkeeper Rohail Nazir resurrected the innings in the company of Ali Zaryab Asif (30). The pair put on 88 off 138 balls.Nazir’s dismissal for 81 sparked a collapse as Pakistan gave away their last seven wickets for 42 runs. Fast bowler Omarzai and legspinner Qais Ahmad picked up three wickets apiece.

USA Cricket, the ICC-approved governing body formed in late 2017 to take over cricket administration after USACA’s expulsion from the ICC midway through the year, has announced the start of membership sign-up process ahead of its first general elections due in mid-2018.”This is another significant step forward in making the new national governing body a reality,” said Patricia Whittaker, former West Indies women’s Test player and a member of the ICC’s Sustainable Foundation advisory group that was a forerunner to USA Cricket’s formation. “We are excited to give the cricketing community the opportunity to engage with USA Cricket through the membership program and are certain that the all inclusive and fair approach we are taking will assist the new governing body in achieving the most impact for all involved in cricket in the United States.”

Combine dates and locations

March 2-4: North Carolina
March 9-11: San Francisco
April 19-22: Los Angeles
May 3-6: Fort Lauderdale
May 10-13: Houston
May 24-27: Chicago
May 31-June 3: New York
June 7-10: Washington, D.C.
June 21-24: Houston (National Team Camp)

According to the USA Cricket website registration forms, there are two membership categories that interested parties can register under. The first is individual, in which players, coaches or fans can sign up. The second is organisational, which is open to clubs, leagues, academies and schools. Both sets of categories are free to join until July 2018, by when the first set of elections are expected to be held ahead of USA Cricket’s first executive board being installed and represent the country at this year’s ICC annual conference.Both categories include voting rights in the inaugural USA Cricket general election. Under the USACA constitution that was approved in 2008 following their second ICC suspension, voting was limited to USACA member leagues, with the league president controlling his group’s vote. This stipulation turned into a major source of contention over the years and played a factor in 32 out of 47 member leagues, many of which voiced opposition to USACA president Gladstone Dainty, being disenfranchised ahead of the 2012 USACA general election.A subsequent landslide victory for Dainty among the 15 remaining voting leagues spurred most of the 32 disenfranchised leagues to break away and form the American Cricket Federation. When both governing bodies claimed to be the rightful group in charge of representing the majority of stakeholders in the country, the ICC finally intervened, leading to USACA’s eventual suspension in 2015 and expulsion last year. The move to open up voting rights to as many members as possible is aimed at curbing any future repeat of the events of the 2012 election.USA Cricket also announced that player selection combines, which were first started by the ICC Americas caretaker administration in Indianapolis in September 2015 and then on an eight-city regional basis in 2016, will return in 2018. Like 2016, they will be held across eight cities or states around the country with combines divided into women’s, junior and senior men’s trial applicants.The only place not to have a repeat combine from 2016 is New Jersey, with the players there expected to be grouped into the trial process for the New York metro area in 2018. In New Jersey’s place, a junior combine has been slated for North Carolina, which has a developed a reputation in recent years for youth cricket initiatives.Previous ICC combines required players to apply themselves. This year’s combines will have players nominated by their leagues – each league can put forward a maximum of four names not currently part of the national team squad – as well as players applying on an individual basis. The deadline for player applications for the first two combines – in North Carolina and San Francisco this March – is February 28 but the application for all other combines is March 9.After the eight regional combine trials are complete, about 30-40 players are expected to be invited to a men’s national team camp in Houston from June 21-24. From there, squads are expected to be picked for USA’s assignments for the rest of 2018. These include the Auty Cup series against Canada, the start of 2020 World T20 qualifying and WCL Division Three. Information about the subsequent national team camp and selection process for women’s and junior players are yet to be announced.”I am hugely enthused by the previous editions of the combines we have conducted and believe this is an important process to ensure a fair, transparent and all-inclusive selection process for our national teams while we work towards the creation of regional performance structures across the country,” ICC Americas USA project manager Eric Parthen said.USA Cricket had previously announced that a national tournament would be scheduled sometime later in 2018. The national tournament is expected to take over for the combine process with USA’s main talent identification pathway going forward.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAssociated Press

Sri Lanka ended their Bangladesh tour in style, crushing the hosts by 75 runs to wrap up the T20 series 2-0. Kusal Mendis, who has been Sri Lanka’s most dominant batsman across formats in the last four weeks, starred again with 70 off 42 balls to propel the visitors to 210 for 4. Shehan Madushanka, who was playing his second T20I, and the spinners then skittled Bangladesh for 135 in the chase.After being sent in, Sri Lanka amassed their highest total against Bangladesh and fifth highest overall. Mendis and Danushka Gunathilaka had set the base with a 98-run opening stand before Upul Tharanga and Dasun Shanaka plundered 45 in 19 balls to provide the finishing kick.Mendis continued from where he had left off in Mirpur and went after the Bangladesh bowlers from the first over. He punished debutants Abu Jayed and Mahedi Hasan in the early exchanges before lofting left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam over his head for a six in the fourth over.Gunathilaka, who was dropped twice on 15 and 28, contributed 42 in a 98-run opening stand, before part-time seamer Soumya Sarkar had him holing out to long-off in his first over.Mendis, who had brought up a 29-ball fifty, then ceded the stage to Thisara Perera, who was promoted to No. 3. Thisara laid into Sarkar, hitting three boundaries in the 14th over, including a six over the sight screen. He added 51 off 27 balls with Mendis before he was caught at long-off too.An over later, Mendis top-edged a pull to deep midwicket, but Tharanga and Shanaka sustained the momentum. Tharanga slammed Jayed for two fours and a six, back-to-back, in the 18th over before Shanaka took four boundaries off Mustafizur Rahman in the next over. Tharanga fell for 25 in the last over of the innings but Shanaka’s unbeaten 30 off 11 balls helped Sri Lanka finish strongly.Sri Lanka then built on their surge by picking up three wickets in the first three overs of the chase. Akila Dananjaya had Sarkar top-edging a catch to Jeevan Mendis at point while Madushanka removed both Mushfiqur Rahim and Mohammad Mithun in the same over.When Tamim Iqbal became debutant Amila Aponso’s maiden international wicket, Bangladesh were 59 for 4. Jeevan Mendis then trapped Ariful Haque for 2 in the next over to extend Bangladesh’s misery.Mahmudullah fought with 41 off 31 balls and added 42 for the sixth wicket with Mohammad Saifuddin. The end, however, was swift for Bangladesh: they lost their last five wickets 25 runs to be bowled out in 18.4 overs. Gunathilaka had applied the finishing touches by dismissing Mustafizur and Jayed in four balls.