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Sri Lanka’s cricket selectors have recalled leg-spinner Upul Chandana intotheir 15-man squad for the second Janashakthi National Test at Kandy onWednesday.Chandana comes in place of left-arm fast bowler Ruchira Perera, who did notplay in Galle and is now considered surplus to requirements, as Sri Lankaare expected to choose another spin based attack.The 29-year-old Tamil Union wrist spinner, who played the last of his fiveTests 15 months ago against South Africa, appears an unlikely starter.Captain Sanath Jayasuriya pledged his support for left-arm spinner NiroshanBandaratillake, who had taken two crucial wickets on the final morning inGalle.”Niroshan (Bandaratillake) did not bowl particularly well in the firstinnings, but he was much better in the second,” he said. “He has been out ofthe side for a while and deserves a decent chance. I hope he plays inKandy.”The only likely Sri Lankan change in the final eleven, is the recall ofleft-arm pace Nuwan Zoysa, who is back to full fitness after six months onthe sidelines with an ankle injury.Full squad:Sanath Jayasuriya (capt)
Marvan Atapattu
Kumar Sangakkara
MahelaJayawardene
Russel Arnold
Hashan Tillakaratne
Thilan Samaraweera
Chaminda Vaas
Niroshan Bandaratillake
Muttiah Muralithathan
CharithaBuddika Fernando
Nuwan Zoysa
Suresh Perera
Michael Vandort
Upul Chandana

Touring the subcontinent brings sharp focus on a team’s ability to tackle spin. South Africa have not backed down from that challenge and, judging from the Dharamsala and Cuttack T20Is, AB de Villiers has suggested spin has not been the deciding factor it was made out to be.”I honestly don’t think spin has been a theme of the series so far,” he said. “Our seamers were the ones that won us the two T20s. But saying that, India have got really good spinners in their team and we are expecting the wickets to get slower and turn more as we move on in the series.”Should that be the case, someone of the caliber of R Ashwin can become very threatening. Ashwin has dismissed de Villiers two out of two times in the tour so far. So is the South African captain worried?”I don’t feel he got me out in either of the two games. I got myself out in both the games,” De Villiers said. “When you start getting technical flaws against a bowler, then you have to worry about it. But I was looking to dominate against him. The last time I got a little bit lazy perhaps, played for spin, but it didn’t get spin. So there is not much to worry about. Except for the fact that he is a world-class bowler and needs to be respected.”The progress of their training session in Kanpur also indicated South Africa want to be ready to unsettle a spinner when the need arises. De Villiers spent much of his net session whacking the slow bowlers over their heads while JP Duminy, the Man of the Series from the T20Is, entertained himself with some sweeps and reverse sweeps. Additionally, Green Park Stadium has rather small boundaries. It also has a flat deck, with just enough grass to prevent it from breaking up too badly. So there should not be many instances of a batsman thinking twice before going on the attack.”The wicket that is out there, that I saw, doesn’t look like that [a turner],” De Villiers said. “Looks like a really good cricket wicket. Expect normal spin. Nothing out of this world.”So South Africa will likely bank on the returning Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel to pull some rabbits out of the hat. Both bowlers have not been in action at international cricket since August.”It’s Nice to have Morne and Dale back. They bring a lot of experience to the side. Haven’t seen them for a while now so they will be fresh as well,” de Villiers said. “Very excited to see them run in to bowl tomorrow. They are looking in really good form. Especially Morne who will be playing his 100th [sic 98th] ODI for South Africa tomorrow so we are all very happy for him. It’s a great achievement.”In their absence, Kyle Abbott has made an excellent case to be a first-choice pick and at practice, it seemed he was among their frontline death bowlers. The story goes that Lasith Malinga practiced his yorkers with a boot placed in front of the stumps. Abbott had a football to target while refining his wide and leg-stump toecrushers. “We’ve got a very good, balanced bowling attack,” de Villiers said confidently. “We’ve got guys who can swing it, guys who can move it off the seam and we’ve got good spin bowlers. We’ve got an offspinner, a legspinner, and Phangiso as a [left-arm] option so we cover all bases.”South Africa also have momentum now. “We have won the T20 series 2-0, I don’t think a lot of people expected that. We’d love to do a similar kind of thing in the ODIs. We know it’s not going to be easy. Five ODIs in India, lots of travelling, lots of different wickets, different grounds. It’s going to be challenging, but we’ve got every form of momentum on our side and we are hoping take that into tomorrow.”

Sunderland have revealed a positive three-word update on Nathan Broadhead ahead of their game at Wigan Athletic in League One this afternoon.

The Lowdown: Missing in action

Broadhead has not played for the Black Cats since scoring against Arsenal in the 5-1 loss in the Carabao Cup in revealed that the 23-year-old was back in training with the squad on Thursday as he aims to step up his recovery from a hamstring injury.

It does not seem likely that the Welsh striker will play any part in the match against the Latics, but Neil will be hoping that he can now slowly ease him back in ahead of a busy end to the season.

The Latest: Broadhead update

Sunderland’s social media channels offered a teasing glimpse as to whether Broadhead might figure at the DW Stadium this afternoon.

Taking to Twitter, the club posted a three-word update on the 23-year-old, with a picture of him walking through the doors at the ground wearing a beaming smile along with the caption: “Back on Wearside”.

The Verdict: Positive

It is certainly promising to see that Broadhead is back on his feet as the Black Cats aim to get back on track in their hunt for promotion to the Championship.

The reality is that they have only won three of their last 12 games without the Everton loanee, and no wins in their last six (Transfermarkt) highlights Broadhead’s importance to the team.

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He still remains their second-top scorer this season with seven goals, and Ross Stewart certainly needs help in that area if Sunderland are going to fire their way up the table. Nonetheless, at least Broadhead’s return to training is positive to hear after their tough start to 2022.

In other news, William Storey has dropped this ‘huge’ takeover update

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Brett Geeves served up some problems for South Australia with 5 for 49 © Getty Images

Graham Manou was unbeaten on 99 at stumps, pushing South Australia to 7 for 303 after Brett Geeves rattled the top order with his first Pura Cup five-wicket haul. Geeves did his damage either side of the lunch break as the Redbacks lost 6 for 31 before Manou built two fighting partnerships, first with Ryan Harris and then with Jason Gillespie.After a demoralising 2006-07 in which he lost his wicketkeeping spot due to his lack of runs, Manou is set to reclaim his position permanently with what should become his second first-class century. Harris made a valuable 60 and with Manou added 112 for the seventh wicket, while Gillespie was 48 not out at the close.But South Australia’s fragile top order remained a major concern, with only Matthew Elliott (55) troubling Tasmania’s bowlers. Geeves finished with a career-best 5 for 49 and his first four victims came in a five-over spell that helped reduce the Redbacks to 6 for 92.Geeves broke the 61-run opening stand by removing Shane Deitz for 18, then had Nathan Adcock lbw and Mark Cosgrove caught behind within the space of three balls. He ended his destructive period with the crucial dismissals of Darren Lehmann and Elliott, while Ben Hilfenhaus chipped in with 2 for 99.

Gwen Herath, the flag bearer of women’s cricket in Sri Lanka for nearly a decade, is no longer running the show but has silently quit following the merger of the Women’s Cricket Association of Sri Lanka (WCASL) with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).The merger – an ICC requirement in which all women’s associations will merge with their country’s board – means that Herath will have no big role to play. She is reduced to being the head of a five-member women’s cricket committee of the SLC.”I decided to step down gracefully two weeks ago,” she said. “I will make arrangements to dissolve the women’s association for the full merger to take effect.”Herath admitted that she does not like working with interim bodies. “In other countries the women’s cricket associations have merged with elected bodies. With interim bodies you can’t fight injustice.”With an elected body you can take up matters which are irregular. But with interim bodies whom can you complain to? You have to complain to the Sports Minister who is responsible for appointing the interim body.”However she said she welcomed the merger because it means that, in the long run, female players stand to benefit greatly coming under SLC. She revealed that the women’s association were able to give the girls only US$ 100 for an entire tournament or tour in the past but, by merging with SLC, each member of the Asia Cup side will receive US$ 25 per day as pocket money and the officials US$ 40 per day. Even sponsorships will be the responsibility of SLC.During Herath’s tenure as president of WCASL she was able to raise Rs.2million (US$ 18,400) a year for five years through sponsorship from Singer, the sponsors of the national men’s cricket team when they won the World Cup in 1996.Herath was the life-blood of women’s cricket having inaugurated the women’s association in 1996 and seeing the country participate in three World Cup tournaments in 1997, 2000 and 2005.”Right throughout my presidency we were ranked sixth in the world out of 13 countries,” she said.One of Sri Lanka’s versatile cricket administrators, Herath was responsible for making Sri Lanka a member of the International Women’s Cricket Council in 1997 and for bringing Sri Lanka under the aegis of the ICC in 2005. She was also the first woman to hold the post of president of the male-dominated Puttalam District Cricket Association for 15 years.

Vaughan doesn’t believe he is taking a risk by playing in the second Test © Getty Images

Michael Vaughan has declared himself fit and ready to resume the England captaincy in the second Test at Faisalabad, which gets underway tomorrow morning, after coming through a fitness test on his injured right knee. Though heavily strapped and still in some discomfort, Vaughan declared he was “confident he could get through the game”, as England seek to draw level in the three-match series.”I can still feel it a little bit but surely not enough to miss the game,” Vaughan told reporters on the eve of the match. “It’s been a good week for me and day-by-day I feel I’m progressing and getting better. I don’t feel it’s a massive risk, but the most important thing is that I’m confident and that’s really all that counts, if the individual feels he can get through.”Vaughan damaged his knee while running between the wickets during England’s second warm-up match at Bagh-e-Jinnah 12 days ago. At the time it was feared his tour could be over, for it was the recurrence of a long-standing cartilage problem that required surgery ahead of the 2002-03 Ashes tour, and then reoccurred in the nets at Lord’s in May 2004.But having sat out England’s defeat in Multan, Vaughan was adamant that he would be back for this match, even going so far as to claim his decision was reached three days ago, at a time when his movement in England’s practice sessions was still severely limited. He insisted, however, that his return was not influenced by the final-day batting collapse that handed Pakistan a surprise 22-run victory.”I put myself up for selection because I feel I’m ready to play a Test match,” said Vaughan. “I’m comfortable I can get through and I don’t think the result [at Multan] plays a part. I was always going to try and make myself available for the second one.””I’ve had a good recovery,” he added. “I’ve worked hard with Kirk [Russell, the physio], and day-by-day I’ve been doing more running, more twisting and turning. I’ve come through that, which is a good sign. Hopefully it will never happen again, but I’m confident I can get through the game.”Vaughan’s return meant that England would be left with a tricky selection dilemma ahead of the Faisalabad match. “It’s pretty obvious it’ll be Paul Collingwood or Ian Bell who misses out,” he confirmed. “The selectors will liaise today but it’s a tough one. Belly played well, while Colly’s only just got into the team.”There was no doubt, however, about the challenge that awaits his team. “It’s massive,” said Vaughan, adding that he would not be satisfied with just a share of the series. “We went 1-0 down against Aussies but we had four games to pull it back. It takes a hell of a lot of hard work to get into a winning position, and we’ll need to work equally as hard, if not harder, to come back from here.”

Steve Tikolo: one of the players taking a stand© Getty Images

Ten current and former Kenyan players have refused to meet representatives of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit in Nairobi next week, claiming that they haven’t been given enough notice.Martin Hawkins and Alan Peacock had been set to travel to Kenya on November 30 to speak to 15 members of the Kenyan side from 1999 and 2000, including team officials, over continuing allegations which stem from the banning of Maurice Odumbe in July.But Alan Kosgey, a laywer speaking on the players’ behalf, told reporters that his clients had “respectfully declined the summons due to the very short notice but they are happy to be interviewed at a future appropriate time.” Two of the ten are out of the country – Steve Tikolo is in Bangladesh and Collins Obuya in South Africa.”The rest have also said they need enough time to prepare for the exercise because they do not know the nature of investigations the officers will take.” The Kenyan board (KCA) is powerless to intervene as none of the ten has a contract with it. “They aren’t expected to sit around and wait for ICC summons,” Kosgey added. Sammy Obingo, the KCA’s general manager, said that Hawkins and Peacock would still visit but could only talk to “whoever is available.”The players who have declined the summonses are Tikolo, Obuya, Thomas Odoyo, Kennedy Obuya, Martin Suji, Tony Suji, Jimmy Kamande, Peter Ongondo, Josephat Ababu and Francis Otieno. Three others – Alpesh Vadher, Hitesh Modi and Brijal Patel – have not indicated that they would not be available, although Modi is in Mauritius on his honeymoon.

20.3 overs Gloucestershire 150 for 3 (Harvey 61, Weston 46) beat Worcestershire 149 (Solanki 40, Gidman 2-12) by seven wickets
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Jack Russell: never far from the action, as Gareth Batty pieces together Worcestershire’s innings © Getty Images 2003

It’s been three years since Gloucestershire last won the trophy that might have been named with them in mind, but today, on a beautifully sunny day at Lord’s, they once again established themselves as the pre-eminent one-day team in the country.Worcestershire had no answers to a wonderful allround display from Gloucestershire. It was Mark Alleyne who set the ball rolling by winning the toss and choosing to bowl – an illogical decision on the face of it. But 67 overs later, it all made perfect sense. Gloucestershire’s tireless fielding (led inevitably by Jonty Rhodes) and their clever array of medium-pacers proved too much for Worcestershire. They collapsed after a steady start to 149, before being ripped asunder by Ian Harvey and their old boy, Phil Weston, in a thrillingly gung-ho run-chase.Worcester looked to have had the better of the opening exchanges, as Vikram Solanki and Anurag Singh caressed the ball all around Lord’s with typically wristy flair. But Rhodes engineered the breakthrough, running out Solanki with an accurate throw to the non-striker’s end, and the innings came tumbling down.Graeme Hick lasted just three deliveries, before driving loosely at a wide delivery from Harvey to Matt Windows in the covers (65 for 2). Then, in Harvey’s next over, Singh was suckered by a wonderful two-card trick. First, he jabbed down late on a crafty floating yorker delivered from the back of the hand. Then, he swished wildly at Harvey’s next delivery, a big outswinger that was snaffled by Martyn Ball at slip (72 for 3).The collapse wasn’t finished there. Alleyne missed a sharp return catch off Andrew Hall, but two balls later, it was Worcestershire’s captain Ben Smith who returned to the pavilion, after being run out at the non-striker’s end by Jack Russell’s pick-up-and-shy from behind the stumps (92 for 4).Gloucestershire had some problems of their own when Mike Smith was forced to leave the field with an injury. But up stepped Alex Gidman, better known as a promising batsman, but now filling in as an extremely accurate medium-pacer. He picked up two wickets in the same over as David Leatherdale edged to slip (96 for 5), before Andrew Hall was trapped lbw on the back foot (99 for 6).Gareth Batty and Steven Rhodes attempted to salvage the innings, but it was beyond repair. Batty lofted Ball down the ground for a handsome one-bounce four, but he fell lbw for 20 to become Jon Lewis’s first victim (133 for 7), and after struggling with a side injury Rhodes holed out to Ball in the covers for 15 (134 for 8).The tail resolutely refused to wag. Matt Mason heaved down the track and was stumped down the leg side by the ever-excellent Jack Russell (136 for 9), before Nantie Hayward slogged Ball down the throat of the substitute fielder Chris Taylor at deep-midwicket. Worcestershire were all out for 149, and then the fun really began.Gloucestershire were in the zone and nothing was going to get in their way. Craig Spearman was an early casualty as he chanced his arm once too often and slapped Kabir Ali to Ben Smith in the covers for 10 (30 for 1), but Weston and Harvey were unstoppable. In particular, they took a heavy toll on the erratic Hayward, who opened with a 90mph wide and was sooned warned for an unintentional beamer to Harvey.Matt Mason thought he’d made the breakthrough when Weston, on 28, edged straight to Andrew Hall at slip, but Hall muffed the opportunity and the moment passed. On a true Lord’s surface, the batsmen needed only to swing through the line of the ball, and the boundaries – all 25 of them – flowed like champagne.Hall eventually made amends at slip to remove Weston for 46, but at 108 for 2 it was already curtains for Worcestershire. Harvey followed shortly afterwards, stumped by the substitute wicketkeeper James Pipe for a whirlwind 61 from 36 balls. It was left to Gidman and Rhodes to seal the victory with a record 29.3 overs to spare, a fitting farewell to their outgoing coach, John Bracewell.

The potential violence that faces Sri Lanka ahead and afterits December 5 parliamentary elections is of little worry tothe West Indies team.Captain Carl Hooper, manager Ricky Skerritt and the rest ofthe squad were in an upbeat mood ahead of their departurefor the Asian country yesterday.While speaking to reporters at the Grantley AdamsInternational Airport, Hooper said the whole situationshould hopefully have no effect on the team.The minute the decision was taken for the tour to go on, weas professionals have had to focus straight on the cricket,the West Indies captain said.If we start worrying about what is happening off the fieldwith the politics in Sri Lanka, it would be a wrong note tostart the tour on. We are totally focussed and committed toplaying good cricket in Sri Lanka. What’s happening off thefield will take care of itself.Last July, there was a Tamil Tigers attack on ColomboAirport that destroyed several aircraft and killed 30people, while there was a blast on the outskirts of thecapital two days ago that killed a suicide bomber from theTamil Tigers, a policeman and injured 17 others.In light of safety concerns, West Indies Cricket Boardpresident Reverend Wes Hall was given assurances oversecurity from goverment and cricket officials in Sri Lankaat an International Cricket Council meet in Malaysia lessthan two weeks ago.Skerritt, who met with top officials in Sri Lanka’s Ministryof National Security before the announcement of the date forgeneral elections, said security was not a big issue for theteam.What they tell me in Sri Lanka is that this is very localpolitical party versus political party and it gets heated upclose to the election, he said.We don’t expect to experience any of it or very little ofit. If we find that the security arrangements are not to oursatisfaction, we are going to try to get it improved and ifwe can’t get it improved, we’ll have to take other steps.Skerritt tried to play down the issue by pointing topolitical violence that affected Jamaica while the team wasin camp in Kingston as well as the staging of a Test matchin Guyana earlier this year, a week ahead of elections.None of us felt the effects of it because none of us isinvolved in politics, he said.When asked if he was disturbed by Monday’s reports inColombo, the West Indies manager said: Any news about deathand violence is perturbing. I’m not trying to cast anyaspersions. Unfortunately, these have become far too commonin too many cities, but cricketers tend to get veryprotected from that reality. We don’t have any reason to getinvolved or close to it. But we will be vigilant and we willcontinue to make sure that everything possible is done togive us the best possible security.Squad: Carl Hooper (captain), Ridley Jacobs (vicecaptain), Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Brian Lara, RamnareshSarwan, Marlon Samuels, Wavell Hinds, Leon Garrick, NeilMcGarrell, Dinanath Ramnarine, Colin Stuart, Mervyn Dillon,Marlon Black, Reon King, Pedro Collins.Ricky Skerritt(manager), Roger Harper (coach), Ronald Rogers (sportstherapist).

Keith Exton, the Glamorgan groundsman, has left his role with immediate effect just days before the international T20 double-header in Cardiff following the dangerous pitch which forced a Royal London Cup match against Hampshire to be abandoned earlier this month.Exton had recently been put on “gardening leave” as the club investigated the incident which led to them being fined £9000 – £5000 of which was suspended until the end of the 2016 season and £4000 ordered in compensation to Hampshire – while they were also handed a two-point penalty.Glamorgan had suffered a previous two-point penalty last year – which meant they began this season on minus two – for a pitch rated “poor”, again in the Royal London Cup, against Durham. It was the same strip in both instances.Exton’s assistant, Robin Saxton, had already been put in charge of producing the pitch for the third Women’s T20 – which could yet be an Ashes decider – and the one-off match between the men which follows on August 31.The match on August 2 against Hampshire was called off 6.4 overs into the second innings when Jimmy Adams was struck on the helmet by a delivery from Michael Hogan which climbed alarmingly off a length.At the time Hugh Morris, the Glamorgan chief executive, called it “a dark day for the club”.In a brief statement following Exton’s departure he said: “On behalf of Glamorgan County Cricket Club I would like to thank Keith for the contribution he has made to the club and wish him well in his future endeavours.”The club statement made mention of the two Ashes pitches Exton had produced – in 2009 and this year – the second of which ended in a four-day England victory.