S Sreesanth Acquitted in IPL Spot-Fixing Case: Top Quotes of the Pacer

S Sreesanth first cried and then smiled in absolute relief after all charges of spot-fixing in Indian Premier League 2013 were dropped by a Patiala House court on Saturday.
Here are the top quotes from the fast bowler:
* I am a very relieved man. I have no regrets and no complaints against anybody.
* When I lifted the World Cup, I never asked why me. Over the last two years, I did ask why me but all is fine now.
* I will get back to proper fitness. I want to just go to any stadium and run.
* I am only 32 and my fast bowling has a lot of years left.
* I would like to thank my lovely daughter, my wife and my parents.
* I know I have a lot of movie offers but cricket always has been and continues to be my first love. I am a cricketer first and will always keep playing.

Oman and Afghanistan grab final T20 WC spots

Oman's fairytale rise as a cricket nation continued Thursday when they qualified for next year's T20 WC in India.

A five-wicket win over Namibia at the ICC qualifying event in Malahide near Dublin saw the Gulf minnows reach their first major international tournament.

Victory also saw the International Cricket Council grant Oman, coached by former Sri Lanka captain Duleep Mendis, and with ex-England all-rounder Derek Pringle recently recruited as a technical advisor, full Twenty20 status.

Oman had previously beaten Canada, the Netherlands and Afghanistan, all far more experienced associate or non-Test cricket nations, at the qualifying tournament.

Afghanistan sealed the other qualifying spot on offer Thursday with a six-wicket win over Papua New Guinea.

It was the fourth successive time that Afghanistan -- who competed at this year's 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand -- had qualified for the T20 WC.

The 16 teams who will compete in the finals phase of the T20 WC are the 10 Test sides, plus qualifiers Scotland, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Afghanistan and Oman.

BCCI may opt for out of court settlement with Kochi

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) could resort to an out of court settlement to ward off the possible Rs 900-crore payout to Kochi Cricket Pvt Ltd (KCPL), based on the ruling in the arbitration between the two sides, following the termination of the Kochi Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise in September 2011.
In the June 15, 2015 ruling, the arbitrator, former Chief Justice of India RC Lahoti, ordered the BCCI to pay the franchise a total sum of Rs 384.83 crore in lieu of special and general damages incurred along with 18% annual interest for four years, return the Rs 153 crore bank guarantee to Rendezvous Sports World (RSW) and pay an additional Rs 72 lac for the legal fees incurred. It couldn't be clarified if the 18% interest mentioned in each of the payouts in the judgement is compound or simple interest. If damages incurred are calculated on compound interest over four years, BCCI could be liable to pay Kochi close to Rs 900 crore, a figure that "is higher than what almost five of the eight IPL franchises are supposed to pay BCCI in 10 years," an official in the know of things said.
While the BCCI has until September 22 to respond, there seems to be an ambiguity on how best to counter this judgement, especially at a time when the board is busy battling a crisis of confidence in the light of the Justice Lodha Committee report and other Enforcement Directorate and tax-related issues. "BCCI is in deep trouble. The only way forward is to settle it out of court," a senior board official said, while another added, "BCCI will challenge the decision because in the judgement the arbitrator has gone beyond the scope of the (franchise) agreement."
Now, as one official in the know of things put it, the best possible scenario for BCCI would be Kochi agreeing to play in the IPL. "If they decide to play, the worry over the possible inclusion of another team is taken care of. But more importantly, their coming back is the only way BCCI can stem the outflow of cash. The payments can be adjusted against their annual franchise fee," he said.
The arbitration judgement, a copy of which is with TOI, states that the termination of the franchise Kochi Tuskers was wrong and non-availability of a brand new stadium in Kochi was a breach on part of the respondent. The arbitrator asked the BCCI if it "was aware" of the pending litigation about the Kochi Stadium and why its construction was not proceeding ahead, in lieu of why the venue was allowed to be bid for IPL.
Further, Rendezvous Sports World, claimant in the arbitration, said that it had made its Rs 1,530 crore bid in 2010 and planned its receipts and expenses on the basis that there would be 94 matches per season, but the reduction of matches to 75 had resulted in substantial loss of revenue, at least by 25%. The franchise shared its concerns, followed by reminders to BCCI, seeking proportionate downward revision in the franchisee fee by about 23-25% but it was rejected. The arbitration also asked why BCCI did not pay heed to the request by the franchise to shift out of Kochi to another venue (Ahmedabad).

Cooks Captaincy Rebirth And The Ashes

In the first test of the 2015 Ashes series at Cardiff, England administered a sound beating to their Australian opponents. Joe Root, before he had scored and with England 43/3, was given a life when he was dropped by Brad Haddin and from there he led his team from the corner they were boxed in and into the ascendency. It was a position they would maintain the rest of the way.
As England dominated Australia, and as they romped happily home, much praise was heaped upon players like Root, Ian Bell, Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, and Stuart Broad for the runs they made and the wickets they captured. Much praise was also laid at the feet of captain Alastair Cook for what was, we are told, his outstanding captaincy during the game.
The encomiums came in from myriad directions, even from places that previously had only sent mounds of coal. They came from Kevin Pietersen, Shane Warne and a host of others who are on record as not rating England's long-time captain very highly. He was said to be positive, decisive, imaginative, inspiring. And Cardiff, we heard, was Cook's greatest exhibition of captaincy. Cook had even out-captained the highly acclaimed Michael Clarke.
Let's now go back to the end of the 2013-14 Ashes encounter in Australia. England had suffered a terrible 0-5 whitewash and there was chaos and scapegoats all around. Then, as now, Cook was captain. Then, unlike now, he was castigated from all corners. We were told that he was too defensive, too unimaginative, too unwilling to think outside the box. "Cook must go," was being loudly declaimed in many quarters.
An unadventurous mindset had long been the rap against Cook. Now, after Cardiff, he's being hailed for his flair and aggression. The question, therefore, is this: What has accounted for the turnaround? To what can his leadership makeover be attributed?
Perhaps its simply that Englands captain reevaluated his modus operandi and opted to make a change. At Cardiff, it did appear he was less willing to let the game drift; more willing to set what I hear described as "funky fields." Perhaps what we are witnessing is not really an alteration of outlook but rather a response to his numerous critics; he might have surmised that there was substance to what the detractors were saying.
Then again, the answer may be simple and straightforward. Perhaps the real difference is that in Australia his side fell to a disastrous defeat, while in Cardiff they won. Generally speaking, the good captain is the winning captain. The bad captain, on the other hand, is likely to have racked up more than his fair number of losses. Perhaps the change we see in Cook's approach is more a matter of style than substance.
I have often said that there can be no good captain of a bad team. And a good team is normally one that wins. Former West Indies captain, Clive Lloyd was an astute tactician, a caring father-figure and a great leader of men, yet he would not have been as highly acclaimed as the man at the helm when the West Indies ruled world cricket were not the best pace attack in history his to command.
Mike Brearly might have had a degree in people as Rodney Hogg memorably proclaimed, but, more importantly, he had Ian Botham at his peak, along with great players like Willis, Gower, and Boycott. Additionally, he was fortunate to have avoided the unbeatable West Indies and built a fair chunk of his stellar captaincy record against teams depleted by defections to Packer.
All this is to say that we are possibly overestimating the effect a captain has on the performance of his team. Capable leadership is always a good idea and an incompetent captain can be a heavy burden to his side, but a team's fortunes is much more reliant on the quality of its members than on the expertise of its captain.
Overwhelmingly, it is the better team that wins, regardless of how cunning the leader of the weaker team is. The captain could be the craftiest there is, he will achieve little if his men are unable to adequately execute his plans. He could concoct the shrewdest schemes in the world; he will still need players of discipline and skill to carry them out. No captain can spin straw into gold.
England won the first leg of the 2013 Ashes double-header 3-0. The common view, at the time, was that the result was flattering to the hosts. I happen to think it was flattering to the visitors. Australia just didn't have the team then to beat England in their home conditions.
The return leg saw a different Australia. Led by a much-improved David Warner and a rejuvenated Mitchell Johnson, Australia grew into a unit that was unbeatable in their home conditions. England could find no answer to the power of Australia's pace bowling. That is the reason they were so comprehensively defeated in the last series and it is the reason they will be defeated this time as well.
For both games, the pitches were said to be extremely benign. Yet if preparing sluggish surfaces is the home team's way of seeking an advantage, or their way of quashing the strength of their opponents, then it should prove to be ineffective, especially as they themselves rely heavily on their fast bowling weapons. Anderson may be the most skilled swing bowler in the world, but the visitors have shown that swing is a large part of their armoury as well, and their bowlers, on the whole, deliver it at a much higher pace.
The Lord's Test saw a complete turnaround of the fortunes of both teams. It was now the turn of the visitors to celebrate their thumping win on the fourth day. This time, however, the victory was even more overwhelming.
Whereas England won the first Test by 169 runs, Australia won the second by 405. England's first Test win, I dare say, was an anomaly. The second Test result should be more indicative of the path things are likely to take for the rest of the series. And Cook's funky field settings or his newfound upbeat attitude won't matter all that much.

Sreesanth, Chandila and all accused discharged in IPL Spot fixing case

In what will come as a huge relief for cricketers Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan, the Delhi High Court discharged all the cases against them in the IPL Spot Fixing case. Insufficient evidence against the players was cited as the reason for the verdict.
It was earlier reported that the Delhi Police sought permission to investigate further into the Lodha Committee findings.
The prosecution can go ahead and take the case further to a higher court if needed but as of now, the cricketers are free to approach the BCCI once again and there is room for them to start playing again. They were given life bans earlier by a BCCI Committee after the three were arrested in 2013 with relation to spot-fixing.
"It was the worst time of my life. God was on my side. I wanted the decision to come as soon as possible. It feels like I have woken up from a bad dream. Now I will see you guys on the cricket field," said Chandila to reporters after the verdict.
"It is easy to dream to play for India. I am only 32," said a visibly relieved Sreesanth after the verdict, "I have faced a lot of difficulties. I thank all the people who supported me and my well-wishers all over the world. Thanks to everyone. I will try to resume training soon. Hopefully I get permission from BCCI to start training and come under the selection process. I want to play cricket."
The three cricketers were given bail earlier after the court found that there was no prima facie evidence showing that they had been involved in match-fixing and insufficient evidence under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Delhi police had said that underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim was controlling the betting syndicate and was involved in match-fixing as well.

The Investec Ashes 2015 July 23, 2015 Johnson faster for Marsh inclusion

Mitchell Marsh's muscular medium fast bowling will lengthen Mitchell Johnson's reign of terror by shortening the length of his bowling spells. That is according to Australia's assistant coach Craig McDermott, who said Marsh's addition to the bowling attack was a critical ingredient in the tourists' resounding victory over England at Lord's.
Johnson's highly hostile performance was the most memorable element of Australia's bowling display in the second Investec Test, but his intimidation of England's batsmen was largely possible due to the effectiveness of the entire bowling ensemble. All improved notably on their displays in Cardiff, and Marsh's addition as an allrounder who not only soaked up overs but also threatened for wickets brought a tremendous sense of balance.
McDermott told ESPNcricinfo that Marsh was tracking to soon get his pace above 140kph (87mph) consistently, and that the more overs he could bowl at that kind of speed, the shorter and thus more devastating Johnson's spells could be. Able to be used in bursts of three and four overs by Michael Clarke at Lord's, Johnson recalled the havoc he wreaked in Australia in 2013-14.
"Mitchell Marsh's hard work over the last four months or so is really starting to pay off and going to strengthen us." McDermott said. "His approach to the wicket, his speed through the crease, and his pace is up, he almost clocked 140kph in the Test match. He's excited about being fit and swinging the ball while bowling fast. He's chasing 140 too, he wants to have a '4' in front of his number and that's good for us.
"If you've got an allrounder who's capable of bowling 140kph it certainly makes your bowling attack quite different. And the better he bowls the more he will be capable of doing in an innings, from 8-10 overs to 12-15, and that allows the other blokes like a Mitchell Johnson to bowl three or four over spells and just be on the money, bowling fast all the time. It changes Pup's dynamics quite a lot as a captain."
Australia's metamorphosis from uncertainty in Cardiff to the confident strut of Lord's came about as a result of strong first-innings runs from Chris Rogers and Steve Smith, which put the bowlers in their preferred position of attacking the batsmen when under pressure from the scoreboard. McDermott reckoned that while this was helpful, the pacemen could now be expected to be far more incisive if asked to bowl first.
"I think we'll be better for the gallop that we had in the first Test and I think the way they've produced the wickets they've produced certainly favours the team batting first," he said. "But if we bowl the way we did second innings at Lord's, whether we bowl first or second, we're going to knock teams over. We're in the right gear now so we've just got to keep going.
"In Cardiff we bowled too much on both sides of the wicket. We didn't bowl terribly but we didn't bowl well either, and we didn't really get the rub of the green. But we didn't bowl as well as we have done in the past 18 months and it was more a question of us getting back to the way we bowl well, and that's to bowl aggressively, hit our lengths regularly and get our short stuff right.
"One of the things we spoke about was that we're not used to the ball swinging all the time in Australia, so that was another thing we struggled with in the first Test match where we were swinging the ball back into the left-handers but it was coming into middle and leg instead of at off peg. Guys have to get used to that and I think bowling out in the middle helped us do that, getting more and more used to bowling with the Dukes."
The best example of improvement when bowling to a single batsman was in how the Australians effectively corralled Joe Root at Lord's after he clattered them in both innings of the Cardiff Test. Bowling fuller and tighter to off stump while offering Root the chance to force the ball through attacking fields resulted in a pair of low scores and a dent in the batsman's previously buoyant confidence.
"We didn't bowl well to Joe Root when he first came out to bat in both innings in Cardiff, we bowled too short, too wide and that's his bread and butter," McDermott said. "We got it right at Lord's, and we'll continue in that vein for a number of their players. They came unstuck against some aggressive bowling, so we're back in the frame of mind of the way we bowled in Australia last time and hopefully it's the start of doing that for the remaining three Test matches.
"You've got to be disciplined, you've got to be prepared to be boring sometimes. If players are playing well you've got to start to drag it back, and that's where you try to get your back-to-back maidens and that sort of thing. But at the same time we've got to be upbeat and do what we do best. The Australian bowling attack has always performed better when its been in that mode, rather than try to defend."
Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon are all sitting out the tour match in Derby. McDermott said that Starc's ankle problems in Cardiff had settled down nicely, though he would more than likely need surgery for the joint at some point after the Ashes tour is concluded.

Five uncapped players in SL squad for Pakistan T20s

Sri Lanka have picked five uncapped players - fast bowler Binura Fernando, legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay and batsmen Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, and Dhananjaya de Silva - in their Twenty20 squad for the forthcoming two-match series against Pakistan.
Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne have not been included while fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekara, who was left out for the ongoing ODI series, has been picked. Chamara Kapugedera, who last played a T20 international in June 2012, has also been included in the squad.
"We need to get the younger brigade in the stream, so we have a gradual transition leading up to the next World T20 and the 50-over World Cup beyond that," chief selector Kapila Wijegunawardene said. "We need to put them on the ground and see how they perform."
Fernando, 20, has been a leading cricketer for DS Senanayake College. Though he has played only seven first-class matches, he has been touted as a promising fast bowler, thanks largely to the pace he generates from his six-and-a-half foot frame. Vandersay also has limited domestic experience, but most recently took 8 wickets for 167 in a three-day warm-up match against the Pakistanis, in June.
De Silva and Jayasuriya, both 23, are aggressive opening batsmen who also deliver off spin. Jayasuriya played the the three-match unofficial ODI series against Pakistan A in May, with mixed results. He has, however, been a top performer for Colts Cricket Club. De Silva played in the four-day leg of that tour, and took three wickets and hit 154 runs across five innings. He plays for Ports Authority Cricket Club. Shanaka is not so well-known in the domestic circuit, but Wijegunawardene said the 23-year-old had been picked for his "ability to clear the ropes at will, which is a skill displayed at recent practice matches."
Kapugedara was also recalled thanks to his boundary-hitting capability, but also to lend a touch of experience to the side, Wijegunawardene said. "With all these youngsters coming into the team we also need to balance the team with experience. Kapugedara has not been in the team for a while, but we know he can do that, and we've picked him on that basis." Kapugedara, 28, has played in 21 T20 internationals and 92 ODIs for Sri Lanka.
Wijegunawardene also said the omissions of Chandimal and Thirimanne does not put them out of the running to play in next year's World T20. "Chandimal and Thirimanne needed to prepare for the upcoming India Test series which is a very important one. Offspinner Tharindu Kaushal we are also saving for the Tests. We're trying to manage all their workloads because we have a very busy calendar till July next year." Fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera remains unavailable through injury.
Both T20 matches will be played at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, on July 30 and August 1. Sri Lanka remain the top-ranked T20 side in the world - a ranking they have more-or-less held consistently since September 2012.
Sri Lanka squad: Lasith Malinga (Capt), TM Dilshan, Kusal Perera, Kithruwan Vithanage, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Chamara Kapugedera, Shehan Jayasuriya, Thisara Perera, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Kulasekara, Binura Fernando, Chaturanga de Silva, Milinda Siriwardene