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Jonathan Trott helped settle a slightly nervy England as they closed in on a famous series victory in Nagpur, reaching the close of the fourth day with a lead of 165

The Report by Andrew McGlashan16-Dec-2012
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Jonathan Trott dug in for a vital, unbeaten half-century that pushed England towards safety in the match•BCCI

Jonathan Trott helped settle a slightly nervy England as they closed in on a famous series victory in Nagpur, reaching the close of the fourth day with a lead of 165. He and Ian Bell added 67 for the fourth wicket after India had given themselves a glimmer by removing Kevin Pietersen shortly after tea with England’s advantage still less than 100. Now England are a solid morning session away from their goal.While India’s bowlers did a respectable job on a pitch that refused to break up, their approach in the morning session had been bizarre as they plodded along for 13 overs adding just 29 runs before MS Dhoni finally declared with a narrow deficit. Batting so defensively did nothing but take time out of the game, a situation England were quite happy to go along with. Since India lost quick wickets yesterday evening their only hope has been third-innings panic, which has happened in the past when a draw is the favoured result.When Pietersen fell, inexplicably shouldering arms at Ravindra Jadeja as Trott did in the first innings, England were tottering on 94 for 3 and Dhoni’s hopes were far from dead. Due to the scoring rate of less than two an over – England did not break that barrier until the 62nd over – the lead had not been carried far away from India and the one batsman thought most likely to do that was the one walking back.Trott, though, played a superb hand, timing the ball as well as anyone has managed on this docile surface. He was off the mark first ball with a sweep and regularly picked off deliveries through the leg side. There was also a curious route for one of his nine boundaries when the ball slipped out of Jadeja’s hands, during his delivery, and lobbed towards the on side. As Trott was completely within his rights to do he skipped out and smashed the no-ball to the square-leg fence.It was also an innings that created some spice in the match. On 43, Trott went to cut Ishant Sharma and India were convinced there was an edge but Kumar Dharmasena, who had earlier made a mistake in giving Alastair Cook caught behind, was unmoved.Next ball Sharma followed through close to Trott, who responded by blowing a little kiss, and tensions began to grow. At the end of the over there were heated exchanges with the umpires involving Dhoni and Virat Kohli – a likely future India captain, who did not carry himself very well. Meanwhile, a few minutes later, Snickometer (which would not be part of DRS were it in use) did not register any sound.Trott was unmoved and, in fact, probably motivated further. He went to 49 with an off-drive against Sharma, a rare shot on this slow pitch, and next ball had his half-century from 106 deliveries. India, however, were still festering. Towards the end of the day R Ashwin pulled out of a delivery and warned Trott for backing up too far. It belied the growing frustrations.Bell provided solid support following the potentially vital loss of Pietersen. It was an important period for him after a lean series – he will need to continue on the final morning – and he collected runs calmly. There was one moment of fortune when he edged Ashwin through a vacant slip where two balls earlier Virender Sehwag had been stood. The fourth-wicket stand came at almost three an over, a largely unseen rate in this match.The day brought a total of 190 runs, but midway through it did not appear even that total would be reached. After India’s strange approach, Cook and Nick Compton put all their efforts into ensuring against early mishaps for England. Progress was at snail pace but, especially for Cook, there was too much at stake to suddenly try anything too flamboyant.The first boundary of the day did not come until five minutes before lunch, when Compton edged Ashwin to third man, and Cook had reach 5 from 78 deliveries when he slotted away a cover drive.For the second time in the match Cook was removed through an umpiring error from Dharmasena when he played forward to Ashwin and the ball spun past the outside edge. There was a strong appeal, and a noise, but replays confirmed that Cook’s bat had struck the ground and he had missed the ball. It left Cook with a match tally off 14 off 121 balls but it did nothing to dilute the epic nature of his series, which ended with 562 runs.Compton’s solidity alongside Cook has been one of the major plusses to come out of this series. His defence had been firm throughout the afternoon session but in the final over before tea he was given lbw to Ojha. Replays suggested an inside edge but the ball was also caught in the gully so the presence of DRS would only have changed the mode of dismissal.At that point it had been one of the more forgettable days of Test cricket in recent memory, but the final session was far more entertaining for a variety of reasons. There will be debate about how India handled themselves, but at least it showed the passion remained. That has not always seemed the case in this series. England, though, as they had done on Saturday, did not lose their cool and finished the day stronger. They are very close now.

Brendon McCullum said it was a big day for the New Zealand team to win the ODI series despite narrowly missing out on inflicting a whitewash on South Africa in Potchefstroom

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2013Brendon McCullum said it was a big day for the New Zealand team to win the ODI series despite narrowly missing out on inflicting a whitewash on South Africa in Potchefstroom. New Zealand were a wicket away from their third consecutive win, but a six off the last ball by Ryan McLaren gave South Africa a consolatory win.”It would have been great to win the series 3-0,” McCullum said. “But winning the series, achieving what we’ve achieved in this series and even how we’ve played today as well, we’ve showed the characteristics that we want to be known for.”New Zealand made a shaky start after choosing to bat and were 68 for 4 in the 22nd over. But resurgent half-centuries by Grant Elliott, Colin Munro and James Franklin lifted them to a competitive 260. South Africa responded with a controlled chase, but the fall of Graeme Smith towards the end of the innings allowed the New Zealand bowlers to exert pressure on the inexperienced middle-order and almost pull off another win.”Our bowlers tried hard all day. The wicket did skid on a little bit, and it was probably slightly easier to bat on in that second innings,” McCullum said. “But that’s the nature of the toss as well and playing in foreign conditions. I can’t speak highly enough of the effort from our guys.””I thought we showed some real character and some real fighting qualities to hang in there, when we were behind the eight ball and get ourselves back in the game. Graeme Smith’s innings today was a phenomenal innings and deserved to be on the winning side.After the humiliation in the two Tests, McCullum saw the result in the ODIs as a big boost. He said the team showed it was capable of competing with the best but now needs to do it on a consistent basis.”We competed in the Twenty20s, but South Africa deserved the result; in Tests we were blown off the park by a team at the top of their game. It was a learning opportunity to see the best in action and see how far we need to improve, but to win the ODI series has been satisfying, not only for the group of players, but also for the management and the fans.”

In a continuation of their auction strategy, Chennai Super Kings have beefed up their bowling department further by signing five Indian uncapped bowlers

Vishal Dikshit05-Feb-2013In a continuation of their auction strategy, Chennai Super Kings have beefed up their bowling department further by signing five Indian uncapped bowlers. The players are UP fast bowlers Imtiaz Ahmed and Ankit Rajpoot, Haryana quick Mohit Sharma, Karnataka pacer Ronit More and Tamil Nadu left-arm spinner R Karthikeyan.Imtiaz is the most experienced of the lot with 15 first-class matches to his name. In the Ranji Trophy this season, Imtiaz was the leading wicket-taker from Uttar Pradesh taking 37 from nine matches at an average of 25.45, including three five-wicket hauls. He was with the Pune Warriors in IPL 2011 but did not get a game.His UP team-mate Rajpoot made his first-class debut this season against Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy and collected 31 wickets from seven matches at an average of 18.80. He has not played limited-overs domestic matches so far.Mohit played eight Ranji matches this season, taking 37 wickets, averaging 23.24 runs per wicket. Mohit has also played six List A matches, the last one being a warm-up match against England XI in January before the five-match ODI series. He took two wickets in the match, of Ian Bell and Craig Kieswetter, in eight overs.More made his first-class debut this season playing two matches, and also has seven List A and one domestic Twenty20 to his name. The lone spinner among the new signings, Karthikeyan, plays for TI Cycles in the first division league of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association.Stephen Fleming, Super Kings’ coach, had said two days before the auction that the team would focus on local seam bowling options. At the auction on Sunday, Super Kings bought three quicks – Dirk Nannes, Ben Laughlin and Jason Holder, allrounder Chris Morris and spinner Akila Dananjaya.

Nick Compton and Jonathan Trott carried England into a strong position on the opening day in Wellington

The Report by David Hopps13-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJonathan Trott had masterful control over his innings on the opening day in Wellington•Getty Images

When you blunder, as New Zealand’s captain Brendon McCullum surely did, by choosing to bowl in the second Test, you must at least hope to succumb gloriously to a feat of derring do. It must be the understated hundreds that are the worst to bear, the sort of hundreds that tell you quietly and repeatedly that you are being punished for your sins, the sort of hundreds delivered for England in Wellington by Nick Compton and Jonathan Trott.Compton now has back-to-back Test centuries, his labours on his debut tour in India bearing fruit in New Zealand, providing an assertion that he has talent to go along with an abundance of resolve. But it was Trott who made it through to the close, so methodical that he might have been a student of time and motion, breaking a complex task into such simple, logical steps in a manner that his efficiency could not be faulted.This was a day when the world was engrossed by white smoke rising from the Vatican to mark the election of a new Pope – they even burst into applause at Basin Reserve when a spectator appeared in a Pope fancy dress. After England lost only two wickets in the day, McCullum, like those in Rome, had reason to contemplate cardinal sins.Compton and Trott might not be the most extravagant double act in the world, in fact they might wear down a crowd as much as they wear down an opposing attack, but they progressed in an orderly fashion which encapsulated the discipline at the heart of this England set-up and New Zealand’s attack sensed from an early hour that they faced a day of hard labour. They were fortunate that the left-arm spinner, Bruce Martin, played a successful holding role, 27 overs rewarded with the wicket of Compton, who was still on 100 when he drove at a delivery that was not quite there and edged to Ross Taylor at first slip.

Smart stats

• The 210-run partnership between Nick Compton and Jonathan Trott is the seventh double-century stand for England in Tests in New Zealand. Three of them have come since 2000.

• For the first time ever against New Zealand, and the 16th time overall, England have had two double-century stands in a single series. The previous time they achieved it was in the series in India in 2012-13.

• Since the beginning of 2009, England have the highest (with Australia) number of double-century stands (13). India are next (12) followed by South Africa (11).

• Compton followed his century in the first Test with another in Wellington. He has now scored two centuries and a fifty at an average of 47.22.

• Trott’s century is his ninth overall and first against New Zealand. Five of his hundreds have come in away Tests.

• Compton is the 21st England batsman to be dismissed for exactly 100. Len Hutton has been dismissed on 100 four times and Kevin Pietersen twice.

McCullum had won the toss in Cape Town in January and chose to bat, a new captain eager to make a statement, and saw New Zealand dismissed for 45, demolished by Vernon Philander. In Wellington, it felt more like a concession, an acceptance that New Zealand’s batting dared not be risked on the first morning against England’s pace attack. Things tend to go awry most often for weaker sides, but his logic was faulty on both occasions.The skies became bluer by the minute, the breeze of the Cook Strait was light and northerly, and a drought in Wellington has left the city with only 20 days’ rain. It is going to pour down later in the match, apparently. The pitch had more bounce than Dunedin, but it was comfortably-paced and true, and not a ball deviated for the pace bowlers in the air or off the pitch. At one point a Paradise Duck waddled onto the square to take a look, and all the signs were that paradise belonged to England.Compton, in particular, looked in confident mood after his breakthrough hundred in Dunedin. There he had again displayed masses of resolution, a batsman of character trying to prove his mettle. Here he revealed a more expansive side of his batting character. New Zealand want sedate batting surfaces to protect their batting and their bowlers must suffer the consequences.Such perceptions, though, are often unfair to Trott. He reached his century 50 balls faster than Compton – 174 compared to 224 – but because he played so methodically, and because his innings had less importance for an already-established career, he passed almost unnoticed. His hundred came up with such a supremely controlled pull against Neil Wagner, a shot of a batsman ticking over with absolute certainty, that it summed up the understated nature of his innings.Compton’s hundred, by contrast, was reached flamboyantly as he took two boundaries off Wagner in three balls, a square cut on one knee followed by an equally bracing drive on the up through extra cover.He pulled well against the new ball and relaxed into some pleasing drives, attacking wide deliveries from Wagner and Trent Boult that he would have left in Dunedin. But he was not quite as sound as Trott, surviving a few fierce forays over gully and, on 65, he escaping an lbw appeal from Martin by dint of an inside edge. His most worried look came at 119 for 1, when New Zealand managed a ball change and he briefly worried that it might swing.England rattled up 40 from six overs immediately after lunch, but then, one suspects, Trott had a word and any over-excitability disappeared. As England slowed in mid-afternoon, most activity came from Trott’s facial expressions, furious chewing and rictus grins. Martin turned one past Trott’s outside edge, just once, and that was enough to win him deep respect for the rest of the session, 16 overs for 23 by tea.Alastair Cook had been hailed by McCullum as second only to Don Bradman ahead of the Wellington Test, which historians will scoff was another misjudgement, and Cook was the only England batsman to miss out, out for 17. There was a suggestion that a fullish delivery from Wagner stopped in the pitch a little, but Cook’s balance was awry, a failing of old, as he pushed a simple catch to short mid-on. He looked askance at the pitch and later could also be expected to look askance at the laptop replay.New Zealand’s quicks, thwarted by England after leading by 293 in the first Test, would have been forgiven for a secret sigh of anguish that they were back in the field so quickly after bowling 114 overs in the second innings in Dunedin in a forlorn attempt to force victory. It is already hard to imagine them forcing victory here.

Bangladesh coach Shane Jurgensen is confident that his team is well prepared for the Zimbabwe challenge

Firdose Moonda in Harare15-Apr-2013For the first time in their cricket history, Bangladesh enter a series as favourites. Usually, they are underdogs, occasionally they spring surprises, and when they play Zimbabwe it is considered an even match. Not this time, though.Zimbabwe have had months of no competitive cricket, they were recently blanked in the West Indies, and various financial problems resulted in a threatened player boycott in the lead up to this series. Bangladesh had a satisfying tour of Sri Lanka, where they celebrated a maiden double-century and their highest Test total. It’s obvious which team is in better shape.It’s also clear that the expectation Bangladesh constantly operate under is now realistic. That prospect is as exciting as it is scary and Bangladesh coach Shane Jurgensen’s biggest task over the next two weeks is managing it.”We’re going to try keeping things really simple,” Jurgensen said. “In each series we want to improve, whoever we are playing against. With that attitude in mind, we try to take away the expectations but yes, we’ve also come here to win.”Bravado was a quality Bangladesh usually struggled with and even their attempts at it were mostly seen as manufactured rather than authentic. Now, they have reason to consider their belief genuine because of the strides they have made.”In 2012, we had a good year in one-day cricket. That confidence is starting to move into other formats,” Jurgensen said. “What has been encouraging is the consistency in approach. We’ve got a group of guys hitting their mid-20s, and some slightly older guys. [They have] hit the prime of their career, when experience and physical strength all come into one. Since I’ve been with the team, they have really improved their whole team attitude as well. Everything we do is for the team.”An example of someone who has done that is Mohammad Ashraful. Known as a talent who thorws his wicket away, he showed real grit in Sri Lanka. “He is looking to become the new Ash, to be more patient,” Jurgensen said, “The mental toughness that he had there is a sign that he has improved a lot. There was a hardly a false shot in that innings. His change of approach and attitude is really a reflection of the whole team.”With maturity growing in the batting group, Jurgensen expects that to be their strength, even under stern examination in foreign conditions. Although Zimbabwe will hope for a lively surface for their seamers, it is unlikely given the time of year.All they will get is a strip with good carry and is probably quite flat. Bangladesh already had practice on pitches like those in Sri Lanka, according to Jurgensen. “The wickets in Sri Lanka were very good cricket wickets. They had good pace and a bit of bounce – basically what we are going to see here. So that series in SL was the best preparation we could have had.”Jurgensen expects his batsmen to hold their own so the anxiety is more over his bowlers. “It is an area that we do want to improve. Our main strength has been around the spinners and although we have some very good holding fast bowlers, what we lack at times is experience in tough situations,” he said. “For the guys to have a little bit more ownership, there’s a bit of honesty, that’s going to take a little bit of time. I am asking the bowlers to step up.”But more than that, Jurgensen is asking the team to continue employing the philosophy that brought to Harare in a more advantageous position than ever before, because that is what he believes will see them live up to the expectation that has been created. “One of my mottoes is: let’s work hard and have fun at the same time. The team has run with it and with that, we’ve had success.”Everyone wants success. What a lot of people forget sometimes is that we want success as well. When we have a bad day, we don’t mean to. Some people forget the boys are human beings and they are all very young and they have been learning about their games and their individual craft. We’ve done a lot of different things that will help them step up.”

Harmanpreet Kaur extended her good form from the first game, scoring a century and taking two wickets to lead India to a 46-run victory over Bangladesh in the second ODI in Ahmedabad

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Apr-2013
ScorecardHarmanpreet Kaur scored a century and took two wickets to set up India’s 46-run win over Bangladesh in the second ODI in Ahmedabad. India are 2-0 up in the three-match series.India got off to a cautious start after choosing to bat first and were a steady 75 for 2 in the 20th over when Harmanpreet came to the crease. Opener Poonam Raut was still at the crease and the duo went on to add 109 runs off 126 balls to set the stage for a strong first-innings total. Harmanpreet added another 52 runs with Anagha Deshpande after Raut fell for a score of 80. Harmanpreet was dismissed in the 48th over by Salma Khatun, soon after bringing up her second ODI hundred, and India eventually finished the innings at 256 for 6. Harmanpreet’s 103 came off 100 balls and included 11 fours and two sixes. She also became the sixth Indian batter to score more than 1000 runs in ODIs.With such a strong total, Bangladesh needed to score at around five runs an over. However, the Indian bowlers kept the run rate under control and picked up wickets at regular intervals. The only substantial partnership for Bangladesh was a 76-run stand between Rumana Ahmed and Lata Mondal. Ahmed’s dismissal in the 35th over, with 114 needed off 15 overs, triggered off a collapse and Bangladesh lost the next seven wickets for 56. She top-scored for Bangladesh with a 94-ball 75, which included eight fours. Ekta Bisht was the leading wicket-taker for India, picking up her second consecutive three-wicket haul to finish with figures of 3 for 34 in 10 overs. Harmanpreet also picked up two wickets for 30 runs off her six overs.

James Harris, the Middlesex seamer, has aggravated the hamstring injury he picked up during the opening Championship match of the season

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Apr-2013James Harris, the Middlesex seamer, has aggravated the hamstring injury he picked up during the opening Championship match of the season and has been ruled out for another two weeks starting with the local derby against Surrey this week.He picked up the original problem against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge during his first-class debut for Middlesex, but had been passed fit to return against Cambridge MCCU last week where he took four wickets in the game and struck an unbeaten 43.He then played in a friendly 40-over match against the Unicorns, the team made up of players without professional deals that will compete in the YB40, during which he felt further problems with his left hamstringAngus Fraser, Middlesex’s managing director, said: “Everybody at the club feels sorry for James who is desperate to get his time at Middlesex off and running. But we are all confident that this is just a minor setback and that he will have a major role to play in our season as it develops.”At the moment we have the fast bowling resources to cope with James’ injury and it will be great to get him back fully fit for when Steven Finn departs for England duty.”Although Middlesex will be able to call on Finn, Toby Roland-Jones and Tim Murtagh for the Championship match against Surrey the following four-day fixture against Warwickshire could be more of a challenge if Harris is still sidelined because Roland-Jones has been named in the England Lions side to face New Zealand.

India’s sports minister Jitendra Singh, who is “embarrassed and sad” about the alleged spot-fixing in the IPL, has said the sports bill that is currently being drafted should be ready in full by June 30

ESPNcricinfo staff23-May-2013India’s sports minister Jitendra Singh, who is “embarrassed and sad” about the alleged spot-fixing in the IPL, has said the sports bill that is currently being drafted should be ready in full by June 30. Speaking to television channel CNN IBN, Singh said: “I feel it’s very important for a very strict law, that processes are implemented not only in cricket but in other sports also. Cricket has just been exposed, but there might be things happening in other sports too. I think it is very important to put in safeguards against these.”The International Olympic Committee (IOC), Singh said, had been roped in to help draft the bill. “The biggest achievement we have done is we have got IOC on board to help us draft the sports bill. The sports bill is being drafted, Justice Mudgal is drafting it.”For the first time we’ve brought in sportspersons, we’ve brought in lawyers who fight for sport, we’ve brought in people from all walks of life into the committee to draft the sports bill. And we’ve given them a deadline – June 30 – to draft the sports bill.”In wake of the alleged fixing, India’s law minister Kapil Sibal had met Singh earlier in the week to discuss the bill. Then, Sibal had said past instances of fixing in sports in India, where attempts to prosecute the perpetrators failed due to lack of legislation dealing solely with the issue, proved it was necessary to work on such a law.The three Rajasthan Royals cricketers currently in custody – Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan – have been charged under three sections of the Indian Penal Code that deal with cheating, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust.In other developments, the income tax department of India has reportedly initiated a probe into the and illegal cash transactions involved in the alleged spot-fixing, and will interrogate the cricketers and bookies being detained about the same.

Umar Akmal, who was named as Pakistan’s wicketkeeper for their tour of West Indies, said it would be tough balancing batting and wicketkeeping, but he was prepared to do it for the team

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jul-2013Umar Akmal has returned to the Pakistan side, possibly in the role of a wicketkeeper-batsman, for their tour of West Indies later this month after being dropped for the Champions Trophy. Having donned the gloves in only seven of his 71 ODI matches, he is aware of the difficulty ahead of him.”I’ve played a lot of cricket for Pakistan as a batsman and to be handed the responsibility of having to also keep wicket is a tough ask,” Akmal said in an interview with . “But sometimes you have to do things outside your comfort zone in sport and, if the selectors, captain and coach want me to keep wicket then I am prepared to do that and to give it my best shot.””I’ve always enjoyed batting and fielding,” he said. “(But) Bowling and wicketkeeping have never really been in my plans. We had enough wicketkeepers in our household and I was never needed as a keeper when we (Umar, Kamran and Adnan Akmal) practised as youngsters.”Pakistan came away from the Champions Trophy without a single win and their batting, except for Misbah-ul-Haq, was consistently brittle. To deal with this, the selectors dropped out-of-form batsmen Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat and Kamran Akmal from the 16-man squad bound for the Caribbean. In Kamran’s absence, Umar has been slotted in as a wicketkeeper-batsman, with Mohammad Rizwan as backup.”Everybody had an opinion that to pick a side that can explore opportunities, we would need a wicketkeeper who is also a full-time batsman,” Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore said. “We will be working with Umar to ensure he gets as much practice as he can to become a player who can fulfill both roles. We have seen this with South Africa, this is also what Rahul Dravid did for India years ago. So we need to understand what we are trying to achieve with this and we have to be patient after giving him a chance.”Akmal, who has been criticised for his needless aggression, considered his exclusion from the Champions Trophy as a “strange and surprising decision”. His last match-winning contribution was in the World Twenty20 last year, when he played finisher during a chase of 136 against South Africa. He fared poorly in Pakistan’s domestic season as well, struggling to 79 runs in six List A matches, which limited his appearance in the national side to only two international matches in 2013.”It was very disappointing to miss out playing in such a prestigious tournament,” he said. “I admit that at times I’ve played some reckless shots that I didn’t need to play, but when you are out in the middle, in front of thousands of fans at the ground and millions watching on television, you want to do your best and entertain, and that sometimes leads to mistakes.”Akmal took his exclusion from the side as a lesson and plans to make the necessary changes to ensure he becomes a permanent fixture in the Pakistan team.”The Champions Trophy snub was a kick in the groin. Whilst it was a setback, it also made me think about my approach to batting and the changes I needed to make as a batsman,” he said. “I think you’ll see a more mature Umar Akmal at the crease on the tour of the Caribbean and in the future. I don’t think there will be a total overhaul of my approach, style and shot selection, but there will be some changes.”

The four-team provincial Twenty20 tournament that replaces this year’s cancelled Sri Lanka Premier League, will run from August 10 to 17

Andrew Fidel Fernando07-Aug-2013The four-team provincial Twenty20 tournament that replaces this year’s Sri Lanka Premier League will run from August 10 to 17, Sri Lanka Cricket has confirmed. All seven matches in the league will take place at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, and the winning side will earn a trip to India for the Champions League qualifiers in September.The tournament will also give Sri Lanka’s young batting group further leadership experience. Angelo Mathews will captain the Basnahira Greens, Dinesh Chandimal the Uthura Yellows, Lahiru Thirimanne the Kandurata Maroons and Lasith Malinga will lead the Ruhuna Reds. Each team plays each other once, before the two top sides qualify for the final.The selectors have chosen preliminary squads of 17-18 players for each team, with the final 15-man squads to be named in the next two days.The SLPL had been scheduled to be played from August 10 to September 7, but was called off after all eight franchises refused to pay their tournament fee, and also failed to guarantee player payments.Preliminary Squads
Basnahira Greens: Angelo Mathews (capt), Udara Jayasundara, Dilshan Munaweera, Kithuruwan Vithanage, Sachithra Senanayake, Chaturanga de Silva, Kosala Kulasekara, Kanishka Alvitigala, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Gamage, Isuru Udana, Janaka Gunaratne, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sameera Soyza, Gihan Rupasinghe, Kaushal Silva

Coach: Marvan Atapattu
Uthura Yellows: Dinesh Chandimal (capt), Mahela Udawatte, Chamara Kapugedera, Ashan Priyanjan, Mahela Jayawardene, Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera, Shaminda Eranga, Vimukthi Perera, Ramith Rambukwella, Rangana Herath, Akila Dananjaya, Rumesh Buddika, Chathura Peiris, Alankara Asanka, Madushanka Ekanayake, Chaminda Vidanapathirana

Coach: Ruwan Kalpage
Kandurata Maroons: Lahiru Thirimanne (capt), Upul Tharanga, Shehan Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Silva, Thilina Kandamby, Milinda Siriwardene, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Dhammika Prasad, Lahiru Jayaratne, Ajantha Mendis, Suraj Randiv, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Dananjaya de Silva, Dasun Chanaka, Malinga Bandara

Coach: Chaminda Vaas
Ruhuna Reds: Lasith Malinga (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kusal Perera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Angelo Perera, Jehan Mubarak, Niroshan Dickwella, Dilruwan Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Ishan Jayaratne, Farveez Maharoof, Madura Lakmal, Binara Fernando, Yashoda Lanka, Sadun Weerakkody, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Thilina Thushara

Coach: Romesh Kaluwitharana