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Former Sri Lanka Under-19 cricketer Akshu Fernando has died on December 30, after having been in a coma for several years.Fernando had been crossing an unprotected railway track in the southern Colombo suburb of Mount Lavinia following a training session on the beach, when he was struck by a train on December 28, 2018. Having been critically injured in the accident, he had been on life support for much of the time since.A bright right-handed batter, Fernando’s domestic career seemed to just be taking off when he was hit by the train at age 27. He had scored his maiden first-class hundred for Ragama Cricket Club in the weeks before the accident, and had also been developing his offspin at the time. All told, he had seven 50-plus scores at the senior level. In a nine-year domestic career, he had played for Colts Cricket Club, Panadura Sports Club, and Chilaw Marians Sports Club, among others.International commentator and one of Ragama Cricket Club’s most senior administrators Roshan Abeysinghe paid tribute to Fernando following the news of his death.”He was truly a wonderful young man whose promising career was cut short by a cruel accident,” Abeysinghe said. “A quality player for his school and his final club Ragama, it’s a sad day for all of us who knew him. A cheerful, friendly and thorough gentleman was he. We will miss you Akshu and remember you for the rest of our life. Rest in peace sweet prince.”

ESPNcricinfo keeps you up to date with all the player movements ahead of the 2016 seasonKagiso Rabada will turn out for Kent in 2016•Gallo Images

DerbyshireIN: Andy Carter (Nottinghamshire), Tom Milnes (Warwickshire), Neil Broom (UK passport)
OUT: Mark Footitt (Surrey), Wayne White (Leicestershire), Jonathan Clare (released)
OVERSEAS: Hamish Rutherford, James Neesham (T20)DurhamIN:
OUT:
OVERSEAS: John HastingsEssexIN: Matthew Quinn (UK passport), Aaron Beard (academy), Ashar Zaidi (Sussex), Matt Dixon (UK passport)
OUT: Reece Topley (Hampshire), Mark Pettini (Leicestershire), Monty Panesar, Greg Smith, Matt Salisbury, Saf Imtiaz (all released)
OVERSEAS: Jesse Ryder, Adam Milne (T20), Wahab Riaz (T20)GlamorganIN: Craig Meschede (Somerset), Nick Selman, Timm van der Gugten (Dutch passport), Harry Podmore (Middlesex – loan)
OUT: Ben Wright (retired)
OVERSEAS: Jacques Rudolph, Shaun Tait (T20)GloucestershireIN: Chris Liddle (Sussex), Josh Shaw (Yorkshire – loan)
OUT: James Fuller (Middlesex), Geraint Jones (retired), Cameron Herring, Robbie Montgomery (both released)
OVERSEAS: Michael Klinger, Andrew Tye, Cameron Bancroft (April-May)HampshireIN: Reece Topley (Essex)
OUT: Danny Briggs (Sussex), Basil Akram, Tom Barber, Joe Gatting (all released). Sean Terry (mutual agreement). Yasir Arafat (Somerset, loan).
OVERSEAS: Ryan McLaren and Shahid Afridi (T20).KentIN: Adam Rouse
OUT: Brendan Nash (released), Ben Harmison (released)
OVERSEAS: Tom Latham, Kagiso Rabada (July)LancashireIN: Alviro Petersen
OUT: Ashwell Prince (retired), Paul Horton (Leicestershire)
OVERSEAS: Neil WagnerLeicestershireIN: Paul Horton (Lancashire), Neil Dexter (Middlesex), Wayne White (Derbyshire), Kevin O’Brien (limited-overs), Mark Pettini (Essex)
OUT: Matthew Boyce (retired), Andrea Agathangelou, Dan Redfern, Alex Wyatt, Neil Pinner (all released)
OVERSEAS: Clint McKay, Umar Akmal (T20), Rilee Rossouw (T20)MiddlesexIN: James Fuller (Gloucestershire)
OUT: Neil Dexter (Leicestershire), Gurjit Sandhu (released), Harry Podmore (Glamorgan – loan)
OVERSEAS: Adam Voges, Brendon McCullum (T20), Mitchell McClenaghan (T20)NorthamptonshireIN: Richard Levi (Kolpak), Ben Sanderson.
OUT: David Willey (Yorkshire), Stephen Peters (retired), Kyle Coetzer, Maurice Chambers (both released)
OVERSEAS: Rory Kleinveldt, Seekkuge PrasannaNottinghamshireIN:
OUT: Andy Carter (Derbyshire), Gary Keedy, Paul Franks (both retired)
OVERSEAS: Jackson Bird, Dan Christian (limited-overs)SomersetIN: Ryan Davies (Kent), Roelof van der Merwe (Dutch passport), Yasir Arafat (Hampshire, loan)
OUT: Craig Meschede (Glamorgan), Alfonso Thomas, Adam Dibble, George Dockrell, James Regan (all released)
OVERSEAS: Chris Rogers, Chris Gayle (T20), Mahela Jayawardene (T20).SurreyIN: Mark Footitt (Derbyshire), Ravi Rampaul (Kolpak), Mathew Pillans (ancestral visa), Conor McKerr (UK passport)
OUT: Kevin Pietersen (released), Vikram Solanki, Tim Linley, Chris Tremlett (all retired)
OVERSEAS: Kumar Sangakkara, Dwayne Bravo (T20), Chris Morris (T20), Aaron Finch (July-August)SussexIN: Danny Briggs (Hampshire)
OUT: Michael Yardy, Steffan Piolet (both retired), Chris Liddle (Gloucestershire), Ashar Zaidi (Essex), Callum Jackson (released), Matt Hobden (deceased)
OVERSEAS: Ross Taylor, Mustafizur Rahman (limited-overs)WarwickshireIN: Alex Mellor
OUT: Tom Milnes (Derbyshire), Tom Lewis, Pete McKay (both released)
OVERSEAS: Jeetan PatelWorcestershireIN:
OUT: Gareth Andrew (released), Alex Gidman (retired), Richard Oliver, Shaaiq Choudhry (released)
OVERSEAS: Matt Henry (Apr-June), Kyle Abbott (Jul-Sep), Mitchell Santner (T20)YorkshireIN: David Willey (Northamptonshire)
OUT: Josh Shaw (Gloucestershire – loan), Rich Pyrah (retired), Moin Ashraf, Dan Hodgson, Jonny Tattersall (all released)
OVERSEAS: Kane Williamson (June-July), Travis Head (July onwards)

The mind games ahead of Euro 2012 have already started with former France boss Raymond Domenech claiming that England will be easily dispatched in the group stage as Roy Hodgson’s team lack any real quality to hurt them. England certainly has all the motivation they ever needed against the French and Hodgson should perhaps keep record of these comments and present them in his pre-match team talk on June 11th.

Elsewhere in the news talk of Sir Alex Ferguson stepping down has been dismissed; Beckenbauer believes that penalty shoot-outs should remain, while Jose Mourinho has hinted at a return to England in the near future.

Headlines

Roy Hodgson was delighted with England’s performance in Oslo and singled out Andy Carroll and Rob Green for special praise – Sky Sports

Franz Beckenbauer has thrown his weight behind penalty shoot-outs, in light of Sepp Blatter calls to seek an alternative – Guardian

Gareth Barry is a doubt for Euro 2012 after limping off in yesterday’s friendly with a groin injury – Guardian

Bacaray Sagna is confident that Robin van Persie will stay at Arsenal and has also called on Wenger to sign Yann M’Villa – Sky Sports

Sir Alex Ferguson will not be stepping down as manager of Manchester United any time soon, despite claims from Dave Whelan – Daily Telegraph

FSG have made an approach to Louis van Gaal to become Liverpool’s new Sporting Director – Daily Telegraph

Spurs have had a £14m bid for Internacional striker Leandro Damiao rejected, as Redknapp looks to strengthen his attack – Metro

Jose Mourinho has hinted at a return to England in the near future as he believes it provides the privacy he wants for his family – Independent

Mike Dean revealed that Carlos Tevez would have been showed a straight red card in the incident prior to Joey Barton’s sending off, had he seen it – Daily Mail

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Eddie Newton reveals that he and Roberto Di Matteo are none the wiser about their Chelsea futures – Daily Mail

Les Ferdinand believes that Tottenham have another summer fight on their hands to retain the services of their best players, having missed out on Champions League football – Sun

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The BCCI’s ombudsman Justice AP Shah has asked Sourav Ganguly to respond, by January 28, to an allegation of conflict of interest relating to his role on the IPL governing council. The allegation, received by Shah from a member of the public, is that Ganguly has a commercial tie-up with the RP Sanjiv Goenka group, which has a stake in the Atletico de Kolkata football club in Indian Super League (ISL) and, in December, secured the ownership rights to run the Pune franchise in the IPL.Shah has also written to BCCI president Shashank Manohar and general manager (game development), Ratnakar Shetty, seeking a BCCI response by January 27.”This letter is a formal complaint against Mr Sourav Ganguly, an administrator who is currently the President of Cricket Association of Bengal and also member of IPL Governing Council,” Mumbai-based activist Niraj Gunde wrote in an emailed letter to Shah, comprising 19 pages where he has given details of the ATK structure.”According to Wikipedia, Atletico de Kolkata (commonly abbreviated as ATK), is an Indian Super League football franchise, based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The team is owned by Kolkata Games and Sports Pvt. Ltd. which consists of former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, Spanish La Liga club Atletico Madrid, alongside businessman Harshavardhan Neotia, Sanjiv Goenka and Utsav Parekh. This means the RPG group are partners with Mr Sourav Ganguly in another commercial venture. It is a clear case of conflict of interest which was not disclosed by Mr. Sourav Ganguly when RPG group bid and won the IPL team Pune Franchise for 2 years during October/November 2015,” Gunde wrote to Shah, accessed by ESPNcricinfo.This is the first high profile case filed with Shah, who was appointed by the BCCI last November as part of reforms initiated by Manohar.In his email to Ganguly, sent on Thursday and which was also accessed by ESPNcricinfo, Shah wrote: “The Office of the Ombudsman has received an application from Mr Niraj Gunde (cc-ed) on 13.01.2016, making certain allegations regarding conflict of interest against yourself. A copy of the application, numbered Application No 1 of 2016, is attached. Please provide your response to the same within two weeks from today, i.e., by 28.01.2016.”Sourav Ganguly, president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, is also a co-owner of the football franchise Atletico de Kolkata•AFP

A similar note was dispatched to Manohar and Shetty, via an email, asking them to respond the day before the deadline set for Ganguly expires. Incidentally, Manohar had defended Ganguly when the new franchises were announced last year stating that, “According to me there is not [a conflict of interest] because this is a transparent bidding concept.”Gunde’s accusation comes close on the heels of the Lodha Committee report, which laid heavy emphasis on getting rid of various conflict-of-interest situations prevalent within the BCCI as well as state association. The report detailed, across five pages, conflict issues and its various forms, and illustrated with various examples where the BCCI and state association administrators, employees, players, selectors and commentators could be in breach of the various rules.A case of indirect conflict, the committee said, could be: “C is a Member of the IPL Governing Council. The IPL enters into a contract with a new franchisee, the Managing Director of which is C’s partner in an independent commercial venture. C is hit by Indirect Conflict of Interest.”That example matches Gunde’s allegation that Ganguly could fall under this definition of conflict of interest. Both Goenka and Ganguly brushed off any suggestions that this is a case of conflict of interest.Incidentally Gunde was one of the people interviewed by the Lodha committee before it submitted its report to the Supreme Court. Last year, Gunde had revealed a picture of BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur in the company of suspected bookie Karan Gilhotra. That had prompted the ICC CEO David Richardson to write a letter to then BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya over an allegation that Thakur was spotted with Gilhotra, who “appears on the ICC ACSU database… following rumours … about his involvement in betting on cricket.” Thakur retaliated through a letter to the then ICC chairman N Srinivasan, alleging a “counter offensive” from the latter, following Thakur’s election as BCCI secretary.

Sohail Tanvir, a Rawalpindi allrounder, has been called up to the Pakistan Twenty20 squad as a replacement to Shoaib Akhtar, who was sent home from South Africa after being involved in a dressing-room scuffle with team-mate Mohammad Asif.The ICC’s technical committee approved Tanvir as a replacement for Shoaib on the basis of “exceptional circumstances”. A statement released by the ICC cited the following reasons for the approval: “the incident and disciplinary action taken by the Pakistan board is not related to the matches in the event; the tournament has not commenced; and there is a precedent to support the replacement.”Tanvir, 22, who bowls left-arm medium-fast, played only two matches for the Rawalpindi Rams in Pakistan’s domestic Twenty20 tournament in the last season. He has scored 84 runs and taken no wickets in the 10 Twenty20 games he has played in the last three years. But he impressed national selectors in a series of training camps and practice matches over the summer and was said to be close to a place in the original squad. He is highly-rated by Aaqib Javed, coach at the National Cricket Academy, who says his wrong-foot action and pace are deceptive.Shoaib was handed an indefinite suspension after he allegedly hit Asif with a bat. He was already on six weeks’ probation following a breach of discipline last month after he left a training camp in Karachi without informing officials.Pakistan’s first match of the tournament is against Scotland in Durban on September 12.

Matthew Elliott’s 111 off 112 balls set up South Australia’s five-wicket victory © Getty Images

Scorecard
A fine hundred from Matthew Elliott and the final-over heroics of Cameron Borgas sealed a five-wicket win for New South Wales in the rematch of last season’s one-day final. Set a revised target of 267 from 43 overs, the Redbacks owed much of their chase to Elliott, who hit 111 from 112 balls with ten fours and three sixes, but it was Borgas who stole the win from the Blues.South Australia needed 18 from the final over off Matthew Nicholson and Borgas blasted three sixes to end the game with two balls remaining. Borgas finished with an amazing 31 from nine balls.New South Wales were put into bat by Darren Lehmann and did well to post 291. There were useful runs from Aaron O’Brien (58*), Dominic Thornely (45) and Moises Henriques (43*), but every batsman chipped in. Fifty-run partnerships for the first, third and fifth wickets highlighted a stable batting order and a team to watch out for this season.In what was a repeat of last year’s decider, South Australia started their reply in enthusiastic fashion thanks to Elliott and a top order that all made starts. Barring Nathan Hauritz, a last-minute replacement for the injured Stuart MacGill, no bowler managed to restrict their economy rates to below five an over. When Elliott was caught by Hauritz off Henriques in the 40th over, the Redbacks needed 41 from 18 balls. Borgas made sure they made it.

After weeks of no news – a legacy , so it was claimed, of gagging orders imposed by the courts – the USA Cricket Association and Council of League Presidents have finally made an announcement about the future running of the game in the USA. Few will be surprised to learn that the outcome is yet another fudge.In short, the legal proceedings have been referred to October 28, by mutual agreement, during which time an amended USACA board can operate. That consists of the ten members who won the contested elections earlier this year, plus the four individuals controversially disqualified for supposedly failing to adhere to the letter of the law regarding candidature.However, the quorum remains at six members, which effectively ensures that the controlling group led by Gladstone Dainty, the USACA president, can maintain the same hold over the running of the board that they have since those elections.What is also clear is that the CLP is to all intents and purposes shut out. Not only does it not have ant real representation on the board, it is also prevented from making any comments or putting up any postings on its own website. Given that the USACA has operated in virtual secrecy for some time, that means that the rank and file inside the US cricket fraternity will be even less informed about what is going on – as hard as that seems, given that they have been told almost nothing throughout this drawn-out affair.Rumours had been doing the rounds for a few weeks that the CLP was in retreat, and this announcement appears to confirm that. After arriving in a blaze of publicity and offering hope that there might be a chance for cricket in the US to salvage something from the wreckage of the previous regime’s mismanagement, The CLP looks to have been all bluster and little substance. There has been no new dawn – in fact, the national game looks to be crawling even further into the darkness.

Marvan Atapattu: Breathed a sigh of relief after Sri Lanka clawed their way back © Getty Images

Marvan AtapattuOn Sri Lanka’s performance
To start with, it wasn’t our best performance on the field, but having saidthat, having come back to the dressing room we wanted to make up for whathappened in the Asia Cup against India when we lost by four runs chasing270-odd. It was a good pitch and it did not deteriorate as much as peoplewould have thought. It was low but good for batting.On the run chase
As Graeme (Smith) said we were able to pick up singles easily for ashort while in the middle of the innings. But we planned the chase in such away that the required rate never lifted above seven. It was under six formost of the time. And we ensured that we still had batsmen remaining at theend.On Lokuarachchi’s return to the team
Lokuarachchi only went out of the team because of a few unfortunateincidents, but he is a competitive player and can contribute to the team inall three aspects of the gameOn the importance of the win for the series
It is definitely good to have won the first game of the series. But they area good, competitive side. Not many sides would have put 260 on the board.Even in the Asia Cup we did not see many of those kind of scores. It’s justthat on the day we played better.On Sri Lanka’s revival
Credit should go to everybody, from the manager down to the 15th player.Everyone is contributing. Everything has fallen into place. People aretaking responsibility and everyone wants to do well. When those things fallinto shape it is so much easier to be the captain.Graeme SmithOn the game
At the end of the day 263 should have been enough for us. But if I look atthe bowling, we did well in the first 15 to keep them to 70, as against thenew ball the wicket was probably at its easiest. Our problem was from the 15overs mark in the middle when we couldn’t contain enough runs. With thespinner bowling they were going at six or seven per over without taking toomany risks. The boys fought well to get back to where we were, but Sri Lankaplayed well at the deathOn whether South Africa have the right attack for SL conditions
I am not going to sit here and moan about my bowling attack because I knowthere is nothing better. We have got to work, challenge the guys and getthings right. We talk enough and we practice enough and there is nothingmore we can do. The guys have got to take responsibility and go an do thingsin the middleOn whether the new-look batting order worked
We are looking to get our strikers into the game a little earlier tokeep sides under pressure and take more advantage of the middle periods.When you try something new there is always going to be some working through,but I’m pretty happy with how it went today.On the committment of the players
The boys gave it everything and there was huge disappointment in thedressing room. We can’t ask for anything more in terms of commitment. Wequestioned the team’s commitment, and the pride and the passion for playingfor your country after the Test match, but the guys gave everything today.We just need a little bit of a luck change. I am pretty sure we are close.

After his disastrous performances in the 2003 World Cup, Inzamam-ul-Haq is pressing his claims for a recall to the Pakistan team. His prospects have improved no end since the withdrawal of Younis Khan from next month’s series against Bangladesh.Inzamam managed just 19 runs in six matches during the World Cup, as Pakistan crashed out in the first round. “World Cup 2003 was the worst phase in my career,” he admitted, "but that is now behind me and I am doing all-out efforts to get my place in the team back and further my career.”Since the World Cup was a major tournament everyone was disappointed with the team’s performance and especially with my batting but I assure my return will make them forget everything. I want to reach 10,000 runs and in this second phase of my career I will try to transfer my experience and guile to youngsters.”Pakistan host Bangladesh for three Tests and five one-dayers before playing a series against South Africa. Inzamam has scored 6,214 runs in 85 Tests, and 8,957 runs in 290 one-day internationals.

©CricInfo

Zimbabwe consolidated their position at the end of the second day, battingfrom beginning to end to pile up a massive total. The tourists were 348 for the loss of seven of their batsmen at stumps.

The two not out batsmen resumed with the overnight score on 20 for 2 on abright sunny morning in friendly conditions. Mashrafe-Bin-Mortaza removed the dangerous Grant Flower when he tried to play a swinging delivery outside the off stump and caught by Al-Sahariar.

Stewart Carlisle was next to go, edging a Mashrafe delivery to Khaled Masud. He made 33, including four boundaries.

Andy Flower, who had looked in good form from the outset, departed after he played on trying to hit Enamul Haque down the ground. It was a big disappointment for Zimbabwe, who depend heavily upon him. At that point Zimbabwe were struggling with 89 for 5.

There followed a 137-run stand between Craig Wishart and Doug Marillier. This parnership did the trick for Zimbabwe’s ambitions for a big total.

©CricInfo

Wishart was on the brink of his hundred, only six runs short, when he was run out attempting an improbable single. Marillier was then trapped lbw for a scintillating 73.

After Zimbabwe had lost their seventh wicket at 259, Heath Streak and Travis Friend batted like specialists to take the score to 300. They added another 48 runs towards the close to amass an imposing 348 for 7.

Manjurul Islam, Mashrafe and Enamul Haque took two wickets each.