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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.”

In their first two trips to the World T20 Qualifier, Papua New Guinea experienced more than their fair share of heartache.In 2012, it was the Americas representatives who tormented them. Canada held off a late charge from Geraint Jones and Mahuru Dai in defense of 167 to win by six runs. Five days later against Bermuda, captain Rarua Dikana had the ball in his hand tasked with protecting 15 runs off the final over with Bermuda five down but he gave up three straight sixes to Janeiro Tucker. It meant PNG finished in fourth place in Group A, one spot out of the playoff positions.In 2013, PNG made it to the playoffs and defeated Namibia in their first knockout game to come within one more win of a berth at the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh. In their way stood Hong Kong, a team they had defeated in the previous year’s qualifier by six wickets chasing down a total of 131 with a ball to spare. Hong Kong was pinned down in the rematch at 19 for 4 and only managed 139, but with a ticket to Bangladesh in their grasp, PNG stumbled to 108.The memories of those heartaches are now serving as fuel for inspiration at the qualifier for the pacific island nation. PNG captain Jack Vare says that this time around he’s hoping the team’s fortunes will change to get them over the hump and into next year’s World Twenty20 in India.”We have missed out in the last two tournaments in Dubai,” Vare told ESPNcricinfo ahead of PNG’s first match of the tournament on Sunday against Jersey. “Everyone is growing arms and legs. There’s a lot of experience in this time. Third time lucky I guess but everyone is confident that we will do well in this competition.”PNG’s build-up to this tournament included a magnificent four-day win over the Netherlands on their Intercontinental Cup debut, with Assad Vala and Dai spearheading the pursuit of a fourth innings target of 305. Though they lost the subsequent WCL Championship fixtures against the Dutch, PNG eased into T20 mode with four games against a pair of County second XIs. In one match, PNG racked up 268 for 3 versus Gloucestershire’s 2nds, a reminder of their potent top order featuring Lega Siaka and Tony Ura.”I think the biggest challenge we go through is from playing longer forms to shorter formats,” Vare said. “Most people know we play a lot of shorter formats but we are trying our best to develop all forms of the game. Playing in our first four-day game and to win that was a big experience for us and a special day.”PNG leaves no stone unturned in preparation as Coach Dipak Patel observes sliding practice during training at Bready CC•Peter Della Penna

PNG’s players have also accumulated experience playing in the Australian Country Cricket Championships as well as the South Australia Premier League. Getting access to better facilities and opponents within the Australasia region has helped lift up their skills and their confidence levels.”Playing in the competition in the South Australian Premier League gives us more experience and more exposed to the outside cricket world what’s happening,” Vare said. “Everyone has been doing well. We’ve been on the road for 18 months in preparation for this tournament. I’m more confident. I’ve got a good side, more mature side coming into this tournament.”PNG is the final team to play their first match of the tournament and on tap for them on Sunday at Bready is Jersey. Coach Dipak Patel and other members of the PNG squad were in attendance to see Jersey’s triumph by nine-wickets over Hong Kong on Saturday, a fresh reminder not to underestimate any opposition. Vare says the team is well-prepared and not about to be caught off guard whoever stands in front of them.”There’s no doubt teams will come and compete hard but we’ll focus on the job at hand,” Vare said. “We won’t look ahead too much. We’ll take every game as it comes and concentrate on our roles as individuals and as a group. That’s our major important thing to do playing top teams. We won’t take any team lightly.”

While Surrey’s on-pitch performances may not be much to write home about right now, off the field things are looking bright. The club has finalised proposals for a £35million investment at The Oval, which they hope to have approved by the autumn.A planning application has been submitted to Lambeth Council to further improve the ground’s Test facilities and boost the regeneration of the Lambeth area.The club, in partnership with Arora International Hotels, propose building a new stand and improved spectator facilities along with a hotel at the Pavilion End of The Oval, which is currently home to the Lock, Laker and Peter May stands.The proposals will see the demolition of the Surrey Tavern, and the introduction of a new piazza. The idea, according to Surrey, is “to create a stunning entrance and provide a much-improved first impression of the ground for visitors arriving at Oval tube station.”The proposed new stand will include 2000 new seats to increase capacity at the ground to 25,000 from 23,000, and a variety of improved facilities, reducing the need for temporary buildings and extra deliveries on big match days.The redevelopment is a timely one for Surrey, who are aiming to stay competitive as a Test match venue. While they have a long-standing agreement with the ECB to hold international cricket until 2023, they realise that they have to act now, as grounds such as Edgbaston, the Rose Bowl and Sophia Gardens engage in their own developments.Surrey told Cricinfo: “If we’re sitting still while everyone else is going forward, there’s no guarantee that the level of international cricket we have now will remain the same in the future.”They say another reason for the development is their commitment to the community. Although there were a few dissenting voices in the residents’ meeting on Monday night, the redevelopments – including the new hotel – are set to bring extra jobs to the Lambeth area.

Andrew Flintoff has ruled out playing grade cricket in Australia before the start of the Ashes series in November. Speculation Flintoff would arrive before the tour to test his recovery from ankle surgery was started last month by David Graveney, the England chairman of selectors, when he suggested ways of returning his group of injured players to action.But a spokesperson for Flintoff’s management company said in The Sydney Morning Herald the situation had “got completely blown out”. “There hasn’t been any plan to play in Australia,” an International Sports Management spokesperson said. “There is nothing on the cards.” Flintoff faces a 12-week recovery period from the surgery and last week said he hoped to be able to play a month before the first Test in Brisbane on November 23.If Flintoff is fit he will arrive to defend the Ashes with the England team, which has its first warm-up match scheduled for Canberra on November 10. A host of Australian states offered invitations to Flintoff and his injured squad mates to prepare for the series in their local competitions.

ScorecardUnder cloudless blue skies, but with a breeze to temper the heat, Mashonaland and Midlands fought closely throughout the day at Kwekwe Sports Club. Good bowling from Ed Rainsford, who took 4 for 36, was matched by a determined 73 from Tatenda Taibu, Mashonaland’s captain, whose side looked in the stronger position at the close after capturing four Midlands wickets for 82 in response to their first-innings total of 277.Alester Maregwede, Midlands’ captain, put Mashonaland, the defending Logan Cup champions, in to bat after winning the toss, hoping that recent rain would leave the pitch damp underneath and help his seamers during the first hour. The ball did move, but there was no early breakthrough while Brendan Taylor held together the top order with a canny half-century. Barney Rogers, a returned rebel, looked in good form with 30 before running himself out, while the allrounder Cham Chibhabha scored 48 before hitting his own wicket.Douglas Hondo bowled well to take two of the four wickets to fall before the close. He trapped Maregwede leg-before with the final ball of the day, and this tilted the balance of an otherwise even match towards Mashonaland.

Lord’s will attract a record-breaking crowd when it stages its first Twenty20 match between Middlesex and Surrey on Thursday, July 15. MCC has confirmed that ticket sales have now topped 15,000, breaking the previous Twenty20 record crowd of 14, 862 for the match between Lancashire and Yorkshire at Old Trafford last June.”We are delighted that tickets have been selling so well,” beamed Roger Knight, MCC’s secretary and chief executive. “We look forward to staging our first Twenty20 match in front of a record-breaking Lord’s crowd.”Advance sales of tickets, which cost £10 for adults and £5 for children, will end on Monday, July 12. All eighty boxes and suites have been sold out since mid-May. Assuming tickets remain, on-the-day sales will be on a cash-only basis at the North Gate ticket sales points.MCC Ticket Office: 020 7432 1000

The former Derbyshire captain, Guy Willatt, died today at the age of 85 after a long illness. Willatt, who also played for Cambridge University, Nottinghamshire and Scotland in a 23-year career, captained Derbyshire between 1951 and 1954.As a technically sound left-handed opening batsman, Willatt passed 1000 runs in a season on four occasions, including a best of 1624 in 1952 and a highest score of 146. He was also a fine football player, and obtained his Blue at Cambridge. After his retirement, Willatt was chairman of Derbyshire for four years between 1986 and 1990.As a tribute, Derbyshire and Surrey players and spectators observed a minute’s silence before today’s C&G Trophy match at the Racecourse Ground.

New Zealand will play three extra games in Australia as warm-ups for its three-Test series after the Pakistan tour was finally abandoned today.New Zealand Cricket had set today as the last day in which it could possibly entertain an abbreviated tour of Pakistan should the build-up of a response to the destruction of the World Trade Centre in New York have lessened.NZC chief executive Martin Snedden initiated discussions with Australia almost as soon as the tour was halted soon after the New Zealand team had left for Pakistan. They were held over in Singapore for 48 hours while the situation was assessed and then pulled home.Australia’s Cricket Board considered New Zealand’s request at its board meeting last Friday and has allocated three games before the scheduled tour start on October 31 against Queensland.The extra games are: October 16-19, Queensland 2nd XI at Allan Border Field, Oct 21-23, ACT Invitation XI at Manuka Oval, Oct 26-28 QCA President’s XI at Allan Border Field.Snedden said: “NZC is grateful for the cooperation of the Australian Cricket Board in arranging three additional games for the CLEAR Black Caps.”These matches will provide a good build-up to the first Test, allowing our players to adapt to Australian conditions, establish form, and prepare for a gruelling series after a lay-off of some months,” Snedden said.He added that while a state game or two might have been the preferred option, NZC fully understood that this was not possible and that if the positions had been reversed it may have faced a similar situation in New Zealand.New Zealand has also agreed to a change in its itinerary with the match against the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra being transferred from November 14 to December 6.New Zealand’s team for the tour will be named next Friday, October 5. The CLEAR Black Caps will assemble in Christchurch on October 11, and fly to Brisbane the next day.

Scorecard1:45

‘Live for moments like these’ – Standford

USA’s best bowling and fielding performance of the tournament was followed by a match-winning 66-run partnership between Man of the Match Nicholas Standford and Alex Amsterdam as they blew past Hong Kong by seven wickets at Clontarf.Three run-outs and and a game-changing spell from medium pacer Japen Patel restricted Hong Kong to 125 for 7. Then USA’s batsmen were able to polish off the game with 11 balls to spare.For Hong Kong though, the defeat brought back memories of their inept show in their tournament opener against Jersey. And it would hurt them even more considering they defended 129 against Ireland only yesterday.They had the chance to pierce through USA’s shaky middle order with the score on 37 for 2 in the chase. Akeem Dodson had been run out following a calamitous mix up with his opening partner Fahad Babar while Japen Patel’s dangerous cameo was cut short at 17 off nine balls. But errors in the field put paid to hopes of a fightback.USA had made only two runs off the bat in the first 10 balls after Japen’s wicket when Amsterdam, who was yet to score, lofted seamer Tanwir Afzal to 17-year old debutant Giacomo Lamplough at long-on. But the simple waist-high chance was spilled and Amsterdam went on to make an unbeaten 43. Amsterdam should have been out on 9 in the tenth over as well but Kinchit Shah misjudged a catch on the cover boundary off Anshuman Rath and the ball wound up going over his head, landed just inside the rope and bounced away for four.Hong Kong bucked up as seamer Irfan Ahmed trapped Babar lbw for 15 off 26. USA might have felt a touch nervous at 62 for 3 in the 11th over, considering their history of middle-order collapses. But Standford took charge and finished that 11th over off with a monstrous six over the sightscreen. Irfan, who had been the catalyst for Hong Kong’s victory over Ireland with 3 for 11, came in for some heavy punishment from Standford and finished with 1 for 33 in 3.1 overs.With 32 needed off five overs, Hong Kong took a punt and asked Mark Chapman to bowl his first over of the tournament and it nearly worked. Standford, on 16, punched Chapman’s left-arm spin but the bowler wasn’t able to hold onto a tough overhead catch.Alex Amsterdam contributed to USA’s chase with an unbeaten 43•ICC/Sportsfile

Amsterdam was on 41 at the time and Standford caught up with three big blows in the next over. Irfan, who was the bowler, conceded a pair of sixes over long on and then a pulled four through square leg. Standford smashed another four over the leg side off the first ball of the 19th over from Irfan to clinch victory and finished with 40 not out in 25 balls.The platform for victory though was set up by USA’s seamers who kept Hong Kong’s batting in check. Captain Muhammad Ghous, who had opted to bowl after winning the toss, opened with a maiden and got the initial breakthrough in the third over. It might have been a lucky one; he trapped the left-handed Rath lbw while darting in his offspin over the wicket. But the batsman did shuffle across his stumps and was looking to flick behind square.Left-arm seamer Naseer Jamali bowled a tight three-over spell in the Powerplay and conceded only 12 runs but Ghous was hit out of the attack by Irfan and Nizakat Khan. They swept and flicked a pair of fours before turning their attention to the off side. A cover drive raced to the boundary and took the score to 23 for 1 after five overs.Nizakat fell to seamer Adil Bhatti’s first ball, in the seveth over, as a flat-footed swish outside off took the edge and was well taken by wicketkeeper Dodson diving to his right.Irfan was then run out by the bowler Hammad Shahid after a miscommunication with Chapman to end the tenth over with Hong Kong at 54 for 3. Hong Kong increased that tally by 29 runs to be 83 for 3 after 14 overs. Though the run-rate wasn’t great, they had wickets in hand.That’s when Japen struck. He responded to being smacked to the point boundary by Chapman by dismissing the batsman the very next ball. Cramped for room, the glide to third man found the keeper’s gloves instead. In his next over, Japen went full and straight to beat Babar Hayat’s slog, and picked up one more in the 19th when Tanwir’s hoick was skied to Timil Patel at point.That was the first of four wickets off the final nine balls for Hong Kong. An alert Dodson denied a leg bye and ran Aizaz Khan out. Then Timil induced a mistimed drive from Haseeb Amjad to long-off, where Naseer Jamali took a good, running catch. Jamie Atkinson, the top-scorer with 34, was run-out off the final ball and USA went into the innings break with a spring in their step.Now for USA to reach the playoffs, they must beat Papua New Guinea on Sunday and have two other results go in their favor. Ireland must beat Jersey and Namibia has to beat Hong Kong to put USA on six points to Hong Kong’s five and Jersey’s four while Nepal has already been eliminated from contention for a top-four spot by finishing on three points.

Match facts

Thursday, May 15 to Monday, May 19, 2008
Start time 11.00 (local), 10.00 (GMT)

The Big Picture

It’s the start of a new English summer, but the resumption of a familiar and unexpectedly intriguing tussle. This is the 11th consecutive international fixture between England and New Zealand, and there will have been 19 in a row by the end of the one-day international series in June. Nevertheless, familiarity has not yet bred contempt, and both sides enter this Test with plenty to prove after the hits and misses of their previous three-Test encounter in March. England emerged triumphant on that occasion after losing embarrassingly in the first match at Hamilton, and start once again as favourites, but nothing suits the Kiwis better than being written off as no-hopers. And no venue inspires touring sides more effectively than Lord’s.

Test form guide

England – WWLDDL
New Zealand – LLWWWL

Watch out for …

Ryan Sidebottom The Man of the Series in New Zealand, where he took hat-tricks, career-bests and every plaudit available. He’s just been named as England’s Player of the Year for 2007, after picking up 53 wickets in 12 Tests, and will be looking to make 2008 even more special.Brendon McCullum Arguably the most explosive attacking batsman in the world today. He made 96 on his last visit to Lord’s in 2004, but has yet to make a century against senior Test opposition. Last month’s incredible unbeaten 158 in the IPL, however, showed just what he can do when the mood takes him.Aaron Redmond New Zealand’s top order was the weak link during the home series defeat, and the loss of Stephen Fleming has exacerbated the problem. Nevertheless, Redmond, who is set to make his debut, has a watertight technique and a burning desire to occupy the crease come what may. His six-and-a-half hour 146 against the England Lions demonstrated his abilities.

Team news

As expected, England named an unchanged eleven for the third match running, with Matthew Hoggard missing out. Andrew Flintoff might have been back in the fold had his side strain not postponed his comeback, but the coach, Peter Moores, is keen to reward the players who turned the team around in New Zealand.England 1 Andrew Strauss, 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Michael Vaughan (capt), 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Paul Collingwood, 7 Tim Ambrose (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Ryan Sidebottom, 10 James Anderson, 11 Monty Panesar.New Zealand, on the other hand, are expected to make sweeping changes, both personnel and positional. There are three changes in the top order from the Napier defeat, with Stephen Fleming retired, and Matthew Bell and Mathew Sinclair omitted. Redmond comes in for his debut, along with the Northern Districts rookie, Daniel Flynn, while James Marshall is recalled at No. 3. Oram returns in place of Grant Elliott, but with McCullum moving up to No. 5, he slips into the conventional allrounder’s slot of No. 7. Vettori plays despite requiring stitches in his spinning finger last week.New Zealand (probable) 1 Jamie How, 2 Aaron Redmond, 3 James Marshall, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Brendon McCullum, 6 Daniel Flynn, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Chris Martin.

Stats and trivia

New Zealand have won just eight of their 91 Tests against England, but four of those have come away from home including at Lord’s in 1999 en route to a memorable series win.Tim Southee, who made his debut at Napier in March, scored more runs in a single innings (77) than his probable new-ball partner, Chris Martin, has managed in 40 Tests (74 runs at 2.55).

Quotes

“I do expect to win, but we’re not going to underestimate them. They’re a good bowling unit and they scrap very hard.”
England’s coach, Peter Moores, talks up his side’s prospects
“They are just a steady side and on their day they can be a very good side.”
New Zealand’s Chris Martin hits back.