Sri Lankans start to hit their stride

Sri Lankans 301 for 7 (Mathews 51, Thirimanne 49, Chandimal 47*, Joseph 4-58) beat Kent 173 (Blake 60, Lakmal 3-16, Perera 3-33, Mendis 3-55) by 128 runs
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	Angelo Mathews was the one Sri Lankan batsman to pass fifty but plenty had useful innings © Getty Images Enlarge
Related Links Players/Officials: Angelo Mathews | Dinesh Chandimal | Alex Blake Matches: Kent v Sri Lankans at Canterbury Series/Tournaments: Sri Lanka tour of England and Ireland Teams: England | Kent | Sri Lanka

Angelo Mathews hit fifty and Dinesh Chandimal an unbeaten 47 off 31 balls to set up a hefty thumping of Kent in Sri Lanka's second tour match in England. Having put out a strong side - only Lasith Malinga was rested - Sri Lanka gave a truer measure of themselves than in defeat to Essex on Tuesday, sweeping up a mixture of Kent first-teamers and irregulars for 173 on a cool, clear evening.

Suranga Lakmal immediately applied a tourniquet at the top of the innings, his opening spell of 4-1-10-2 providing both control and penetration. Alex Blake played neatly for his 60, which included reverse-sweeping Ajantha Mendis for four, but Thisara Perera plucked out key wickets during the middle overs and a long tail succumbed quickly. Without the likes of Rob Key, Darren Stevens and Brendan Nash, a Kent target in excess of 300 proved steeper than the Dover cliffs.

A partnership of 84 between Lahiru Thirimanne and Mathews provided the ballast for Sri Lanka, after a sprightly but evanescent performance from the top order. Thirimanne's high front elbow was a feature of his strokeplay, his first and only boundary coming off his 63rd delivery, while Mathews showed greater muscularity in an innings replete with bottom-handed clubs to the rope.

Mathews struck the first sixes of the contest before spooning a full toss to mid-off but Chandimal and Perera skipped along in his footprints during a rapid 71-run stand from 48 balls. Chandimal might have been caught at deep midwicket attempting to go to his half-century from the penultimate delivery of the innings but Fabian Cowdrey had to throw the ball back in as he fell towards the boundary rope.

Robbie Joseph, the one-time England Lions bowler who returned to Kent at the start of the summer, claimed 4 for 58, while James Tredwell also put in the sort of dependable shift he is known for, ahead of his involvement in the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka. He dismissed Thirimanne with one that lured the batsman out to be stumped for 49, though his figures were slightly smudged when Chandimal lofted the fourth and fifth balls of his final over for four and six.

Kent lost Daniel Bell-Drummond and Cowdrey, grandson of Colin, with the score on 17, as they struggled to get going during the Powerplay. Blake's half-century, his third in the format and first since 2010, came at a run-a-ball and a stand of 68 with Sam Billings kept them afloat but, from 148 for 5, Kent lost their last five wickets for 25. Only the combined figures of spinners Mendis and Tillakaratne Dilshan - 3 for 92 from 15 overs - would have given the tourists a moment's pause.

Sri Lanka were beaten in their first warm-up fixture, a soggy, 21-over affair in Chelmsford, but with the sun shining over hop country they found the St Lawrence ground to be a more welcoming venue. Kent's is probably the closest English ground to Colombo (though still 8,000km as the crow flies) and there were several Sri Lanka shirts on display in the crowd, as well as a flag being waved in the breeze on the Old Dover Road grass bank.

The vexed issue of Sri Lanka's junior-senior question will not be solved by one tour match but, after Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene fell for scores between 30 and 35, the contributions from Nos. 5, 6 and 7 will have encouraged Marvan Attapatu, the team's interim coach.

Sangakkara joined up with the Sri Lanka squad on Thursday, having missed the early part of the tour to play in two Championship matches for Durham, and reclaimed the wicketkeeping gloves off Chandimal (before swapping halfway through the innings). Following his 159 at Hove, he looked in good order until playing down the wrong line against Kent left-armer Adam Ball to have his stumps rattled.

After Sangakkara's dismissal, Sri Lanka appeared content to settle in, only for the longueurs to get the better of Jaywardene. Between the end of the 14th over and the beginning of the 36th only three boundaries were struck, before Mathews and Thirimanne, then Chandimal and Perera redoubled their efforts. The rate had dipped below five an over but 129 runs flowed from the last 15 as a team that should be a contender at the 2015 World Cup flashed their credentials.

After Sri Lanka's well-oiled start on a decent pitch, 300 always looked in range. Dilshan could not be much more buccaneering if he batted with a parrot on one shoulder while wearing a tricorne hat. He cut, pulled and drove his way to 35 off 28 balls before Joseph, bowling with decent pace and hitting an awkward length in his first List A game since August 2012, had him caught skying a piratical hack high to third man.

That was Joseph's second wicket, having removed Sri Lanka's other opener, Kusal Perera, with his first delivery, the batsman caught on the crease and fencing to slip. David Griffiths was not able to match Joseph's economy, however, as the tourists reached the end of the ten-over Powerplay on 64 for 2.

Charlie Hartley, Kent's 20-year-old debutant, came on for his first bowl against a pair with more than 25,000 ODI runs between them. Both Sangakkara and Jayawardene dismissed him for boundaries as the over leaked 10 runs but Hartley found better control after switching ends. Jayawardene became the third member of Sri Lanka's illustrious triumvirate to depart in the 30s when he miscued a lofted drive to mid-on to provide Hartley with his first senior wicket.

Alan Gardner is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick

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Mudgal to head investigation of IPL 'sealed envelope'

Former High Court judge Mukul Mudgal, who led the preliminary inquiry into the alleged corruption in the IPL will head a panel given greater powers to investigate the contents of the sealed envelope provided to India's highest court. Mudgal's colleagues on the previous committee, L Nageswara Rao and Nilay Dutta, will also be part of the panel. In its order delivered on Friday, the Supreme Court asked the committee to submit its report in a sealed envelope by end of August. The next hearing of the case will be "listed" in the first week of September.

The new Mudgal committee explained Who is part of the fresh panel? Mukul Mudgal, L Nageswara Rao, Nilay Dutta, and former IPS officer BB Mishra Who is BB Mishra and what is his role? Former IPS officer and currently Deputy Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau in Delhi. He will head the investigation team What happened to the Mudgal Committee's requests? Most of them were met, except Mishra was picked instead of former CBI officer ML Sharma. The BCCI is understood to have objected to him Who will select the former cricketer on the panel? The original committee and Mishra. How is this committee different from the original? It has more powers - to investigate, require attendance of witnesses, the power to examine witnesses, the power to search and the power to seize and all other powers necessary for investigation except the power to arrest Will the committee be compensated? The original trio, and the former player, will be paid Rs 1 lakh per working day - all expenses will be borne by the BCCI - and other police officers will continue to be paid their salary by the government even when they are away on this investigation. Is there a deadline? Yes, the end of August, but if the investigation is not complete, it can be extended. When is the next hearing in the case? First week of September. What happens to the BCCI until then? Sunil Gavaskar and Shivlal Yadav continue in their respective interim roles.

The committee will be assisted by former senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer BB Mishra. The committee will have all investigative powers, including search and seizure of relevant documents and recording evidence, but cannot carry out arrests. They will be provided with assistance from one senior police officer each from Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi, as the committee had requested. One former cricketer "of repute and integrity", as requested, will be chosen by the Mudgal committee in consultation with Mishra. The chairman and the members of the probe committee will be compensated with Rs 1 lakh per working day, and all other expenses will be borne by the BCCI.

The choice of Mishra as head of the investigation team over the Mudgal panel's request for former CBI special director ML Sharma came about due to "objections made on the behalf of BCCI and N Srinivasan". Mishra is currently the deputy director general, Narcotics Control Bureau in New Delhi and is an IPS officer from the 1983 batch of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre. Mishra and the three police officers form the investigative team "at the disposal" of the Mudgal committee. They will "have the powers to investigate, require attendance of witnesses, the power to search and the power to seize... except the power to arrest and the source of these powers of investigation will be this order passed by the court".

The two-man bench of Justice Patnaik and Justice FM Ibrahim Kalifullah also ordered that "all concerned persons including the BCCI, Mr N Srinivasan and the cricket players" co-operate with the investigation. "In case of difficulty", the Mudgal committee can "apply" to the court for "necessary orders for the purpose of completing the investigation".

The court has turned down BCCI's request to appoint a completely new panel following its contention that the Mudgal committee's findings were "erroneous". In the order, Justice AK Patnaik said, the allegations against the 13 persons, including Srinivasan, "should be investigated by the Justice Mudgal committee". The reason given was that "if a new Probe committee is entrusted to inquire into the allegations, there is a likelihood of the allegations being leaked to the public", saying that the leaking would "damage the reputation of the 13 persons beyond repair".

	Justice Mudgal will lead the new probe panel © AFP Enlarge

Sunil Gavaskar and Shivlal Yadav are to continue in their respective interim roles until any further orders.

The BCCI counsel Radha Rangaswamy requested the court to pass its final decision by the first week of August, but the request was declined. The BCCI's annual general elections take place at the end of September while the next hearing in connection with IPL corruption.

The court's view on Srinivasan's presence in ICC meetings and his assumption of his expected role as ICC chairman was not clear. It is understood that BCCI's counsel approached the bench after the order was read out, seeking permission for Srinivasan to attend ICC meetings and BCCI's next AGM, but the court said no further order was going to be passed. The petitioner Aditya Verma sees this as a restriction on Srinivasan's presence in the ICC, but the exact legal implications could not be determined.

The case dates back to June 2013, when the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) secretary Verma raised charges of a conflict of interest in the BCCI's original two-member inquiry panel for the IPL corruption issue. A Bombay High Court ruling later termed the probe panel "illegal". The BCCI and the CAB filed petitions in the Supreme Court against this order, with the CAB contending that the Bombay High Court could have suggested a fresh mechanism to look into the corruption allegations.

The Supreme Court then appointed a three-member committee, headed by former High Court judge Mukul Mudgal and comprising additional solicitor general L Nageswara Rao and Nilay Dutta to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations of corruption against Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, India Cements, and Rajasthan Royals team owner Jaipur IPL Cricket Private Ltd, as well as with the larger mandate of allegations around betting and spot-fixing in IPL matches and the involvement of players.

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SA's next captain not an automatic choice - Lorgat

The decision on South Africa's next Test captain should not be a straightforward or simple one, according to Cricket SA CEO Haroon Lorgat and team manager Mohammed Moosajee. Although the position is expected to be offered to one of AB de Villiers or Faf du Plessis, Lorgat and Moosajee hope other possibilities will be considered in debates over the next two weeks.

"I would hope the selectors will not have an automatic choice. There is a process that needs to be followed," Lorgat, speaking at the Gauteng Cricket Board Awards on Thursday night, said. "There are several candidates so let's hope it is a tough choice."

South Africa's selection panel have already begun talks and will meet again before CSA's board meeting on June 3 to decide on their recommendation for the next Test captain. The person they choose will have to be ratified by the board before being officially announced. Apart from de Villiers and du Plessis, JP Duminy is has been mentioned as a possible choice, especially in light of his recent form, bigger role in the national team and years in the game.

Duminy has been playing regularly in the Test team since March 2012 with his only absence enforced when he tore his Achilles' tendon in November that year in Australia. He was handed his place back as soon as he returned to full fitness. He has established his place in the middle-order where he plays a pivot role between the specialist batsmen and the lower order, shepherding the tail. He has also been given a job to do with the ball and his offspin has allowed South Africa the option of another bowler.

As one of the more senior members of the side, Duminy is considered to be part of the core group that will lead the rebuilding phase following the twin retirements of Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis last summer. That Duminy plays across all three formats makes him one of the constants in the South Africa XI. National coach Russell Domingo has often referred to Duminy as South Africa's "best T20 player," and he is currently the South African with the most runs in the IPL, and fifth on the overall standings.

What may work against Duminy is that he has not captained previously but South Africa's administrators have shown that is not insurmountable hurdle. Smith only played eight Tests before being made national captain at age of 22 while de Villiers had not led at any level when he succeeded Smith as ODI and T20 skipper. What is more important, according to Moosajee, is that the person entrusted with the job is able to continue to apply the team culture South Africa have built over the last few years.

"We are a diverse country with a diverse group of players and we have a melting pot of cultures in the dressing room. We have built our team environment around that, which has meant learning and respecting each other's backgrounds and using that to become a strong unit," Moosajee said. "We are fortunate that we've had inspirational leaders in the past and now we hope to have another one. We have four or five people that can fill the role."

Both Lorgat and Moosajee cautioned against looking for another Smith, who led the team for nine years and played in it for over a decade. "Graeme was one of a kind - he was tough and he wore his heart on his sleeve," Moosajee said. For Lorgat, Smith's lengthy tenure has left South Africa with "a lot to build on but big shoes to fill."

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent

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Craig, Davidson added to Australia umpires panel

Shawn Craig, the former Victoria batsman, has been promoted to Australia's National Umpire Panel and will officiate in state matches during the 2014-15 season. Craig and former New South Wales grade cricketer Greg Davidson are the two new additions to the 12-man group, replacing Tony Ward and Ian Lock from last summer's panel.

The panel provides the umpires for all domestic cricket played in Australia and does not include those Australians on the ICC's Elite Panel of Umpires - Steve Davis, Bruce Oxenford, Paul Reiffel and Rod Tucker. Cricket Australia's senior manager of cricket operations, Sean Cary, said Craig and Davidson had earned their places on the panel through strong performances.

"Both Shawn and Greg have extensive involvement in cricket and long playing careers before progressing to umpiring," Cary said. "Their promotion is a reward for hard work and the critical role our state associations play in developing high-quality officials.

"Australia has a proud history of producing quality umpires who have gone on to international honours after coming through our state and development pathways. We believe there is significant potential in this group to continue that."

Craig, 40, played 20 first-class matches for Victoria from 1996 to 2001 and was a first-grade cricketer for St Kilda until 2006-07. Davidson, 43, played 21 seasons for Parramatta in Sydney's grade competition, before retiring after the 2007-08 season.

2014-15 National Umpire Panel Gerard Abood, Ashley Barrow, Shawn Craig, Greg Davidson, Simon Fry, Mike Graham-Smith, Geoff Joshua, Mick Martell, Damien Mealey, Sam Nogajski, John Ward, Paul Wilson.

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Super Kings sign David Hussey as replacement

	David Hussey has the experience of 59 IPL matches, having played for Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab in the past © BCCI Enlarge
Related Links News : Injured Bravo to miss rest of IPL Players/Officials: David Hussey Series/Tournaments: Indian T20 League Teams: Australia | Chennai T20 | India

Australian batsman David Hussey will replace Dwayne Bravo in Chennai Super Kings' squad for the rest of the 2014 IPL season. Super Kings announced it on their official Twitter account. They also retweeted Hussey saying, "Just recd some amazing news!!!!! Can't wait until tomorrow.... Get in there!!!!"

The 36-year-old Hussey, who has played 69 ODIs and 39 T20s for Australia, has plenty of IPL experience, having featured in 23 matches for Kolkata Knight Riders and 36 matches for Kings XI Punjab in previous seasons. In all, he has scored 1206 runs at an average of 25.65 and a strike rate of 122.93, with four half-centuries.

Bravo, the West Indies allrounder, was ruled out of the tournament after injuring his shoulder while fielding against Kings XI Punjab during Super Kings' first match in 2014.

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Rejigged tour can help Sri Lanka

	Angelo Mathews was playing a straight bat as Sri Lanka prepared for their first match of tour in England © AFP Enlarge
Related Links Preview : First audition for Atapattu News : Adapting to conditions key- Mathews News : Chris Adams to work with Sri Lanka News : Marvan Atapattu appointed Sri Lanka head coach News : SL in 'difficult place' after Farbrace exit Players/Officials: Angelo Mathews | Marvan Atapattu | Chris Adams Series/Tournaments: Sri Lanka tour of England and Ireland Teams: England | Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka may have their best chance of winning a Test series in England for many years. A schedule more sympathetic to their needs, an opposition in transitional mode and confidence gained from success in Bangladesh has given Sri Lanka an optimism not always shared by some of their predecessors.

The English leg of their tour begins on Tuesday. Sri Lanka will take on an Essex side including Alastair Cook in a 50-over game in Chelmsford, with further warm-up matches scheduled against Kent and Sussex ahead of the international fixtures which start in a week.

But while Sri Lanka's record in England is not encouraging - they have not won a Test in England since 2006 and have never won a series of more than one match in the country - circumstances are a bit different this time. On both their 2006 and 2011 tours Sri Lanka played the Test section of the tour ahead of the limited-overs section.

This time, however, they will have had a far greater chance to acclimatise to conditions. They will have been in Ireland or England for more than a month before the first Test and will have the opportunity to play their stronger suit - the limited-overs games - ahead of the Test series.

They also find an opposition lacking some of the pillars of its success in recent years - the likes of Andy Flower, Graeme Swann, Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott - and having just enjoyed a memorable double-success in Bangladesh, where they followed victory in the Asia Cup by winning the World T20.

"We have started training a bit earlier than usual because we know the English conditions are not going to be easy for us," Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lanka captain, said on Monday. "If we can adapt ourselves as soon as possible, I am pretty sure the team will come good. The conditions and the weather are the main challenge we face.

"We are not trying to be complacent against an England team having made all of those decisions. Yes, they might be missing star players like Kevin Pietersen, but they still have enough potential to beat any team on any day, especially playing under English conditions. They will be very hard to beat.

"You know what happened in Bangladesh: they beat us quite easily in the sub-continent conditions, so you cannot be complacent and just have to go hard at them."

"The confidence levels are very high," the coach, Marvan Atapattu agreed. "This team comes with confidence and success."

Certainly if the batsmen play as straight as the tour management did when deflecting questions about Paul Farbrace's departure, they should fare well. Mathews did not believe the suggestion that Farbrace, who resigned the Sri Lankan coaching role to take the assistant coach's job with England just weeks before the tour, had any team secrets to impart and dismissed the idea that any of his squad resented the decision.

"We respect his decision," Mathews said. "He is a good coach and was part of our success. He was with us for a short period of time, not a very long period of time, but in those few months, he was pretty good. Everyone has his own choices. He has made his choice and we wish him all the very best.

"When it comes to an international cricket team, there are no secrets. You have so many videos of all the players, of the support staff as well. We had guys like Ajantha Mendis and Lasith Malinga come into the team, but you cannot really hide them from playing international cricket.

"Everyone knows a little bit about the opposition, so I don't really think he has all the inside information."

But Sri Lanka hope that the appointment of Chris Adams, the former Surrey coach, might provide an insight into England's players and tactics. Adams joined up with the team on Monday and will spend the rest of the tour with them. Kumar Sangakkara will also join up with the squad on Wednesday or Thursday, having completed his short stint with Durham.

"Chris Adams is to give me the information I need to know, about venues and players, during this tour," Atapattu explained. "We will try to pick his brains to improve our game and lend our support to the players. Yes, we will try to get inside information from him."

Sri Lanka's record in English conditions probably still leaves them as underdogs going into the Test series. But Peter Moores and Co face a far from straightforward test at the start of England's new era.

George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo

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Former shadow coach Hathurusingha open to SL role

	Chandika Hathurusingha has been part of the New South Wales set-up for a few seasons © Getty Images Enlarge
Related Links News : Marvan Atapattu appointed Sri Lanka head coach News : Farbrace quits as Sri Lanka coach News : Sri Lankan shadow coach suspended Players/Officials: Chandika Hathurusingha Teams: Sri Lanka

New South Wales assistant coach Chandika Hathurusingha has said he is not averse to considering a position with Sri Lanka Cricket, if the board approaches him as it seeks a new head coach. Hathurusingha had forged a reputation for clear, incisive coaching and a firm, even-handed approach, during his time as a coach in Sri Lanka, but he had his SLC contract terminated in 2010 for disciplinary reasons.

Hathurusingha has also been highly regarded in Australia since re-launching his career there, most recently winning the Sheffield Shield with New South Wales this past season. He augments his state role by heading the Big Bash League's Sydney Thunder franchise.

"I am thoroughly enjoying what I have here in Australia, but just like players want to play for their own country, coaches also would love to work with their own country," Hathurusingha said. "Working with Sri Lanka is something I would never say never to. I have played and worked with a lot of the players before, and I've kept in touch with them as well. I know what the set-up is like."

Sri Lanka have not been helmed by a local coach since Roy Dias ended his tenure in 1999, but in Hathurusingha's time as the shadow coach in the national side there had been a groundswell of support for him to become the next head coach. In the wake of that decision, then-captain Kumar Sangakkara had gone as far as effectively recommending Hathurusingha for the head coach position in an impassioned letter to SLC that implored the board to keep him on staff. Four years later, many in Sri Lanka's cricket establishment still believe he is among the finest candidates for the head coach role.

Hathurusingha had not been formally approached by SLC, but suggested he had moved past the ill-feeling generated by his dismissal.

"I don't think talking about what's happened in the past will benefit either SLC or myself. But the board knows better than anyone what I can do as a coach, because that's actually where I started," he said. "It's about starting a conversation, which is what usually happens when it comes to these kinds of things. If that happens, something might come out of it."

In his letter to the board in 2010, Sangakkara had said Hathurusingha's "technical and strategic knowledge was second to none of the foreign coaches I have worked with before" and that in the previous year, Hathurusingha had "out-worked, out-thought and out-shone the foreign coaching staff within the system".

Marvan Atapattu, who has been with the national team since 2011, appears to be the current frontrunner for the head coach job, after he was named interim coach for two major upcoming tours over the next three months. SLC is yet to announce that it will advertise the vacancy, like the board did when it was in the market for a coach last year. The board is on the look-out for a new coach following Paul Farbrace's resignation last month.

A steady opening batsman in his playing days, Hathurusingha played 26 Tests and was among Sri Lanka's most experienced domestic cricketers, in possession of 10,861 first-class runs and 425 wickets.

Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo's Sri Lanka correspondent. @andrewffernando

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