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St Lucia’s new ultra-modern Beausejour Stadium has been labelled as the benchmark for future construction and development of international cricket grounds in the Caribbean.Additionally, West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive officer Gregory Shillingford feels the spanking facility will be extensively utilised when the region hosts the 2007 World Cup.His comments came in an official opening ceremony ahead of this weekend’s back-to-back One-Day Internationals between West Indies and New Zealand.The ground was first used for a first-class match between India and a Busta XI from April 26-28 when International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Ranjan Madugalle was sent in to undertake an inspection to see if it would meet ICC’s minimum standards.I can report that the ground not only met the standards, but has become the standard-bearer for all present and future grounds in the Caribbean, Shillingford said to loud, continuous applause.Over the weekend, it will be the venue for the first double-header in St Lucia.It will not be the last.I am sure that in subsequent years, we shall witness not only regional one-day and four-day tournaments staged here under the auspices of the WICB, but also Tests and One-Day Internationals that form part of the ICC future tours programmes.Set in 22 acres beneath the hills, the 13 000-capacity stadium is highlighted by modern infrastructure, including four stands with bucket-type seating, 18 hospitality suites and a fashionable pavilion that contains large dressing-rooms and lounges for both teams.Its outfield, a perfect oval, is predictably lush green.Located close to the lively tourist resort of Rodney Bay on the island’s north-east coast, the stadium, when completed, should also have two turf and two artificial practice pitches behind the pavilion, along with catering facilities and public conveniences that can be used outside of match days.The price tag of the stadium is EC$40 million (about BDS$32 million) and is funded by the Government-run St Lucia National Lotteries.With leading officials having expressed a need for the upgrade of grounds around the region in time for the 2007 World Cup, Beausejour and the Queen’s Park Stadium in St George’s, which was opened in 1999, appear to have a head-start on the more established regional venues like Barbados’ Kensington Oval, Trinidad’s Queen’s Park Oval, Jamaica’s Sabina Park and Guyana’s Bourda.The ICC World Cup will represent the single biggest entertainment and sporting event that the Caribbean will ever undertake, Shillingford said.Without pre-empting the work of the Windies World Cup 2007, which is a subsidiary of the WICB, I am certain that St Lucia, with its 8 000 hotel rooms, cruise ship berthing facilities, international airports and a state-of-the-art cricket stadium, will feature prominently in the World Cup.

The Benson & Hedges Cup semi-finals and the Norwich Union League matches played this week were both affected by the weather, with one B&H semi-final having to use the reserve day and a full Norwich Union round being washed out.Allan Donald after arriving back from South Africa where he, Shaun Pollock and Bob Woolmer attended the Cronje funeral, was on the losing side for Worcestershire as Essex ran away with the game. Set to make 263 for the win, Donald ending on 0/54, the match was suspended on day one with Worcestershire on 26/4. They never recovered from this eventually being bowled out for 124 as the game resumed the following day. Donald managed 10 with the bat.Pollock and Neil Carter played a major part in a nail biter in Warwickshire one wicket win over Lancashire. Pollock and Carter being trusted with the new ball returned figures of 4/27 and 3/43 respectively as Lancashire put on 211/9 in their 50 overs. Pollock scored 22 but it was Carter who struck his first and last ball of the match for four to register the win.The final will be played between Essex and Warwickshire at Lords on 22 June 2002.The Norwich Union round that was completed saw Donald on the winning side as he made his debut this English season taking 2/27 as Worcestershire beat Yorkshire.Pollock 3/10 and Carter 5/31 forming a good opening partnership saw Worcestershire beat Durham with both players contributing with the bat as well. Cater scoring 24 and Pollock ending on 29 not out.Sussex beat a high riding Essex with Mark Davis scoring three and taking 3/40.Nottinghamshire went down to Kent with the South Africans of Boje 2/34, Kevin Pieterson 2/29 and Greg Smith 1/26 taking the only Kent wickets to fall. A 25 for Boje, a 24 for Pieterson and a duck from Smith was not enough to ensure a win.Hampshire needing 2 runs in the last over secured a win against Middlesex with Neil Johnson 26 and 2/35 and Pothas 39 not out helping their team to the win. Sven Koenig in good form for Middlesex this season only managed 24 with the bat.

Trevor Bayliss’ only away Ashes series during his five-year tenure as England’s head coach ended in a 4-0 defeat and was overshadowed by off-field distractions amid questions about his squad’s drinking culture and the absence of Ben Stokes due to his involvement in a fight outside a Bristol nightclub.Four years later, both teams have endured rough build-ups to the series on and off the field, with English cricket engulfed in a racism crisis, Australia reeling from Tim Paine’s sexting scandal, and La Niña reaping havoc with scheduled warm-up games in Queensland.Bayliss, speaking to reporters in his capacity as Sydney Thunder’s new head coach ahead of the BBL season, said that while the build-up had not been ideal, both teams would be fully focused on the series rather than the sideshow around it once they step onto the field at the Gabba next Wednesday.

Bayliss reunites with Hales

Alex Hales’ positive test for recreational drugs on the eve of the 2019 World Cup nearly derailed England’s tournament but he finds himself working with Bayliss again for the first time since at the Thunder this season.
The pair have linked up ahead of the start of the BBL this weekend, and Bayliss said that he was excited to see Hales have another prolific season.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen him for a couple of years and he doesn’t seem any different,” Bayliss said.
“He’s in a good space – he didn’t hit the golf ball very well yesterday but I’m looking forward to him scoring some more runs for the Thunder this year.”

“It probably makes a little bit of a change,” Bayliss said, asked about the spotlight on Australia following Paine’s resignation and subsequent decision to step away from the game for an unspecified period of time. “Normally when the England team comes here, all the focus is on them and the one or two small pick-ups they might have along the way get blown out of all proportion.”With what’s going on in England at the moment, there’s obviously a bit in the background there as well. I think both teams will be more than happy for the cricket to start and all of that can get pushed into the background and they can concentrate on their cricket.”I fully expect with both sets of players, that’s exactly what will happen. Once the cricket starts, there might be talk behind the scenes with commentators and journalists and that type of thing but I’m quite sure that once things get underway out on the field it’ll be all about the cricket.”The first day of England’s second intra-squad warm-up game was washed out on Tuesday after only 29 overs were possible in the first, while Australia are set to cancel their practice fixture due to inclement weather. Bayliss said that the lack of a proper preparation period might lead teams to rotate their fast bowlers throughout the series, but stressed that for England, combating the pace trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc would be a major challenge.”Playing games would be the No. 1 criteria but both teams would be trying to do what they can through practice and making sure they’ve got the workloads up to scratch with the number of balls or overs bowled in the build-up,” Bayliss said. “It might force the hand a little bit of bringing in replacement guys every Test or two, making sure that the workload on the bowlers is not over the top.Related

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“The three big, tall pace bowlers Australia have got have done a lot of damage over the last few years and have bowled extremely well on these flat Australian pitches. They’re able to bang the ball in, they’ve got good pace, they’re tall, and they’re able to get a bit more out of it because of that pace and extra bounce.”So that’ll be something that the England batters will have to negate. But as we saw on the last tour, they might have lost 4-0 but on different occasions they showed they could score runs against that attack. It’s about that consistency and doing it Test after Test, which I’m sure they’ll be looking for.”As for Stokes, whose absence proved costly in 2017-18 as England struggled to balance their side, Bayliss said that it was a “massive bonus” for them to have him available for this summer’s series, not only due to his ability as an allrounder but also as a talisman who galvanises others in the side.”It’s not just his batting, his bowling or his fielding,” Bayliss said. “He’s one of those guys who is a leader within the group. He’s a very positive influence. There were times where he didn’t play because of injury in England and I think the team felt his loss when he wasn’t there. Certainly when he plays, he’s able to drag a lot more of the players along with him. He’s got a great attitude, a never-say-die attitude.”

Although he admitted that India have not performed to potential, bowling coach Bharat Arun is of the opinion that the toss has played too big a role at the 2021 T20 World Cup.”I’m not trying to give any excuses but the trend this World Cup has been the team that wins the toss has a big advantage, especially when you’re playing in the Dubai Stadium,” he said. “So the wicket kind of eases out when you come out to bowl the second time. But no excuses, we should have batted better, and also the first match, we had a chance to defend our total but we looked a little below par.Of the 39 games played in the tournament as of Saturday, 24 have been won by the chasing side. There have been 28 instances of a team electing to bowl first, and in 19 of those cases, they have gone on to win as well. India lost the toss in each of their first three matches, and managed to win only one of them, before eventually winning a toss and chasing down a target against Scotland earlier this week.”[…] I’m not trying to give any excuses,” Arun said. “But I think the toss plays a very very vital role, which I think shouldn’t – the toss shouldn’t be of any consequence. But here, the toss gives very undue advantage and there’s a huge change between batting in the first innings and batting in the second innings. That shouldn’t be the case in a very short format like this.”India took no wickets in that first match against Pakistan, and managed only two in their second match against New Zealand. Those heavy defeats early on have meant that India are playing catch up, and could well be knocked out before their last game against Namibia on Monday, which is also the last game of the Super 12s phase. In the context of what has otherwise been a successful year for the team, particularly in Tests, it has been a blow especially to the outgoing leadership group – Arun included.”Obviously we are a very good side,” he said. “We were the tournament favourites when we did start but it was most unfortunate that we lost the first two games. That put us in a very precarious situation. Obviously we are expecting to qualify, we are backing Afghanistan to do well in this tournament. But again sport is all about ups and downs. And we need to accept and move on. You need to give out the best at any given point of time. It was the entire team’s endeavour to do well in this series, but that was not so.”Arun has been at the centre of India’s new approach to managing bowlers’ workloads over the last few years, a change that has helped the team be a bigger threat especially on overseas tours. There has been little chance for any rigorous rotation this year, however, after the IPL was split in two thanks to a Covid-19 outbreak when the tournament came back to India earlier this year. The second phase of the league ended just nine days before India’s first match at the World Cup, and essentially ensured the players have been in a bubble for the best part of six months.”Being on the road for six months is a huge ask,” Arun said. “The players haven’t gone home since they had a short break after the last [2020] IPL, and they have been in a bubble for six months. And I think that takes a huge toll. So specific to your question – maybe a short break between the IPL and the World Cup would have done a lot of good for these boys.”

David Warner returned to form with a powerful half-century as Australia started the Super 12s with back-to-back victories. For the second match in a row, Australia chased a target – although there was minimal drama this time, as Sri Lanka were made to pay for dropping Warner early in his innings.Sri Lanka’s attack has played a big part in their success in the tournament so far, but the challenge provided by Australia represented a step up. Their three frontline quicks were largely treated with disdain, allowing Australia to tread carefully against the legerdemain of Maheesh Theekshana. Two wickets in consecutive overs from Wanindu Hasaranga, accounting for Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell, did lift Sri Lankan hopes only for a half-century stand between Warner and Steven Smith to steady the chase.

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Having chosen to bowl, Finch was grateful to the combined efforts of Adam Zampa and Mitchell Starc as Australia dragged the innings back during the middle period. With Charith Asalanka providing the spark, Sri Lanka rattled along to 53 for 1 in the powerplay and were well-placed approaching halfway, only for Zampa to induce a slide from 78 for 1 to 94 for 5.Zampa finished with fine figures of 2 for 12, while Starc’s pace accounted for Kusal Perera, Sri Lanka’s joint top-scorer alongside Asalanka, and the dangerous Hasaranga. Some resourceful batting from Bhanuka Rajapaksa helped repair some of the damage, as Sri Lanka managed to set a target above 150 – but it was not enough to stretch Australia, who became the 13th side out of 17 to win batting second in Dubai this year.The Zampa and Starc Show
Legspin and pace – always an exciting combo, and two of the weapons of choice in T20. Sri Lanka had recovered well from the early loss of Pathum Nissanka, with Asalanka and Perera racing during a second-wicket partnership worth 63 before Zampa made the breakthrough in the 10th over. Sri Lanka have the worst record against legspin since the last World Cup, among all teams in the Super 12 stage, and Asalanka’s dismissal slogging against the turn of a googly precipitated a middle-order collapse.In the next over, Starc responded to being slammed for six over long-on by sending a searing yorker through Perera’s defences and into the base of leg stump. Avishka Fernando top-edged an attempted slog-sweep off Zampa and Wanindu Hasaranga was then caught behind aiming an expansive drive at Starc, as Sri Lanka lost 4 for 16 in the space of 17 deliveries to put Australia on top.Openers find form
Australia have kept faith with Finch and Warner at the top of the order, despite their slim recent returns – and that faith was repaid handsomely, as the experienced opening pair took advantage of a sloppy Sri Lanka start with the ball to reach 63 without loss after six, the highest powerplay score in all T20 World Cups.Defending what was roughly a par score batting first on this ground, Sri Lanka needed early wickets. But Chamika Karunaratne’s first over was loose, twice going short and wide to allow Finch to cut fours – with those two boundaries, Australia’s captain had already raised his highest score in seven T20I innings in the UAE. And with the ball coming on nicely under lights, he took on the extra pace of Lahiru Kumara and Dushmantha Chameera, ramping the former over third and then lofting a straight six, before another four off Chameera brought up Australia’s 50 in the fifth over.Warner has been in even worse nick, but he reverse-scooped a boundary in Theekshana’s exploratory over and rode his luck on the way to his highest T20 score since making 85 not out for Sunrisers Hyderabad almost a year ago. He should have been dismissed on 18, after gloving Chameera behind, but Perera dropped a simple chance and Warner drew on all his experience to produce the goods when needed.Balancing act
The switch from playing five specialist bowlers to trying to fiddle their allocation from a clutch of allrounders has been a recent one for Australia, and this match demonstrated both sides of the coin. Maxwell got through four cheap overs in the win over South Africa but was taken down by Asalanka in the powerplay here, meaning Finch turned to Marcus Stoinis – only for Rajapaksa to collar him at the death as Sri Lanka kicked on.In all, four overs from Australia’s “fifth bowler” cost them 51 runs, almost exactly a third of Sri Lanka’s total. But the benefit of adding depth to their batting was also clear to see. A confident start from the openers, hitherto lacking out in the UAE, meant Maxwell could be sent in at No. 3 to attack the spinners; and although he failed, Smith kept things ticking over before Stoinis came out and whacked 16 off seven balls to demonstrate his appetite for the finisher’s role. Mitchell Marsh, who wasn’t required to bat or bowl and was rarely called on in the field, couldn’t have had much easier night’s work.